Fiction Review

Did you miss the Poisoned Pen’s program when Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child discussed their latest Gideon Crew novel, The Pharaoh Key? We still have signed copies available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2HQxlHs

We have another way to entice you. Douglas Preston recently posted a book trailer for the book. Check it out.

https://www.facebook.com/douglasjpreston/videos/10155781682222989/

Too quick for you? Here’s the summary of The Pharaoh Key.

It’s been a couple years since I interviewed Cara Black, author of the Aimee Leduc Investigations. Today is release day for her latest book, Murder on the Left Bank. She’ll be at the Poisoned Pen on Thursday, June 21 at 7 PM to discuss that book and her others. If you can’t make it, don’t hesitate to order a signed copy of it, or catch up with her earlier books. You can find them in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2lkPg0i

Cara agreed to answer questions, and then she also sent all kinds of tantalizing photos. I’ll try to fit them in with the questions, but there will also be some at the end. Watch for them, please! And, thank you, Cara, for sitting In the Hot Seat again.

Cara, you’ve been a guest here before, but would you re-introduce yourself to readers?

-Thanks for having me, Lesa. Great to visit again! I live in San Francisco, am married to a former bookseller, and write the Aimée Leduc investigation series (now #18 is coming out) set in the different arrondissements of Paris. I get to Paris several times a year for research and am very lucky to have a friend’s couch to crash on.

Your detective, Aimee Leduc, has had some changes in her personal life. Would you bring us up-to-date?

-Aimée is now a single maman, her baby Chloé is ten months old as the story starts and we’re in September of 1999. She’s running her detective agency, which focuses on computer crime, and constantly juggling her life, work, baby and the man in her life. Trying to do her best to earn the daily baguette and butter it. She’s lucky to have Babette, a nanny who she shares child care with a family across the courtyard, and of course, needs to pick up her daughter from bébe swim and life gets complicated every minute.

Tell us about Murder on the Left Bank, without spoilers.

-Très chic Parisian détective Aimée Leduc is back, and a 50 year old confession has her on a collision course with a cabal of corrupt Parisian cops!

Would you tell us about the current art scene in the 13th arrondissement?

-The 13th arrondissement encompasses what were villages and old factory sites – once on the outskirts of Paris – but now part of it. The socialist mayor of this arrondissement loves street art and promotes it which means what was once considered “˜grafitti’ or tags are “˜street art’ encouraged and promoted. It’s a big part of his project to encourage art and artists. On the sides of buildings you’ll see amazing work several stories high that reflects social issues, history and the inhabitants.

Several famous tag artists, who are now mainstream, started there notably MissTyk and Jeff Aerosol who command huge prices in galleries now. Because it’s so much a part of the 13th, as is the traditional Gobelins tapestry factory still in operation, that I felt this had to be part of the story, too.  It’s fun to do a walking tour of the street art, given by residents, who are so proud of how it reflects their quartier.

Anyone who reads the Aimee Leduc Investigations knows about her scooter. Tell us about your recent scooter tour of Paris.

-So much fun! I rode with Oliver, an Aussie who lives in Paris, and does podcasts and radio interviews about Paris. After he interviewed me, we walked around and took live questions, then hopped his scooter to Aimée’s apartment on the Ile Saint-Louis. He said let’s be spontaneous and go to her “˜work’, the real Duluc Detective agency on rue du Louvre. I held his camera phone on the steady cam and we drove on his scooter (his is red and Aimée’s is faded pink) to her office as Aimée would. Along the quai, across the Pont Philippe, weaving thru traffic on  rue de Rivoli. It was a real thrill! Must say, Oliver is a careful driver but we were almost stopped by the traffic flics for a random check. It took us eight minutes. But I’m sure Aimée makes it in five.

Cara, you’ve been going to Paris for years, and writing about the various arrondissements. Like any city, you can never see it all. Where would you still like to go in Paris? What have you not yet seen?

-There’s so much to discover. I learn about new places, out of the way museums, old shops all the time. I just found out about a shop on the Left Bank with a collection of old fans that I’m dying to visit. I’m a member of two historical associations who organise walks – highly recommended – and sometimes I get invitations to events at historical buildings only open to the associations…those are amazing.

Pretend someone is in Paris for one week, for the first time. Where must they go?

-Definitely the Place des Vosges in the Marais, the 17th century arcaded square for the beauty, behind it the courtyard of Hotel Sully (it’s not a hotel, but a hotel particulier which is what they call townhouse mansions) and it’s incredible bookshop. Stroll on the banks of the Seine at twilight opposite Ile Saint-Louis. Drink an apéro outside at Chez Prune, a cool place, on the Canal Saint Martin. Museum wise, the musée de la Chasse, a hunting museum, in an old hotel particulier in the Marais and the Balzac museum in the 16th arrondissement where Balzac wrote hiding from his creditors. Be a “˜flaneur’ – a walker with no particular destination – and see where the streets take you…it’s always a good idea and you’ll discover Paris.

