Fiction Review

This past weekend, the attendees of Left Coast Crime in Reno, Nevada for “Crime on the Comstock” voted for the Lefty Award winners. The awards are presented for mysteries published in 2017. Congratulations to all of the winners. Readers can find the books in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Ellen Byron’s A Cajun Christmas Killing won the Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery.

The Lefty for Best Historical Mystery (Bruce Alexander Memorial) went to Rhys Bowen for In Farleigh Field.

Best Debut went to Kellye Garrett’s Hollywood Homicide.

And, William Kent Krueger won the Lefty for Best Mystery Novel (not in other categories) for Sulfur Springs.

Congratulations to all of the winners!

Robert Anglen just reviewed C.J. Box’s The Disappeared for AZCentral. You can read the review online, https://bit.ly/2G3r3EA.

Box will be appear at the ASU Kerr Cultural Center, 6110 N. Scottsdale Road, on Monday, March 26 at 7 PM. Doors open at 6 PM. Admission is free, but it’s $27 for a copy of The Disappeared. Can’t make it? You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2DPwrZZ

If you haven’t yet checked out Robert Anglen’s article, here’s the summary of The Disappeared.

Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett has two lethal cases to contend with in the electrifying new novel from #1 New York Times-bestselling author C. J. Box.

Wyoming’s new governor isn’t sure what to make of Joe Pickett, but he has a job for him that is extremely delicate. A prominent female British executive never came home from the high-end guest ranch she was visiting, and the British Embassy is pressing hard. Pickett knows that happens sometimes–these ranches are stocked with handsome young cowboys, and “ranch romances” aren’t uncommon. But no sign of her months after she vanished? That suggests something else.

At the same time, his friend Nate Romanowski has asked Joe to intervene with the feds on behalf of falconers who can no longer hunt with eagles even though their permits are in order. Who is blocking the falconers and why? The more he investigates both cases, the more someone wants him to go away. Is it because of the missing woman or because he’s become Nate’s advocate? Or are they somehow connected? The answers, when they come, will be even worse than he’d imagined.

Let’s talk about the New York Times Best Seller list for April 1. You might want to take a look at the Fiction list, and Poisoned Pen’s Web Store if you’re interested in signed copies. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

The Rising Sea by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown is new at the number 1 position. Here’s Clive Cussler signing copies of The Rising Sea at the bookstore.

Kristin Hannah dropped in to sign copies of The Great Alone. Her novel is at #2 on April 1.

Brad Meltzer made an appearance at the bookstore to talk about The Escape Artist. It’s at #3, but debuted at #1 on the list.

Here’s Barbara Peters, owner of the Poisoned Pen, with A.J. Finn. Finn is the author of The Woman in the Window. It’s currently #5. He also stopped in at the bookstore.

Fifty Fifty by James Patterson and Candice Fox will be at the tenth position on April 1. Both authors were here this month. Now’s the time to pick up a copy signed by both authors.

The Poisoned Pen – the place to be for authors and readers alike (although we all know authors are readers, too).

Patrick Millikin’s recent interview with authors Willy Vlautin and J. Todd Scott is really one you should listen to on Livestream. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/8122126

Their melancholy books could be soundtracks. In fact, Vlautin sings the title song for his book, Don’t Skip Out On Me. And, the three men spend time talking about what would be the background music for Scott’s High White Sun. You can buy signed copies of both books through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Don’t miss the opportunity to hear the authors read from their books, and, in Vlautin’s case, sing. Check out the Livestream link. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/8122126

Sue Grafton’s Y is for Yesterday. Matt Haig’s How to Stop Time. Jack Carr’s The Terminal List. Those are all titles we’ve talked about here on the blog. Haig and Carr both appeared at The Poisoned Pen. You can check the Web Store to order copies. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

What else do these books have in common? Authors Brad Thor and Harlan Coben were just with Megyn Kelly on Today, talking about their recommendations for spring reading. They were enthusiastic about these titles, and others. You can watch the segment here. Then, check back with The Poisoned Pen to order your own picks for spring reading.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0COjc0cBDRc?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

Paige Shelton is now a regular visitor to the Poisoned Pen, as an author who moved to Arizona, and as an audience member. How could we resist sharing CriminalElement‘s .GIFNotes about her new book, Lost Bones and Old Bones? The new Scottish bookshop mystery is due out April 3, but you can order a signed copy now. https://bit.ly/2DGtk6G

Here’s the actual description of the book.

