Fiction Review

Patrick MIllikin and Jennifer Johans recently hosted William Boyle for a virtual event. Jennifer Johans is a new employee of The Poisoned Pen, as well as a podcaster and film critic. So, they’re the perfect pair to welcome Boyle who discussed his new book, Saint of the Narrows Street. There are signed copies of the book available through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4gv7wNx.

Here’s the description of Saint of the Narrows Street.

Saint of the Narrows Street

As an Italian American family’s decades-old secret begins to unravel, they will have to bear the consequences—and face each other—in this thrilling south Brooklyn-set tragic opera of the highest caliber from crime fiction luminary William Boyle.

William Boyle is the master of Brooklyn-set crime fiction and Saint of the Narrows Street is his magnum opus. For fans of The Sopranos, Jonathan Lethem, and Dennis Lehane.

Gravesend, Brooklyn, 1986: Risa Franzone lives in a ground-floor apartment on Saint of the Narrows Street with her bad-seed husband, Saverio, and their eight-month-old baby, Fabrizio. On the night Risa’s younger sister, Giulia, moves in to recover from a bad breakup, a fateful accident occurs: Risa, boiled over with anger and fear, strikes a drunk, erratic Sav with a cast-iron pan, killing him on
the spot.

The sisters are left with a choice: notify the authorities and make a case for self-defense, or bury the man’s body and go on with their lives as best they can. In a moment of panic, in the late hours of the night, they call upon Sav’s childhood friend—the sweet, loyal Christopher “Chooch” Gardini—to help them, hoping they can trust him to carry a secret like this.

Over the vast expanse of the next eighteen years, life goes on in the working-class Italian neighborhood of Gravesend as Risa, Giulia, Chooch, and eventually Fabrizio grapple with what happened that night. A standout work of character-driven crime fiction from a celebrated author of the form, Saint of the Narrows Street is a searing and richly drawn novel about the choices we make and how they shape our lives.

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William Boyle is the author of eight books set in the southern Brooklyn neighborhood where he was born and raised, including his debut, Gravesend; the story collection Death Don’t Have No Mercy; The Lonely Witness, nominated for the Hammett Prize; A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself, an Amazon Best Book of 2019; City of Margins, a Washington Post Best Thriller and Mystery Book of 2020; and Shoot the Moonlight Out, listed by CrimeReads as one of the ten best noir novels of 2021. He currently lives in Oxford, Mississippi.

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Enjoy the conversation with William Boyle.

Jonathan Kellerman recently appeared for The Poisoned Pen to discuss his latest Alex Delaware novel, Open Season.There are signed copies of the book available through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3QamlKA.

Here’s the summary of Open Season.

The most beloved and enduring duo in American crime fiction is back.

Psychologist Alex Delaware and Homicide Detective Milo Sturgis race against time to find a twisted killer in this riveting thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling “master of suspense” (Los Angeles Times).

People come to Los Angeles to chase their dreams. Sometimes they find themselves cast into a nightmare. And sometimes, the most ardent dreamers turn out to be the most vicious monsters.

The body of an aspiring actress is found dumped near a hospital emergency room. She’s been drugged and murdered and the motive for the callous crime remains maddeningly out of reach. Until, a prime suspect materializes. Another Hollywood hopeful. Only to be shot dead by a sniper using a weapon that turns out to have been catalogued in a previous murder. And another, before that. It’s not long before more bodies begin piling up.

What makes the murderous spree baffling is the apparent lack of connection among the victims. Is this the work of a random thrill killer, the toughest of all cases to unravel?

But as Alex and Milo dig deeper they’re faced with an even knottier scenario: a highly complex killer with deep-seated motivation that will require all of their highly honed skills to decipher.

The latest page-turner from #1 New York Times bestseller Jonathan Kellerman, is a tale of psychological complexity, dark suspense, and shocking surprises. A wild ride through L.A.’s surreal underbelly climaxed by an edge-of-the chair conclusion.

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Jonathan Kellerman has lived in two worlds: clinical psychologist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty crime novels. His unique perspective on human behavior has led to the creation of the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher’s Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, True Detectives, and The Murderer’s Daughter. With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. With his son, bestselling novelist Jesse Kellerman, he co-authored The Burning, Half Moon Bay, A Measure of Darkness, Crime Scene, The Golem of Hollywood, and The Golem of Paris. He is also the author of two children’s books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association, and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. Jonathan and Faye Kellerman live in California.

