Fiction Review

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed co-authors Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch for a virtual event. Meltzer and Mensch are the authors of The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill. There are signed copies of this historical book available in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/23rpwfkc

From the New York Times bestselling authors of The First Conspiracy and The Lincoln Conspiracy comes the little-known true story of a Nazi plot to kill FDR, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill at the height of World War II.

In 1943, as the war against Nazi Germany raged abroad, President Franklin Roosevelt had a critical goal: a face-to-face sit-down with his allies Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill. This first-ever meeting of the Big Three in Tehran, Iran, would decide some of the most crucial strategic details of the war. Yet when the Nazis found out about the meeting, their own secret plan took shape—an assassination plot that would’ve changed history.

A true story filled with daring rescues, body doubles, and political intrigue, The Nazi Conspiracy details FDR’s pivotal meeting in Tehran and the deadly Nazi plot against the heads of state of the three major Allied powers who attended it.

With all the hallmarks of a Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch page-turner, The Nazi Conspiracy explores the great political minds of the twentieth century, investigating the pivotal years of the war in gripping detail. This meeting of the Big Three changed the course of World War II. Here’s the inside story of how it almost led to a world-shattering disaster.

---

BRAD MELTZER is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lightning Rod, The Escape Artist, and over ten other bestselling thrillers, as well as the Ordinary People Change the World series. He is also the host of the History Channel TV shows Brad Meltzer’s Decoded and Brad Meltzer’s Lost History, which he used to help find the missing 9/11 flag that the firefighters raised at Ground Zero.

JOSH MENSCH is a New York Times bestselling author and documentary television producer with a focus on American history. He is co-author with Brad Meltzer of The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington and The Lincoln Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill America’s 16th President. For television he has written, directed, and produced nonfiction series for PBS, the History Channel, and other networks. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his family.

---

This is a fascinating conversation. If you’re a history buff, you might want to watch this event.

Jenn McKinlay’s Hat Shop Mysteries are back! She recently stopped by The Poisoned Pen Bookstore to talk about the new one in the series, Fatal Fascinator. Signed copies are available in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/3w3ftw94

Here’s the description of Fatal Fascinator.

Hip hip beret! Hatmakers Scarlett Parker and Vivian Tremont return and must collar a killer when a castle wedding goes awry in New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay’s new Hat Shop Mystery.

It’s wedding season and Viv’s longtime frenemy Piper May is getting married. She convinces Viv and Scarlett to take on the job of designing the headpieces for her “wedding of the year.” The well-to-do bride and her entourage are delighted to have Viv and Scarlett as their famous hat designer guests, but the hat-making pair are really just looking forward to a getaway at a castle in Sussex. It is to be a weekend full of events, culminating in the big ceremony.  
 
Unfortunately, on the first night of the festivities, the groom is found murdered, and the joyous holiday becomes the stuff of nightmares as no one is allowed to leave the castle until the investigation is complete. Although Scarlett assures Harrison Wentworth, her fiancé, that she and Viv will stay out of harm’s way, circumstances force them to step in when a secret affair between the deceased groom and a bridesmaid comes to light, and the murderer takes another life. Scarlett and Viv vow to unveil the killer’s identity before the wedding adds another to its death toll.

---

Jenn McKinlay is the award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of several mystery and romance series. Her work has been translated into multiple languages in countries all over the world. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets, and her husband’s guitars.

---

Jenn’s events are always fun. Check it out.

Stacy Willingham’s latest thriller, All the Dangerous Things, is the Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store now, https://tinyurl.com/4w98zdw8, and then you can “meet” Willingham at a live event on January 12 at 7 PM MST, 9 PM EST. Of course, the event will also be livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube.

Here’s the description of All the Dangerous Things.

Following up her instant New York Times bestseller, A Flicker in the Dark, Stacy Willingham delivers a totally gripping thriller about a desperate mother with a troubled past in All the Dangerous Things.

One year ago, Isabelle Drake’s life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally.

Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year.

