Dean Koontz and Quicksilver

Of course, Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, is happy that Dean Koontz’ latest book, Quicksilver, is entirely set in Arizona. Koontz introduces his character, Quinn Quicksilver, in conversation with Peters. There are signed copies of Quicksilver available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/32I8Fla

Here’s the description of Quicksilver.

#1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz takes a surprising and exhilarating road trip with a man in pursuit of his strange past—mile by frightening mile.

Quinn Quicksilver was born a mystery—abandoned at three days old on a desert highway in Arizona. Raised in an orphanage, never knowing his parents, Quinn had a happy if unexceptional life. Until the day of “strange magnetism.” It compelled him to drive out to the middle of nowhere. It helped him find a coin worth a lot of money. And it practically saved his life when two government agents showed up in the diner in pursuit of him. Now Quinn is on the run from those agents and who knows what else, fleeing for his life.

During a shoot-out at a forlorn dude ranch, he finally meets his destined companions: Bridget Rainking, a beauty as gifted in foresight as she is with firearms, and her grandpa Sparky, a romance novelist with an unusual past. Bridget knows what it’s like to be Quinn. She’s hunted, too. The only way to stay alive is to keep moving.

Barreling through the Sonoran Desert, the formidable trio is impelled by that same inexplicable magnetism toward the inevitable. With every deeply disturbing mile, something sinister is in the rearview—an enemy that is more than a match for Quinn. Even as he discovers within himself resources that are every bit as scary.


Internationally bestselling author Dean Koontz was only a senior in college when he won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition. He has never stopped writing since. Koontz is the author of seventy-nine New York Times bestsellers, fourteen of which rose to #1, including One Door Away from HeavenFrom the Corner of His EyeMidnightCold FireThe Bad PlaceHideawayDragon TearsIntensitySole SurvivorThe HusbandOdd HoursRelentlessWhat the Night Knows, and 77 Shadow Street. He’s been hailed by Rolling Stone as “America’s most popular suspense novelist,” and his books have been published in thirty-eight languages and have sold over five hundred million copies worldwide. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, he now lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirits of their goldens Trixie and Anna. For more information, visit his website at www.deankoontz.com.


Enjoy the conversation with Dean Koontz and Barbara Peters.

Agatha Award Nominees

It seems as if the mystery award nominees are announced every day at the end of January. This just means more books for readers. Malice Domestic recently announced the nominees for the 2021 Agatha Awards. These are “2021” awards because they’re for books published in 2021. Check the Web Store for the nominees. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Congratulations to all of the Agatha Award nominees!

“‹The 2021 Agatha Award Nominees

Best Contemporary Novel


Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
Watch Her by Edwin Hill (Kensington)
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)
Symphony Road by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books)

Best Historical Novel


Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge (Kensington)
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day (HarperCollins)
The Devil’s Music by Gabriel Valjan (Winter Goose Publishing)

Best First Novel


The Turncoat’s Widow by Mally Becker (Level Best Books)
A Dead Man’s Eyes by Lori Duffy Foster (Level Best Books)
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)
Murder in the Master by Judy L. Murray (Level Best Books)
Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes (Crooked Lane Books)

Best Short Story


“A Family Matter” by Barb Goffman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb 2021)
“A Tale of Two Sisters” by Barb Goffman in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders)
“Doc’s at Midnight” by Richie Narvaez in Midnight Hour (Crooked Lane Books)
“The Locked Room Library” by Gigi Pandian (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July/Aug 2021)
“Bay of Reckoning” by Shawn Reilly Simmons in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders)

Best Non-Fiction


The Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston’s Struggle for Justice by Jan Brogan (Bright Leaf Press)
Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter by Chris Chan (Level Best Books)
The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge, and the Phoenix Park Murders that Stunned Victorian England by Julie Kavanaugh (Atlantic Monthly Press)
How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America by MWA with editors Lee Child and Laurie R. King (Simon & Schuster)

Best Children’s/YA Mystery


“‹Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (Fiewel and Friends/Macmillan)
I Play One on TV by Alan Orloff (Down & Out Books)
Leisha’s Song by Lynn Slaughter (Fire and Ice/Melange Books)
Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer (Wednesday Books)

2022 Barry Award Nominees

George Easter of Deadly Pleasures magazine recently announced the nominees for the 2022 Barry Awards. Check the Web Store for the nominated books. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

“All readers of Deadly Pleasures,” says Easter, “are qualified to vote. Please submit votes to george@deadlypleasures.com by August 1.” Winners will be named during the opening ceremonies of this year’s Bouchercon, to be held in Minneapolis from September 8 to 11.

The Barry Awards are named in honor of Barry W. Gardner, a longtime crime-fiction fan and book reviewer, who passed away in 1996.