Favorite food in Paris?

-Jewel like eclairs from Eclair de Genie. Roasted cauliflower at Miznon in the Marais.

Let’s end with Aimee Leduc. If Murder on the Left Bank is just out, you’ve probably finished the next book. Give us a hint of Aimee’s next investigation, please.

-You’re spot on, Lesa. Yes, she’ll be crossing back over the Seine to the right bank, there’s tension in her personal life; with her baby’s biological father and her American mother, and a crime at one of the oldest private cemeteries in Paris where Lafayette is buried and it’s tentatively titled “˜Murder in Bel Air‘.

*****

Thank you, Cara.

I’m really going to end with two things – first, a reminder that Cara Black will be at the Poisoned Pen on Thursday, June 21 at 7 PM.

Then, I have a final set of pictures. Cara mentioned you should wander around Paris. She sent pictures of a costume sale at Opera Comique. Her comment was, “an unexpected thing I stumbled across, as one does in Paris”.

Liam Callanan hosts Cara Black, author of the Aimee Leduc Investigations, on Thursday, June 21 at 7 PM. Signed copies of Black’s eighteenth mystery in the series, Murder on the Left Bank, are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2IYOeVY

Here’s the summary of Murder on the Left Bank.

The eighteenth mystery in the New York Times bestselling Parisian detective series! 

A dying man drags his oxygen machine into the office of Éric Besson, a lawyer in Paris’s 13th arrondissement. The old man, an accountant, is carrying a dilapidated notebook full of meticulous investment records. For decades, he has been helping a cadre of dirty cops launder stolen money. The notebook contains his full confession—he’s waited 50 years to make it, and now it can’t wait another day. He is adamant that Besson get the notebook into the hands of La Proc, Paris’s chief prosecuting attorney, so the corruption can finally be brought to light. But en route to La Proc, Besson’s courier—his assistant and nephew—is murdered, and the notebook disappears.

Grief-stricken Éric Besson tries to hire private investigator Aimée Leduc to find the notebook, but she is reluctant to get involved. Her father was a cop and was murdered by the same dirty syndicate the notebook implicates. She’s not sure which she’s more afraid of, the dangerous men who would kill for the notebook or the idea that her father’s name might be among the dirty cops listed within it. Ultimately that’s the reason she must take the case, which leads her across the Left Bank, from the Cambodian enclave of Khmer Rouge refugees to the ancient royal tapestry factories to the modern art galleries.

*****

Recently, Cara Black’s publisher put together a guide to the series. It’s a fascinating look at the setting and stories. Even if you’re up-to-date with the mysteries, you’ll want to check it out. https://www.discovermysteries.com/black/

Martin Walker will be at the Poisoned Pen on Monday, June 18 at 7 PM. His latest Bruno, Chief of Police mystery, A Taste for Vengeance is the current Hot Book of the Week. If you can’t make it on Monday evening, you can still order a signed copy of that book, or copies of Walker’s other books,  through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2ynMUXE

Here’s the summary of A Taste for Vengeance.

A missing woman, a shocking pregnancy, a dash of international intrigue, and a bottle or two of good Bergerac: it’s another case for Bruno, Chief of Police.

When a British tourist fails to turn up for a luxurious cooking vacation in Bruno’s usually idyllic Dordogne village of St. Denis, the worried hostess is quick to call on Bruno for help. Monica Felder is nowhere to be found, and her husband, a retired British major, is unreachable. And not long after Bruno discovers that Monica was traveling with a mysterious Irishman (her lover?), the two turn up dead. The Irishman’s background in intelligence and his connection to Monica’s husband only raise more questions for Bruno. Was she running away? How much does her husband really know? What’s the real story behind a scandal buried in the threesome’s military past? Meanwhile, the star of the girls’ rugby team, a favorite of Bruno’s, is pregnant, putting at risk her chances of being named to the French national squad. Bruno’s search for the truth in both cases leads him to places he hadn’t intended to go–but, as ever, he and his friends take time to savor the natural delights of the Dordogne. Santé!

Congratulations to the nominees for this year’s Macavity Awards. And, of course, a special hat tip to Wendall Thomas and Martin Edwards, whose books were published by Poisoned Pen Press. Don’t forget to check for books available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s how Janet Rudolph reported it on her website, https://mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com/

“The Macavity Awards are nominated by members of Mystery Readers International, subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal and friends of MRI. The winners will be announced at opening ceremonies at Bouchercon in St Petersburg, FL, in September. Congratulations to all.”