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Enjoy the conversation with Jonathan Kellerman and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.

Barbara Peters welcomed Joseph Finder back to The Poisoned Pen to discuss her new book, The Oligarch’s Daughter. The Oligarch’s Daughter is the Crime Novel of the Month at the bookstore. At the time of writing this, there were still a couple signed copies of the book left in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3Q2XAzY

Here’s the description of The Oligarch’s Daughter.

https://bit.ly/3Q2XAzY

“Any new novel by Joseph Finder is a ticket to reading pleasure, and this one is hands down his best ever.”—Stephen King

“This is Finder at his finest—a perfect everyman-in-peril story, first building an ominous drumbeat of menace, then exploding in action and intrigue and triumph. As good as it gets.”—Lee Child

From the New York Times bestselling author of House on Fire, a breakneck thriller that marries the dynastic opulence of Succession with the tense and disorienting spycraft of The Americans.

Paul Brightman is a man on the run, living under an assumed name in a small New England town with a million-dollar bounty on his head. When his security is breached, Paul is forced to flee into the New Hampshire wilderness to evade Russian operatives who can seemingly predict his every move.

Six years ago, Paul was a rising star on Wall Street who fell in love with a beautiful photographer named Tatyana—unaware that her father was a Russian oligarch and the object of considerable interest from several U.S. intelligence agencies. Now, to save his own life, Paul must unravel a decades-old conspiracy that extends to the highest reaches of the government.

Rivaling the classic spy novels of the Cold War, The Oligarch’s Daughter is built for the frightening world we live in now.

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Joseph Finder is the New York Times bestselling author of fifteen suspense novels, including House on Fire, The Fixer, and Suspicion. Two of his novels have been adapted into major motion pictures—Paranoia (starring Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman) and High Crimes (starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman). Four more have won the industry’s top best novel awards—Killer Instinct (the International Thriller Writers Award), Buried Secrets (the Strand Critics Award); Guilty Minds (the Barry Award), and Company Man (the Barry Award). Finder lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Enjoy Barbara Peters’ conversation with Joseph Finder.

Malice Domestic recently announced the nominees for the 2025 Agatha Awards. So Many of these authors have appeared at The Poisoned Pen in the last year. You can order the books through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Congratulations to all of the nominees!

Best Contemporary Novel

A Collection of Lies by Connie Berry
A Midnight Puzzle by Gigi Pandian
A Very Woodsy Murder by Ellen Byron
Fondue or Die by Korina Moss
The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves

Best Historical Novel

Hall of Mirrors by John Copenhaver
The Last Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal
The Paris Mistress by Mally Becker
The Wharton Plot by Mariah Fredericks
To Slip the Bonds of Earth by Amanda Flower

Best First Novel

A Deadly Endeavor by Jenny Adams
Ghosts of Waikiki by Jennifer K. Morita
Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles by Elizabeth Crowens
Threads of Deception by Elle Jaufret
You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen

Best Short Story

“A Matter of Trust” by Barb Goffman, Three Strikes-You’re Dead
“Reynisfjara” by Kristopher Zgorski, Mystery Most International
“Satan’s Spit” by Gabriel Valjan, Tales of Music, Murder, and Mayhem: Bouchercon 2024
“Sins of the Father” by Kerry Hammond, Mystery Most International
“The Postman Always Flirts Twice” by Barb Goffman, Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy

Best Non-Fiction

Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder by Greg Lilly
Agatha Christie, Marple: Expert on Wickedness by Mark Aldridge
Some of My Best Friends Are Murderers: Critiquing the Columbo Killers by Chris Chan
The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss
Writing the Cozy Mystery: Authors Perspectives on Their Craft edited by Phyllis M. Betz

Best Children’s/YA Mystery

First Week Free at the Roomy Toilet: A June Knight Mystery by Josh Pachter
Sasquatch of Harriman Lake by K.B. Jackson
Sid Johnson and the Well-Intended Conspiracy by Frances Schoonmaker
The Big Grey Man of Ben Macdhui by K.B. Jackson
The Sherlock Society by James Ponti