Congratulations to all of the nominees!

Best Mystery/Crime Novel

THE DARK HOURS, Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
RAZORBLADE TEARS, S. A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
LAST REDEMPTION, Matt Coyle (Oceanview)
CLARK AND DIVISION, Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
BILLY SUMMERS, Stephen King (Scribner)
WE BEGIN AT THE END, Chris Whitaker (Henry Holt)

Best First Mystery/Crime Novel

WHO IS MAUDE DIXON?, Alexandra Andrews (Little, Brown)
GIRL A, Abigail Dean (Viking)
DOWN RANGE, Taylor Moore (William Morrow)
FALLING, T. J. Newman (Simon & Schuster)
SLEEPING BEAR, Connor Sullivan (Emily Bestler/Atria)
STEEL FEAR, Brandon Webb & John David Mann (Bantam)

Best Paperback Original

THE HUNTED, Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins)
ARSENIC AND ADOBO, Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)
BLACK CORAL, Andrew Mayne (Thomas & Mercer)
THE GOOD TURN, Dervla McTiernan (Blackstone)
SEARCH FOR HER, Rick Mofina (MIRA)
BOUND, Vanda Symon (Orenda Books)

Best Thriller

THE DEVIL’S HAND, Jack Carr (Emily Bestler/Atria)
THE NAMELESS ONES, John Connolly (Emily Bestler/Atria)
DEAD BY DAWN, Paul Doiron (Minotaur)
RELENTLESS, Mark Greaney (Berkley)
SLOUGH HOUSE, Mick Herron (Soho Crime)
FIVE DECEMBERS, James Kestrel (HardCase Crime)

Lisa Lutz & The Accomplice

Lisa Lutz has appeared at The Poisoned Pen for all of her books, until now with The Accomplice. She and Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, discussed that book, and elements of it. You can order signed copies of The Accomplice through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3HdQPW0

Here’s the description of The Accomplice.

Everyone has the same questions about best friends Owen and Luna: What binds them together so tightly? Why weren’t they ever a couple? And why do people around them keep turning up dead? In this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Passenger, every answer raises a new, more chilling question.
 
“Masterfully plotted, The Accomplice is both a keep-you-guessing mystery and a keenly and tenderly observed character study.”—Attica Locke, author of Bluebird, Bluebird and Heaven, My Home


ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—PopSugar, CrimeReads

Owen Mann is charming, privileged, and chronically dissatisfied. Luna Grey is secretive, cautious, and pragmatic. Despite their differences, they form a bond the moment they meet in college. Their names soon become indivisible—Owen and Luna, Luna and Owen—and stay that way even after an unexplained death rocks their social circle.

They’re still best friends years later, when Luna finds Owen’s wife brutally murdered. The police investigation sheds light on some long-hidden secrets, but it can’t penetrate the wall of mystery that surrounds Owen. To get to the heart of what happened and why, Luna has to dig up the one secret she’s spent her whole life burying.

The Accomplice brilliantly examines the bonds of shared history, what it costs to break them, and what happens when you start wondering how well you know the one person who truly knows you.


Lisa Lutz is the New York Times bestselling, Alex Award”“winning author of the Spellman Files series and The Swallows, as well as the novels How to Start a Fire and The Passenger. She has also written for film and TV, including The Deuce for HBO and Dare Me on USA. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley.


Enjoy the discussion with Lisa Lutz.

The 50th Spenser Novel with Ace Atkins

Ace Atkins appeared live at The Poisoned Pen for the 50th Spenser novel, Robert B. Parker’s Bye Bye Baby. Because the event was in-person as well as virtual, there are signed copies available of Atkins’ Robert B. Parker’s Bye Bye Baby. https://bit.ly/3fZBAEh

Here’s the summary of Robert B. Parker’s Bye Bye Baby.

Boston PI Spenser takes on a new case in this installment in Robert B. Parker’s iconic New York Times bestselling series.

Carolina Garcia-Ramirez is a rising star in national politics, taking on the establishment with her progressive agenda. Tough, outspoken, and driven, the young congresswoman has ignited a new conversation in Boston about race, poverty, health care, and the environment. Now facing her second campaign, she finds herself not only fighting a tight primary with an old guard challenger but also contending with numerous death threats coming from hundreds of suspects.

When her chief of staff reaches out to Spenser for security and help finding the culprits of what he believes to be the most credible threats, Garcia-Ramirez is less than thrilled. Since her first grassroots run, she’s used to the antipathy and intimidation women of color often face when seeking power. To her, it’s all noise. But it turns out an FBI agent disagrees, warning Spenser that Garcia-Ramirez might be in real danger this time.