Best Mystery Novel
The Marsh King’s Daughter, by Karen Dionne (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz (Harper)
Bluebird, Bluebird, by Attica Locke (Mulholland)
Glass Houses, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
The Old Man, by Thomas Perry (Mysterious)
The Force, by Don Winslow (Wm. Morrow)

Best First Mystery Novel
Hollywood Homicide, by Kellye Garrett (Midnight Ink)
The Dry, by Jane Harper (Flatiron)
She Rides Shotgun, by Jordan Harper (Ecco)
The Lost Ones, by Sheena Kamal (Wm. Morrow)
The Last Place You Look, by Kristen Lepionka (Minotaur)
Lost Luggage, by Wendall Thomas (Poisoned Pen)

Best Mystery-Related Nonfiction
From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon, by Mattias Bostrom (Mysterious Press)
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, by Martin Edwards (Poisoned Pen/British Library)

Chester B. Himes: A Biography, by Lawrence P. Jackson (W.W. Norton)
The Man From the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery, by Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James (Scribner)
Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes, by Michael Sims (Bloomsbury)
Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History, by Tori Telfer (Harper Perennial)

Best Mystery Short Story
“As Ye Sow,” by Craig Faustus Buck, in Passport to Murder: Bouchercon Anthology 2017 (Down and Out Books)
“The #2 Pencil,” by Matt Coyle, in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea (Down & Out Books)
“Infinite Uticas,” by Terence Faherty (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, May/June 2017)
“Whose Wine is it Anyway?” Barb Goffman, in 50 Shades of Cabernet (Koehler Books)
“Windward,” by Paul D. Marks, in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea (Down & Out Books)
“A Necessary Ingredient,” by Art Taylor, in Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea (Down & Out Books)

Sue Feder Memorial Award: Best Historical Mystery
Dangerous to Know, by Renee Patrick (Forge)
The Devouring, by James R. Benn (Soho Crime)
In Farleigh Field, by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union Publishing)
Cast the First Stone, by James W. Ziskin (Seventh Street Books)
Racing the Devil, by Charles Todd (Wm. Morrow)
A Rising Man, by Abir Mukherjee (Pegasus)

Did you get one of the copies of The Pharaoh Key that Douglas Preston signed?

Copies are still available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2HQxlHs

Here’s the description of The Pharaoh Key.

I think those of us who missed the Venetian Tea that kicked off the release of Laurie R. King’s latest Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery, Island of the Mad, missed quite a party. You can still order a signed copy of the book through the Web Store, though. https://bit.ly/2l5ND6o

And, we can enjoy the pictures of the audience. Some dressed in costume. Some wore masks. And, some even demonstrated dance moves. It looks like everyone had a good time.

Are you reading any of the books from PBS’ Great American Read this summer? About a month ago, I posted about the search for America’s favorite book. Not necessarily the best book, or the Great American Novel, but America’s favorite book. https://bit.ly/2y2g3Ym

John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars, recently did a ten minute episode for PBS. It’s a Crash Course in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.

For those of us who read it twice, and never did understand why it was popular (me), Green is a terrific presenter who makes Holden Caulfield more interesting. Check out the video. https://bit.ly/2HJ8HIU

Then, check the Web Store for John Green’s books or The Catcher in the Rye. https://store.poisonedpen.com

If you didn’t make it to the Venetian Tea with Laurie R. King the other day, you can still celebrate the publication of Island of the Mad. It’s the current Hot Book of the Week at the Poisoned Pen. You can buy a signed copy of that book, or copies of King’s other books through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2JuI14f

Here’s the summary of Island of the Mad.

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are back in Laurie R. King’s New York Times bestselling series—”the most sustained feat of imagination in mystery fiction today” (Lee Child).

With Mrs. Hudson gone from their lives and domestic chaos building, the last thing Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, need is to help an old friend with her mad and missing aunt.

Lady Vivian Beaconsfield has spent most of her adult life in one asylum after another, since the loss of her brother and father in the Great War. And although her mental state seemed to be improving, she’s now disappeared after an outing from Bethlem Royal Hospital . . . better known as Bedlam.

Russell wants nothing to do with the case—but she can’t say no. And at least it will get her away from the challenges of housework and back to the familiar business of investigation. To track down the vanished woman, she brings to the fore her deductive instincts and talent for subterfuge—and of course enlists her husband’s legendary prowess. Together, Russell and Holmes travel from the grim confines of Bedlam to the winding canals and sun-drenched Lido cabarets of Venice—only to find the foreboding shadow of Benito Mussolini darkening the fate of a city, an era, and a tormented English lady of privilege.

*****

And, I’m hoping this is going to work. If it does, you can watch the Facebook video of Saturday’s event at the Poisoned Pen. If it doesn’t work, you’ll have to go to the Poisoned Pen’s Facebook page to watch it.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F238297496213972%2Fvideos%2F1825101207533585%2F&show_text=0&width=560

It’s always fun to catch up with Marilyn Stasio’s Crime column in The New York Times. This week, she’s reviewing John Connolly’s latest book, along with crime novels by Charlton Pettus, Charlie Donlea, and Pamela Wechsler. Check out the column. https://nyti.ms/2JrPcGs

Then, come back and look for the books in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com