Isabelle’s entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can’t go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his interest in Isabelle’s past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust… including herself. But she is determined to figure out the truth no matter where it leads.

---

STACY WILLINGHAM is the New York Times and internationallybestselling author of A Flicker in the Dark. Before turning to fiction, she was a copywriter and brand strategist for various marketing agencies. She earned her BA in magazine journalism from the University of Georgia and MFA in writing from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Her work has been translated in over 30 countries. She currently lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her husband, Britt, and Labradoodle, Mako, where she is always working on her next book.

Jayne Ann Krentz kicks off her Lost Night Files trilogy with Sleep No More. Signed copies of this Hot Book of the Week are available in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/55kpwpae Krentz recently talked about Sleep No More with Barbara Peters and John Charles from The Poisoned Pen.

Here’s the description of Sleep No More.

New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz returns with the first novel of the Lost Night Files, an exciting new romantic suspense trilogy about a night that changed three women forever—but that none of them can remember. 

Seven months ago, Pallas Llewellyn, Talia March, and Amelia Rivers were strangers, until their fateful stay at the Lucent Springs Hotel. An earthquake and a fire partially destroyed the hotel, but the women have no memory of their time there. Now close friends, the three women co-host a podcast called the Lost Night Files, where they investigate cold cases and hope to connect with others who may have had a similar experience to theirs—an experience that has somehow enhanced the psychic abilities already present in each woman.
 
After receiving a tip for their podcast, Pallas travels to the small college town of Carnelian, California, to explore an abandoned asylum. Shaken by the dark energy she feels in the building, she is rushing out when she’s stopped by a dark figure—who turns out to be the women’s mysterious tipster.
 
Ambrose Drake is certain he’s a witness to a murder, but without a body, everyone thinks he’s having delusions caused by extreme sleep deprivation. But Ambrose is positive something terrible happened at the Carnelian Sleep Institute the night he was there. Unable to find proof on his own, he approaches Pallas for help, only for her to realize that Ambrose, too, has a lost night that he can’t remember—one that may be connected to Pallas. Pallas and Ambrose conduct their investigation using the podcast as a cover, and while the townsfolk are eager to share what they know, it turns out there are others who are not so happy about their questions—and someone is willing to kill to keep the truth from coming out.

---

Jayne Ann Krentz is the author of more than fifty New York Times bestsellers. She has written contemporary romantic suspense novels under that name, as well as futuristic and historical romance novels under the pseudonyms Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick, respectively. There are more than 35 million copies of her books in print. She lives in Seattle.

---

Enjoy the discussion with Jayne Ann Krentz.

Scottish author Carole Johnstone recently did a virtual event with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen. Johnstone’s latest thriller, The Blackhouse, is available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/item/rPCoGQ_-yAUJCuWlAis4fg

Here’s the description of The Blackhouse.

From the author of the “dark and devious…beautifully written” (Stephen King) Mirrorland comes a richly atmospheric thriller set on an isolated Scottish island where nothing is as it seems and shocking twists lie around every corner.

A remote village. A deadly secret. An outsider who knows the truth.

Robert Reid moved his family to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides in the 1990s, driven by hope, craving safety and community, and hiding a terrible secret. But despite his best efforts to fit in, Robert is always seen as an outsider. And as the legendary and violent Hebridean storms rage around him, he begins to unravel, believing his fate on the remote island of Kilmeray cannot be escaped.

For her entire life, Maggie MacKay has sensed something was wrong with her. When Maggie was five years old, she announced that a man on Kilmeray—a place she’d never visited—had been murdered. Her unfounded claim drew media attention and turned the locals against each other, creating rifts that never mended.

Nearly twenty years later, Maggie is determined to find out what really happened, and what the islanders are hiding. But when she begins to receive ominous threats, Maggie is forced to consider how much she is willing to risk to discover the horrifying truth.

Unnerving, enthralling, and filled with gothic suspense, The Blackhouse is a spectacularly sinister tale readers won’t soon forget.