Barbara Peters, bookstore owner, recently welcomed a long-time friend to The Poisoned Pen. James Byrne is the author of the Hot Book of the Week, Chain Reaction. It’s the third book to feature a wonderful thriller hero, Dez Limerick. Peters and Byrne talk about Dez and the stories that brought him to this most recent one. There are signed copies of Chain Reaction available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4giPZIo. But, if you really want to get to know this remarkable lead character, check out the earlier books as well, The Gatekeeper and Deadlock. https://bit.ly/4giPZIo

Here’s the description of Chain Reaction.

Dez Limerick, a man of many skills and a murky past, faces the impossible-a skilled, deadly opponent who anticipates his every move in James Byrne’s Chain Reaction.

Desmond Aloysius Limerick (“Dez” to his friends and close personal enemies) is a man with a shadowy past, certain useful hard-won skills, and, if one digs deep enough, a reputation as a good man to have at your back. He was trained as a “gatekeeper”—he can open any door, keep it open as long as necessary, and control who does—and does not—go through. Now retired from his previous life, Dez still tries to keep his skills up to date.

Knocking around the country, picking up the occasional gig as a guitarist, Dez is contacted by a friend in urgent need of his musical skills. At his behest, Dez flies to the East Coast to a gig at the brand new massive complex, the Liberty Center. But he’s barely landed before he finds himself in the midst of a terrorist attack, a group has taken over the whole center and thousands of hostage lives are in danger. With the semi-willing help of a talented thief, Dez takes on the impossible task of outfighting and outwitting a literal army. But that’s just the beginning, as Dez learns he was actually lured there under false pretenses, by someone who knows more about Dez, his past and his skills than any living person should.

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JAMES BYRNE is the pseudonym for an author who has worked for more than twenty years as a journalist and in politics. A native of the Pacific Northwest, he lives in Portland, Oregon.

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Enjoy the conversation with James Byrne and Barbara Peters.

Freelance reviewer Oline Cogdill recently reviewed Alison Gaylin’s We Are Watching. There are signed copies of the book available in The Poisoned Pen’s Webstore. https://bit.ly/4jHWhV4

A mere whisper that something evil is afoot can blow up into nasty rumors spread by conspiracy theorists, as Edgar winner Alison Gaylin explores in the explosive We Are Watching. Gaylin creates an unpredictable plot in which the gullible are convinced to believe outlandish ideas that infiltrate ordinary lives.

Meg Russo and her husband, Justin, are driving their 18-year-old daughter, Lily, to college in Ithaca, N.Y., when skinheads in a pursuing car harass them. It leads to a horrific crash in which Justin is killed. Months later, Meg, who was driving, is still wracked with guilt, and Lily is living at home, withdrawn into her music, wanting to emulate her rock musician grandfather who lives off the grid. Meg and Lily become targets of a cult that believes a fantasy novel Meg wrote back when she was 15 is a harbinger of doom. The bookstore Meg owns in Elizabethville, N.Y., is vandalized and the intimidation escalates, as do Meg’s suspicions that the car crash that took Justin’s life is somehow connected.

Briskly paced, We Are Watching demonstrates how ordinary people can overcome outrageous circumstances. Gaylin superbly shows how close relationships in a small town can be both an asset and a detriment, and how the relationship between a parent and child can undergo changes, with Meg acknowledging she must recover from her own grief to save her family from the violent cultists. In the end, Gaylin  delivers a terrifying story about the most innocuous situation being taken out of context and twisted into a weapon. —Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer

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Alison Gaylin is the USA Today and international bestselling author of thirteen books, including the stand-alones The Collective and If I Die Tonight (winner of the Edgar Award) and the Brenna Spector series: And She Was (winner of the Shamus Award), Into the Dark, and Stay With Me. Nominated for the Edgar four times, she has also been a finalist for numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Strand Book Award and the ITW Thriller, Macavity and Anthony Awards. She lives with her husband in Woodstock, New York.