It doesn’t take long for Spenser to cross paths with an extremist group called The Minutemen, led by a wealthy Harvard grad named Bishop Graves. Although Graves is a social media sensation, pushing an agenda of white supremacy and toxic masculinity, he denies he’s behind the attacks. As the primary nears and threats become a deadly plot, it’s up to Spenser, Hawk, and a surprise trusted ally to ensure the congresswoman is safe. This is Spenser doing what he does best, living by a personal code and moral compass that can’t ever be broken. 


Robert B. Parker was the author of seventy books, including the legendary Spenser detective series, the novels featuring Police Chief Jesse Stone, and the acclaimed Virgil Cole-Everett Hitch Westerns, as well as the Sunny Randall novels. Winner of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award and long considered the undisputed dean of American crime fiction, he died in January 2010. Ace Atkins is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-seven books, including ten books in his Quinn Colson series. Handpicked by the Robert B. Parker Estate nearly a decade ago to continue the Spenser series, he’s written nine novels about the iconic private eye. He lives and works in Oxford, Mississippi.


Enjoy the conversation about Robert B. Parker, his books, and Atkins’ writing of the Spenser books.

Janice Hallett’s Debut, The Appeal

Don’t you love discovering debut authors through The Poisoned Pen? The Appeal, Janice Hallett’s debut, is an epistolary novel. Author Hank Phillippi Ryan was guest host, along with The Poisoned Pen’s owner, Barbara Peters, for the recent virtual event featuring Hallett. There are signed bookplates for those who order a copy of The Appeal. https://bit.ly/3fXBGft

Here’s the description of this unconventional novel, The Appeal.

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

Perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Lisa Jewell, this “dazzlingly clever” (The Sunday Times, London) murder mystery follows a community rallying around a sick child—but when escalating lies lead to a dead body, everyone is a suspect.

The Fairway Players, a local theatre group, is in the midst of rehearsals when tragedy strikes the family of director Martin Hayward and his wife Helen, the play’s star. Their young granddaughter has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and with an experimental treatment costing a tremendous sum, their fellow castmates rally to raise the money to give her a chance at survival.

But not everybody is convinced of the experimental treatment’s efficacy—nor of the good intentions of those involved. As tension grows within the community, things come to a shocking head at the explosive dress rehearsal. The next day, a dead body is found, and soon, an arrest is made. In the run-up to the trial, two young lawyers sift through the material—emails, messages, letters—with a growing suspicion that a killer may be hiding in plain sight. The evidence is all there, between the lines, waiting to be uncovered.

A wholly modern take on the epistolary novel, The Appeal is a “daring…clever, and funny” (The Times, London) debut for fans of Richard Osman and Lucy Foley.


Janice Hallett is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. She wrote articles and speeches for, among others, the Cabinet Office, Home Office, and Department for International Development. Her enthusiasm for travel has taken her around the world several times, from Madagascar to the Galapagos, Guatemala to Zimbabwe, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. A playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and cowrote the feature film Retreat. She lives in London and The Appeal is her first novel.


Enjoy the virtual event with Janice Hallett.

P.J. Tracy’s Hot Book of the Week

Some of you might only know P.J. Tracy as the author of the Monkeewrench series. But, Desolation Canyon is the second book in her Detective Margaret Nolan series, following Deep Into the Dark. Desolation Canyon is also the Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. You can order copies of Tracy’s books, including signed copies of Desolation Canyon, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3Av3eT8

Here’s the description of Desolation Canyon.

P.J. Tracy “seems to have found her literary sweet spot” (New York Times Book Review) with her dazzling new series, and in Desolation Canyon, fans get a deeper look into the complex characters who call Los Angeles home.

LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan is struggling to move forward after the death of her brother in Afghanistan and taking a life in the line of duty. Her stoic parents offer little support ““ they refuse to address anything difficult, and she’s afraid their relationship is eroding beyond the point of recovery.

The days off are the hardest, because they give Margaret time to think. A moment of weakness leads to cocktails with a colleague—an attraction she knows could be dangerous —at the luxurious Hotel Bel-Air bar. A stroll through the grounds leads to a grim discovery beneath the surface of Swan Lake: the body of a successful attorney who made his fortune in international trade.

It initially appears to be death by misadventure, but the case is anything but straightforward. As a series of shocking revelations emerge, Nolan finds herself confronting a sinister cabal that just might destroy her and everyone she loves.


P. J. Tracy is the pseudonym of Traci Lambrecht, bestselling and award winning author of the Monkeewrench series. Lambrecht and her mother, P. J., wrote eight novels together as P. J. Tracy before P. J. passed away in 2016. Lambrecht has since continued the Monkeewrench series solo. She spent most of her childhood painting and showing Arabian horses, and graduated with a Russian Studies major from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she also studied voice. She now lives outside Minneapolis.