---

Carole Johnstone’s award-winning short fiction has appeared in annual “Best of” anthologies in the United States and United Kingdom. She lives with her husband in an old farmhouse outside Glasgow, Scotland, though her heart belongs to the sea and the wild islands of the Hebrides. She is the author of Mirrorland and The Blackhouse.

---

Enjoy the conversation with author Carole Johnstone.

Jayne Ann Krentz’ Sleep No More is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. Krentz is guest author for a virtual event on Thursday, January 5 at 6 PM on YouTube and Facebook. Signed copies of Sleep No More are available through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/55kpwpae

Here is the summary of Sleep No More.

New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz returns with the first novel of the Lost Night Files, an exciting new romantic suspense trilogy about a night that changed three women forever—but that none of them can remember. 

Seven months ago, Pallas Llewellyn, Talia March, and Amelia Rivers were strangers, until their fateful stay at the Lucent Springs Hotel. An earthquake and a fire partially destroyed the hotel, but the women have no memory of their time there. Now close friends, the three women co-host a podcast called the Lost Night Files, where they investigate cold cases and hope to connect with others who may have had a similar experience to theirs—an experience that has somehow enhanced the psychic abilities already present in each woman.
 
After receiving a tip for their podcast, Pallas travels to the small college town of Carnelian, California, to explore an abandoned asylum. Shaken by the dark energy she feels in the building, she is rushing out when she’s stopped by a dark figure—who turns out to be the women’s mysterious tipster.
 
Ambrose Drake is certain he’s a witness to a murder, but without a body, everyone thinks he’s having delusions caused by extreme sleep deprivation. But Ambrose is positive something terrible happened at the Carnelian Sleep Institute the night he was there. Unable to find proof on his own, he approaches Pallas for help, only for her to realize that Ambrose, too, has a lost night that he can’t remember—one that may be connected to Pallas. Pallas and Ambrose conduct their investigation using the podcast as a cover, and while the townsfolk are eager to share what they know, it turns out there are others who are not so happy about their questions—and someone is willing to kill to keep the truth from coming out.

---

Jayne Ann Krentz is the author of more than fifty New York Times bestsellers. She has written contemporary romantic suspense novels under that name, as well as futuristic and historical romance novels under the pseudonyms Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick, respectively. There are more than 35 million copies of her books in print. She lives in Seattle.

Let’s end 2022 on a positive note with Amanda Flower’s list of her pandemic reading.

Amanda Flower is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning author of over forty-five mystery novels. Her novels have received starred reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Romantic Times, and she had been featured in USA Today, First for Women, and Woman’s World. She currently writes for Penguin-Random House (Berkley), Kensington, and Sourcebooks. In addition to being a writer, she was a librarian for fifteen years. Today, Flower and her husband own a farm and recording studio, and they live in Northeast Ohio with their six adorable cats.

I’ve only met Amanda once, but I know how humble she is. She included one of her books in the list because I asked the authors to do that. But, it’s an older title, and I’m going to mention several of her books after she gets a chance to discuss her pandemic reading.

Don’t forget to check the Web Store for Flower’s book suggestions. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Most of the books I read during the pandemic were research for upcoming books that I was writing, but I also snuck in a few cozies and fun reads. Here are my top four.

1) Maid as Muse: How Servants Changed Emily Dickinson’s Life and Language by Aife Murray

This is a history of the servants in Emily Dickinson’s house. It was invaluable to me in writing Because I Could Not Stop for Death, the first novel in the Emily Dickinson Mysteries because the novel is narrated by a maid in the Dickinson home. I went back to it again and again writing the second novel in the series, I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died.

2) Death by Dumpling: A Noodle Shop Mystery by Vivien Chien

This was such a fun cozy debut, and I went on to read several more in the series during the pandemic. My favorite part was it was set in Cleveland, not too far from where I live.

3) Ralph Waldo Emerson: The Infinitude of the Private Man by Maurice York and Rick Spaulding

Another book I read for research for the Emily Dickinson Mysteries. The Dickinsons were friends of Emerson. I love it when my real life literary heroes intertwine.

4) Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World by Max Lucado

This book by Max Lucado I actually read twice during the pandemic to help me deal with the anxiety of everything. It was a great help. I highly recommend.