A delightful new mystery featuring bookseller and amateur sleuth Delaney Nichols, set in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Delaney Nichols, originally of Kansas but settling happily into her new life as a bookseller in Edinburgh, works at the Cracked Spine in the heart of town. The shop is a place filled with curiosities and surprises tucked into every shelf, and it’s Delaney’s job to research the rare tomes and obscure artifacts that people come to buy and sell. When her new friends, also students at the medical school, come to the shop to sell a collection of antique medical books, Delaney knows she’s stumbled across a rare and important find indeed. Her boss, Edwin MacAlister, agrees to buy the multivolume set, perhaps even to keep for his own collection.

But not long after the sale, one of Delaney’s new friends is found murdered in the alley behind the Cracked Spine, and she wonders if there is some nefarious connection between the origin of these books and the people whose hands they fell into. Delaney takes it upon herself to help bring the murderer to justice. During her investigation, Delaney she finds some old scalpels in the bookshop’s warehouse—she and discovers that they belonged to a long-dead doctor whose story and ties to thepast crimes of Burke and Hare might be connected to the present-day murder. It’s all Delaney can do to race to solve this crime before time runs out and she ends up in a victim on the slab herself.

*****

And, here’s the link to Adam Wagner’s fun .GIFNotes. https://bit.ly/2GIQMDb

We’re over halfway through March, and, with the Poisoned Pen Bookstore’s schedule as busy as it’s been, I haven’t even had the chance to mention the recent releases from Poisoned Pen Press. Any and all five books can be ordered through the Web Site. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

“Following Return to Umbria, Wagner’s fifth series outing features a likable amateur sleuth who carefully analyzes other people. Rich in details of the food and culture of Italy’s Lombardy region, this atmospheric mystery will be appreciated by fans of Martin Walker’s French-flavored “Bruno” mysteries. Readers of Frances Mayes’s Under the Tuscan Sun may enjoy the colorful descriptions.”
— Library Journal

“George V’s visit to India in 1911 provides the backdrop for Gaind’s excellent sequel to 2016’s A Very Pukka Murder … Golden age fans will appreciate how Sikander works his way through an array of suspects. Once again, Gaind successfully blends detection with history.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The middle volume in Gaind’s Maharaja Mystery trilogy is both an homage to vintage British whodunits of the 1930s and a wry comedy of manners.”
— Kirkus Reviews

“Edwards (Continental Crimes) has done mystery readers a great service by providing the first-ever anthology of golden age short stories in translation, with 15 superior offerings from authors from France, Japan, Denmark, Austria, Germany, Holland, Mexico, Russia, and elsewhere; even Anton Chekhov makes a contribution .”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“If you’re wondering who can give Stephanie Plum a run for her money, meet Tai Randolph.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Mystery fans will welcome wisecracking characters that aren’t trite and a twisting plot that isn’t tired.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Drawing on historic facts and figures of 1870s Colorado, Parker tells a gripping tale of love, greed and murder in the Old West, with a cast of convincing, larger-than-life characters, including a brief appearance from Bat Masterson himself. Inez is a woman well ahead of her time and a welcome addition to the genre, as is Parker, who has left enough loose ends to beckon readers to the next Leadville mystery.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Barbara Peters, owner of the Poisoned Pen, loves to introduce debut authors and their books to readers. This past week, she introduced Nova Jacobs, author of The Last Equation of Isaac Severy, by reading several reviews of the book. Here’s Bethanne Patrick’s review in The Washington Post, “A hilarious novel about family, death, madness – and math”. https://wapo.st/2FJKOou. Once you get past the possibly scary word, math, you might want to order a copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2prG4tF

You can see the interview via Livestream. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/8112998

Here’s the description of The Last Equation of Isaac Severy.