Introducing Debut Author Stacy Willingham

It’s always exciting for The Poisoned Pen to be able to introduce a debut author. And, in the case of Stacy Willingham, her novel A Flicker in the Dark also appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list. So, I’ll link to the Web Store, but no promises you can get a signed copy. It’s a popular debut. https://bit.ly/340njV8

Here’s the summary of A Flicker in the Dark.

New York Times Bestseller

“A smart, edge-of-your-seat story with plot twists you’ll never see coming. Stacy Willingham’s debut will keep you turning pages long past your bedtime.” —Karin Slaughter

When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, her own father had confessed to the crimes and was put away for life, leaving Chloe and the rest of her family to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.

Now twenty years later, Chloe is a psychologist in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. While she finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to achieve, she sometimes feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. So when a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, seeing parallels from her past that aren’t actually there, or for the second time in her life, is Chloe about to unmask a killer?

From debut author Stacy Willingham comes a masterfully done, lyrical thriller, certain to be the launch of an amazing career. A Flicker in the Dark is eerily compelling to the very last page.


STACY WILLINGHAM, author of A Flicker in the Dark, worked as a copywriter and brand strategist for various marketing agencies before deciding to write fiction full time. She earned her BA in Magazine Journalism from the University of Georgia and MFA in Writing from the Savannah College of Art & Design. She currently lives in Charleston, SC with her husband, Britt, and Labradoodle, Mako.


Here’s your chance to “meet” debut author Stacy Willingham.

Ian Hamilton’s Ava Lee Series

Ian Hamilton’s first Ava Lee mystery, The Water Rat of Wanchai, won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel, a Canadian award. Now, his fourteenth Ava Lee book is just out, The Sultan of Sarawak. Hamilton’s books can be ordered through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3GV2Qj6

Here’s the summary of The Sultan of Sarawak.

Ava Lee clashes with the most powerful family in Malaysian Borneo in this exhilarating new thriller from bestselling author Ian Hamilton.

After a warehouse owned by the Three Sisters is destroyed under suspicious circumstances, Ava Lee travels to the Malaysian province of Sarawak to investigate. She quickly discovers that the powerful Chong family has a political and economic stranglehold on the province and is likely responsible for the warehouse. As Ava digs deeper into the Chongs, she is shocked to learn of their billion-dollar illegal logging operation in Sarawak, which has decimated the Bornean rainforest and threatens the existence of the Penan — a nomadic Indigenous people who have lived in the region for centuries.

Determined to avenge the harm caused by the Chongs and to put an end to their dominion over Sarawak, Ava follows a money trail that leads back to the Hong Kong real estate market. There, Ava and Sonny Kwok embark on a campaign of terror against the Chong family — attacking their holdings and bank accounts. Can Ava attain the vengeance she seeks? Or will the powerful Chong family triumph once again?


IAN HAMILTON is the acclaimed author of fourteen books in the Ava Lee series, four in the Lost Decades of Uncle Chow Tung series, and the standalone novel Bonnie Jack. National bestsellers, his books have been shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award, the Barry Award, and the Lambda Literary Prize. BBC Culture named him one of the ten mystery/crime writers who should be on your bookshelf. The Ava Lee series is being adapted for television.


Enjoy Ian Hamilton’s discussion of Ava Lee and the series.

Lisa Gardner & Carolyn Kepnes in Conversation

Carolyn Kepnes recently was guest host at The Poisoned Pen for Lisa Gardner, author of One Step Too Far. You can order a signed copy of the second Frankie Elkin novel through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3KuUjFR

Here’s the description of One Step Too Far.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a chilling thriller about a young man gone missing in the wilderness of Wyoming…and the secrets uncovered by the desperate effort to find him
 
Timothy O’Day knew the woods. Yet when he disappeared on the first night of a bachelor party camping trip with his best friends in the world, he didn’t leave a trace. What he did leave behind were two heartbroken parents, a crew of guilt-ridden groomsmen, and a pile of clues that don’t add up.
 
Frankie Elkin doesn’t know the woods, but she knows how to find people. So when she reads that Timothy’s father is organizing one last search, she heads to Wyoming. Despite the rescue team’s reluctance, she joins them. But as they hike into the mountains, it becomes clear that there’s something dangerous at work in the woods…or someone who is willing to do anything to stop them from going any further.
 
Running out of time and up against the worst man and nature have to offer, Frankie and the search party will discover what evil awaits those who go one step too far…


Lisa Gardner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-one suspense novels, including The Neighbor, which won Thriller of the Year from the International Thriller Writers. An avid hiker, traveler, and cribbage player, she lives in the mountains of New Hampshire with her family.


Enjoy the discussion of Frankie Elkin and One Step Too Far with Gardner, Kepnes, and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.