Marshmallow Malice: An Amish Candy Shop Mystery

It’s one of my own books, but it came out the spring of 2020 and is just a humorous cozy in Amish country and one of my bestselling books because people needed escape at that time. I was happy to provide.

---

And, I’m happy to provide information about two of Amanda Flower’s recent releases. She mentioned her September release, Because I Could Not Stop for Death, the first of her Emily Dickinson Mysteries.

Emily Dickinson and her housemaid, Willa Noble, realize there is nothing poetic about murder in this first book in an all-new series from USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award–winning author Amanda Flower.

January 1855 Willa Noble knew it was bad luck when it was pouring rain on the day of her ever-important job interview at the Dickinson home in Amherst, Massachusetts. When she arrived late, disheveled with her skirts sodden and filthy, she’d lost all hope of being hired for the position. As the housekeeper politely told her they’d be in touch, Willa started toward the door of the stately home only to be called back by the soft but strong voice of Emily Dickinson. What begins as tenuous employment turns to friendship as the reclusive poet takes Willa under her wing. 

Tragedy soon strikes and Willa’s beloved brother, Henry, is killed in a tragic accident at the town stables. With no other family and nowhere else to turn, Willa tells Emily about her brother’s death and why she believes it was no accident. Willa is convinced it was murder. Henry had been very secretive of late, only hinting to Willa that he’d found a way to earn money to take care of them both. Viewing it first as a puzzle to piece together, Emily offers to help, only to realize that she and Willa are caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse that reveals corruption in Amherst that is generations deep. Some very high-powered people will stop at nothing to keep their profitable secrets even if that means forever silencing Willa and her new mistress….

Honeymoons Can Be Hazardous, the fourth Amish Matchmaker Mystery, was just released Dec. 27.

Set in the fan favorite Amish village of Harvest, Ohio, the latest novel in USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower’s Amish Matchmaker series brings back the unlikely sleuthing duo of an Amish widow and her zany, thrice divorced best friend. Will appeal to fans of cozy mysteries, small-town mysteries, wholesome romance, inspirational fiction, and readers of Jennifer Beckstrand, Charlotte Hubbard, Rachel J. Good, and other authors of Amish fiction.

Widowed matchmaker Millie Fisher is anything but lonely between her mischievous goats, her quilting circle—and her habit of solving the odd murder or two . . .

Millie’s decidedly not Amish best friend, Lois Henry, is outspoken, colorful, and so hopelessly romantic, she’s had four husbands. Millie doesn’t judge, and she also doesn’t expect to run into Lois’s most recent ex, gambler Gerome Moorhead, in small-town Harvest, Ohio. With him is the very young, new Mrs. Moorhead, aka “Honeybee.” Lois is outraged, but Millie is completely shocked to learn the next day that Gerome is already a widower . . .

When a large wood carving at the cozy Munich Chalet falls on “Honeybee,” all eyes turn toward Lois. Who else would want a tourist—a complete stranger—dead? And half of Harvest witnessed Lois’s enmity toward the young woman. Suddenly Millie must put aside her sewing needle and flex her sleuthing skills. She’s no stranger to a murder investigation, after all, and if she doesn’t learn who killed Honeybee, Lois could go from Millie’s boisterous best friend to her horrified prison penpal . . .

Let’s face it. As the events end for 2022 at The Poisoned Pen, and most sites are posting “Best of” lists, I don’t have anything to post right now. So, as in other years, I’m going to take a short break. When I have new material, I’ll post it.

I wish you Happy Holidays, no matter what holiday you celebrate.

I’m thankful this week that Dianne Freeman agreed to write a post for us. What books helped her through the pandemic?

Dianne Freeman is the acclaimed author of the Countess of Harleigh Mystery series. She is an Agatha Award and Lefty Award winner, as well as a finalist for the prestigious Mary Higgins Clark Award and the Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award. After thirty years of working in corporate accounting and finance, she now writes full-time. Born and raised in Michigan, she and her husband split their time between Michigan and Arizona. Visit her at www.DiFreeman.com.