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You can watch guest host Talia Lavin discuss We Are Watching with Alison Gaylin.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed John McMahon back to the bookstore. McMahon said his first appearance at the bookstore was with William Kent Krueger. He appeared then with his book The Good Detective. And, his most recent appearance was just before COVID shut everything down. He talks about his writing, and his new book, Head Cases. There are signed copies of Head Cases available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/40U9VN9

Here’s the description of Head Cases.

Head Cases follows an enigmatic group of FBI agents as they hunt down a murderer seeking his own justice in this electrifying—and commercial—series debut.

FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He also has a blind spot on the human side of investigations, a blindness that sometimes even includes people in his own life, like his beloved seven-year-old daughter Camila. Gardner and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI’s hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve.

When DNA links a murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead, the team springs into action. A second victim establishes a pattern, and the murderer begins leaving a trail of clues and riddles especially for Gardner. And while the PAR team is usually relegated to working cold cases from behind a desk, the investigation puts them on the road and into the public eye, following in the footsteps of a killer.

Along with Gardner, PAR consists of a mathematician, a weapons expert, a computer analyst, and their leader, a career agent. Each of them must use every skill they have to solve the riddle of the killer’s identity. But with the perpetrator somehow learning more and more about the team at PAR, can they protect themselves and their families…before it’s too late?

With an enigmatic case that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and a thoroughly engaging ensemble cast, John McMahon’s Head Cases is a triumph.

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The New York Times called John McMahon’s debut novel, The Good Detective “pretty much perfect” and listed it among their “Top Ten Crime Novels of 2019.” The book was a finalist for the 2020 Edgar Award and the ITW Thriller Award, both for Best First Novel. Head Cases is his fourth novel. John currently lives in Southern California with his wife, two kids and a rescue dog. He splits his time between crime writing and his day job in advertising.

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Enjoy the conversation with John McMahon about his new book and characters.

This week’s Hot Book of the Week, Johnny Careless, is a debut novel by Kevin Wade, screenwriter and showrunner for “Blue Bloods”. Wade appeared virtually for the bookstore just the other day. There are signed copies of the book available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4aC8S82

Here’s the description of Johnny Careless.

“A fast-moving classic crime novel” (John Sandford) crafted by the veteran screenwriter and showrunner for the acclaimed police procedural series Blue Bloods, Johnny Careless is Kevin Wade’s razor-sharp debut novel.

Police Chief Jeep Mullane has been bounced back home to Long Island’s North Shore by a heartbreaking case that both earned him his NYPD detective’s shield and burned him out of the Job. Now heading up a small local police department, he finds himself navigating the same geography he did growing up there as the son of an NYPD cop. Jeep is a “have-not” among the glittering “haves,” a sharp-witted, down-to-earth man in a territory defined and ruled by multigenerational wealth and power and the daunting tribal codes and customs that come with it.

When the corpse of Jeep’s childhood friend Johnny Chambliss—born into privilege and known as “Johnny Careless” for his reckless, golden-boy antics—surfaces in the Bayville waters, past collides with present, and Jeep is pulled into a treacherous web. He is challenged by Johnny’s wealthy and secretive family and his beautiful, enigmatic ex-wife as he untangles a knotted mystery fraught with theft, corrupt local moguls, and decades-old secrets, all while grappling with his own deep-seated grief for his lost pal.

A fast-paced story, Johnny Careless “combines grit and wit in a way that conjures Donald Westlake or Robert Parker in full stride” (Carl Hiassen).

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Kevin Wade is a playwright, screenwriter, and television writer and producer whose credits include the stage plays Key Exchange, Mr. & Mrs., and Cruise Control, and the screenplays for Working Girl (seven Academy Award nominations), True Colors, Mr. Baseball, Junior, Meet Joe Black, and Maid in Manhattan. For television, he created the ABC television drama Cashmere Mafiaand in 2010 joined the rookie CBS drama Blue Bloods as a writer. Starting with the second season and for the rest of the show’s fourteen year-run, Wade served as its showrunner, executive producer, and back-seat driver.

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Enjoy the conversation with Kevin Wade.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Kemper Donovan to the bookstore. Donovan is a podcaster, host of “All About Agatha”, so it was appropriate that they talked about Agatha Christie before they dove into Donovan’s books. His latest one is Loose Lips. There are signed copies available through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3PVmqlC

Here’s the description of Loose Lips.