*Book of the Month Club Selection
*Indie Next Pick

“Hugely entertaining… The Last Equation of Isaac Severy is full of delight. Though Ms. Jacobs’s writing has echoes of Thomas Pynchon, Nathanael West and J.D. Salinger, her terrific book displays in abundance a magic all its own.”
—The Wall Street Journal

The Family Fang meets The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry in this literary mystery about a struggling bookseller whose recently deceased grandfather, a famed mathematician, left behind a dangerous equation for her to track down—and protect—before others can get their hands on it.

Just days after mathematician and family patriarch Isaac Severy dies of an apparent suicide, his adopted granddaughter Hazel, owner of a struggling Seattle bookstore, receives a letter from him by mail. In it, Isaac alludes to a secretive organization that is after his final bombshell equation, and he charges Hazel with safely delivering it to a trusted colleague. But first, she must find where the equation is hidden.

While in Los Angeles for Isaac’s funeral, Hazel realizes she’s not the only one searching for his life’s work, and that the equation’s implications have potentially disastrous consequences for the extended Severy family, a group of dysfunctional geniuses unmoored by the sudden death of their patriarch.

As agents of an enigmatic company shadow Isaac’s favorite son—a theoretical physicist—and a long-lost cousin mysteriously reappears in Los Angeles, the equation slips further from Hazel’s grasp. She must unravel a series of maddening clues hidden by Isaac inside one of her favorite novels, drawing her ever closer to his mathematical treasure. But when her efforts fall short, she is forced to enlist the help of those with questionable motives.

The Poisoned Pen’s Hot Book of the Week is Lars Kepler’s The Sandman. It’s been all over the media, including at AZ Central, where Roger Anglen reviewed it for The Arizona Republic. https://bit.ly/2FHxKQz. You can order a signed copy of The Sandman through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2FPrLF4

Here’s the description.

“With its tight, staccato chapters and cast of dangerous wraiths lurking everywhere, The Sandman is a nonstop fright.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

The #1 internationally best-selling thriller from the author of The Hypnotist tells the chilling story of a manipulative serial killer and the two brilliant police agents who must try to beat him at his own game.

Late one night, outside Stockholm, Mikael Kohler-Frost is found wandering. Thirteen years earlier, he went missing along with his younger sister. They were long thought to have been victims of Sweden’s most notorious serial killer, Jurek Walter, now serving a life sentence in a maximum security psychiatric hospital. Now Mikael tells the police that his sister is still alive and being held by someone he knows only as the Sandman. Years ago, Detective Inspector Joona Linna made an excruciating personal sacrifice to ensure Jurek’s capture. He is keenly aware of what this killer is capable of, and now he is certain that Jurek has an accomplice. He knows that any chance of rescuing Mikael’s sister depends on getting Jurek to talk, and that the only agent capable of this is Inspector Saga Bauer, a twenty-seven-year-old prodigy. She will have to go under deep cover in the psychiatric ward where Jurek is imprisoned, and she will have to find a way to get to the psychopath before it’s too late–and before he gets inside her head.

*****

The husband-and-wife team of Lars Kepler was just here at The Poisoned Pen, and Roger Anglen interviewed them. If you would like to “meet” the Swedish couple, and see the interview, it’s available on Livestream. https://livestream.com/poisonedpen/events/8111370

Sarah Laskow recently wrote a post called “Book Towns Are Made for Book Lovers” for Atlas Obscura. It can be found at https://bit.ly/2IjEK3z

Laskow discusses the many book towns that have sprung up around the world. However, the true expert on book towns is author Alex Johnson. Laskow talks to Johnson, whose new book, Book Towns is due out next week. If you find the topic fascinating, you can order a copy of Book Towns through the Web Store, and plan your next trip. https://bit.ly/2Hw36WA