Thank you, Dianne!

Don’t forget to look for these books, and Dianne’s, in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

My taste in reading went through some changes over the last few years. I’ve always loved crime fiction. I started with thrillers and slowly transitioned to suspense. During the pandemic, I really couldn’t focus on either of those sub-genres. They were just too dark for me. I needed something different, and the following mysteries filled the bill. They aren’t all lighthearted, but something about them, the character, the setting, or the era, managed to put a smile on my face. Certain elements; the earnest naiveite of a young woman, competitive would-be sleuths, the warmth of the British Homefront, and the innocence of a 10-year-old made all these books so much more than just a good read.

A Socialite’s Guide to Murder by S.K. Golden

In the late 1950s, Evelyn Elizabeth Grace Murphy’s young life has revolved around the glamorous Pinnacle Hotel in New York City. Her mother was murdered years ago, her father is rarely around, and Evelyn is agoraphobic. The hotel staff provide for her every need, so over time, it has become her safe space—until someone is murdered there.

Evelyn takes this defilement of her father’s hotel personally and is determined to unmask the killer. Despite her idiosyncrasies—she’s naïve, wants to be Marilyn Monroe, takes her little Pomeranian with her everywhere, is unfailingly kind, and completely blind to the fact that many of the staff and guests think she’s cracked, (she is a bit), and don’t forget the agoraphobia—she manages to pull it off and make me like her. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can’t wait for more.

A Trace of Poison by Colleen Cambridge

A complete opposite to Evelyn is Cambridge’s protagonist, the no-nonsense Phyllida Bright, housekeeper to the famed author, Agatha Christie. This is the second book in the series and takes place at a mystery writers conference in the local village. Everyone in attendance is either a published mystery author, including the likes of G K Chesterton, Dorothy Sayers, and of course Agatha Christie, or an amateur vying for a chance at publication to be awarded at the end of the conference. When one of the amateur writers is murdered right in front of them, it takes the calm perseverance of Phyllida Bright to flush out the culprit.

The style is reminiscent of the Golden Age of mystery, and Phyllida, with her very proper and prickly manner is a delightful sleuth.

A Courage Undimmed by Stephanie Graves

Graves’ Olive Bright mysteries take place in the British Homefront of WWII. The protagonist, Olive, trains carrier pigeons for the war effort and hopes to become an agent, but at the moment, she’s playing escort to a visiting officer—Lieutenant Commander Ian Flemming. While at a séance held by a newcomer to the village, the medium is murdered and everyone in the village expects Olive to solve the crime.

These books are always rich with historical details I’d previously known nothing about, like the work of Station XVII, Operation Anthropoid, and even the carrier pigeons Olive trains. But what really pulls me in is Graves’ depiction of English village life which has all the feels of All Creatures Great and Small, but with a mystery.

A Lovely Girl by Deborah Holt Larkin

This is the true story of Olga Dunkin’s abduction and murder in 1958 California, and the trial of her killers. It’s also the tender memoir of a 10-year-old girl obsessed with Olga’s disappearance, and her father, a reporter who covered the story and the trial. Debby is an innocent child in what we generally consider a more innocent time, coming to terms with a crime that is so monstrous, it’s almost unbelievable. The story is artfully told, with details of the investigation woven into nostalgic scenes of growing up in the 50s. That, and the young narrator’s simple faith that you can’t hurt someone and get away with it, made this book an extraordinary read for me.

I asked each of the authors to discuss their own book. Dianne Freeman’s latest is A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder.

A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder

Writing my own books and spending my days in late Victorian London definitely helped me hang onto my sanity over the past two years. Frances has a bright outlook that always picks me up. She has every reason for optimism in this book, she and George Hazelton are getting married. She’s been hosting family for a bit too long and can’t wait until she and George escape on their wedding trip. Unfortunately, before they can leave, Inspector Delaney arrives at the reception with bad news. Mr. Connor, who lives next door, has been murdered, and Frances’ brother was found at the scene holding the murder weapon.