Knives Out meets high seas intrigue on a literary cruise to nowhere in this intelligent, wildly funny locked room mystery for fans of Richard Osman, Anthony Horowitz, Nita Prose, and Agatha Christie!

The USA Today bestselling host of the “All About Agatha” podcast injects the spark and fizz of a Golden Age murder mystery into the present-day, as the ghostwriter’s skills are put to the test aboard a bestselling author’s decidedly insalubrious cruise.

Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach. So goes the adage, but sometimes, even a first-rate ghostwriter and successful mystery author needs to make a buck. Even if that means setting foot on a cruise ship, something she vowed she’d never do. To top it off, the “Get Lit Cruise” is being organized by Payton Garrett, a very popular, bestselling author—and the ghostwriter’s long-time frenemy from back in their MFA days.

Over the years, Payton has reinvented herself. She gained a wife while ditching her journalist husband—who is also on board. And she’s acquired a rabid following who eagerly snapped up the invitations sent to a select few of her newsletter subscribers. The guests, all female, will receive personalized instruction from experts in five different writing genres, while basking in Payton’s reflected glow.

Between mentoring guests, flirting with Payton’s ex, and taking bets on how long before someone performs a reenactment of Titanic’s “I’m flying!” scene (answer: not long enough), there’s plenty to keep a ghostwriter occupied. But there’s one activity nobody expected: solving a murder.

When an attendee is found dead under suspicious circumstances and several others suffer symptoms of poisoning, there are numerous motives and suspects to choose from. But could it be that the victim wasn’t even the intended target? As the body count rises along with onboard tensions, no one is safe—except, perhaps, for a killer whose scruples have long abandoned ship. And of course, like every well-plotted mystery, this one has an extra twist . . .

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Kemper Donovan is an acclaimed author and host of the “All About Agatha” podcast. A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School, he worked at the literary management company Circle of Confusion for a decade before transitioning to writing full-time. He is a member of the New York Bar Association, PEN America, and Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his husband and daughters in Los Angeles and can be found online at KemperDonovan.com.

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Enjoy the conversation about Agatha Christie, her books, and Kemper Donovan’s books.

As January draws to a close, it’s time to share staff member Deb Lewis’ selections for books to read in the next month. You can go directly to the Webstore page from her picks.

The Wolf Tree by Laura McCluskey

An isolated island steeped in mystery, filled with hostile and misleading villagers, a murder here is not the case Detective Georgina Lennox wanted to catch on her return to the force after a devastating accident.  Who to trust and what is everyone hiding? My favorite kind of mystery, for fans of Tana French and Laura Lipman.

Website Link to Buy

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks 

The author of such fabulous books as Horse, Year of Wonders and People of the Book takes us on her journey after her husband’s sudden, untimely death. Written in a stream of discovery style, no subject is taboo as she re-discovers life in an alien terrain. A gifted writer fights her way back, by giving us a stunning glimpse into her amazing life and love. 

Website Link To Buy

Saint of the Narrows Street by William Boyle 

Told over the course of many decades, this story follows two Italian sisters caught up in a secret surrounding one violent, impulsive act. I love this writer’s ability to transport you to another place, and fill it with characters you feel like you met somewhere before. Twisty!

Website Link To Buy

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes

Best Selling writer Jojo Moyes writes a particular kind of book: always filled with loveable characters in exasperating circumstances. Death, divorce, the dubious pleasures of dating again and a long lost father are featured in this one and it does not disappoint – all 400 plus pages. if you need an uplifting read right now, this one’s for you.

Website Link To Buy

And in a nod to Black History Month: a unique horror debut written by Neena Viel 

Listen To Your Sister by Neena Viel

Imagine the classic horror tale, blood drenched walls, appearing and disappearing ghosts and things that go bump in the night. Imagine that horror on top of your daily struggles: no money to fix your broken down car, rats coming in your apartment, racial profiling by the police, ramen for dinner again and you have the incredibly stylish and truly horrifying new book by Neena Viel. Three young black siblings, struggling to stay alive, dropped into a nightmarish cascade of events: will their ties to each other be enough to survive? 

Website Link To Buy