Fiction Review

Eliza Reid, First Lady of Iceland, is also an author. She appeared virtually to talk about Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed Eliza Reid and Yrsa Sigurdardottir, who was guest host. You can order copies of the book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/358ab0A

Here’s the description of Secrets of the Sprakkar.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!

“Secrets of the Sprakkar is a fascinating window into what a more gender-equal world could look like, and why it’s worth striving for. Iceland is doing a lot to level the playing field: paid parental leave, affordable childcare, and broad support for gender equality as a core value. Reid takes us on an exploration not only around this fascinating island, but also through the triumphs and stumbles of a country as it journeys towards gender equality.”

—Hillary Rodham Clinton

Iceland is the best place on earth to be a woman—but why?

For the past twelve years, the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report has ranked Iceland number one on its list of countries closing the gap in equality between men and women. What is it about Iceland that makes many women’s experience there so positive? Why has their society made such meaningful progress in this ongoing battle, from electing the world’s first female president to passing legislation specifically designed to help even the playing field at work and at home? And how can we learn from what Icelanders have already discovered about women’s powerful place in society and how increased fairness benefits everyone?

Eliza Reid, the First Lady of Iceland, examines her adopted homeland’s attitude toward women—the deep-seated cultural sense of fairness, the influence of current and historical role models, and, crucially, the areas where Iceland still has room for improvement. Reid’s own experience as an immigrant from small-town Canada who never expected to become a first lady is expertly interwoven with interviews with dozens of sprakkar (“extraordinary women”) to form the backbone of an illuminating discussion of what it means to move through the world as a woman, and how the rules of society play more of a role in who we view as “equal” than we may understand. Secrets of the Sprakkar is a powerful and atmospheric portrait of a tiny country that could lead the way forward for us all.

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ELIZA REID is the co-founder of the acclaimed Iceland Writers Retreat. Eliza grew up near Ottawa, Canada, and moved to Iceland in 2003. She is the sitting First Lady of Iceland.

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Enjoy the conversations as Eliza Reid talks about the highlights of her book.

I had the chance to interview Marty Wingate recently, the author of the First Edition Library mystery series. The Librarian Always Rings Twice is the third in the series. Marty signed copies of the books, so you can check the Web Store for those. https://bit.ly/3uYyxVs

Here’s the summary of The Librarian Always Rings Twice.

When a mysterious stranger turns up making claims that threaten Lady Fowling’s legacy, Hayley Burke must dig deep into her late-benefactor’s history to uncover the truth and catch a conniving killer in this new mystery from USA Today bestselling author Marty Wingate.

It has been nearly a year since I took up my position as curator of Lady Georgiana Fowling’s collection of Golden Age of Mystery writers’ first editions at her library in Middlebank House. I have learned that I need to take the good with the bad. The good: I have finally convinced Mrs. Woolgar to open up the collection to the public one day a week so that they too can share in Lady Fowling’s passion. The bad: although he would not be my first, or even tenth, choice, at the insistence of the board Charles Henry Dill, Lady Fowling’s unscrupulous nephew, is now my personal assistant.

On one of our first days open to the public, Mr. John Aubrey shows up at Middlebank House and insists that Lady Georgiana Fowling is his grandmother. Mrs. Woolgar is scandalized by his claims, and Charles Henry, who feels he has been cheated out of his rightful inheritance as Lady Fowling’s heir, is furious. I do not know that I believe Mr. Aubrey, yet he has knowledge of Lady Fowling’s life and writings that few possess. To further complicate matters, an associate of Mr. Aubrey’s intends to help us uncover the truth of John’s story. But before he can do that, he is murdered and the police have reason to suspect Charles Henry.

As much as I would like to lock up Charles Henry and throw away the key, I cannot believe he is a killer. And I also know there is something dead wrong about Mr. Aubrey’s tales regarding his “grandmother” Lady Fowling. I will need to make sense of her past in order to suss out the true villain of this story.

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A Seattle native, Marty Wingate is a member of the Royal Horticultural Society and leads garden tours through England, Scotland, and Ireland when she is not killing people in fiction.

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Check out my discussion with Marty Wingate.

Deanna Raybourn joined Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, to discuss the seventh Veronica Speedwell mystery, An Impossible Imposter. Signed copies are almost all sold out, but you might still catch one through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3JARm5h

Here’s the description of An Impossible Imposter.

While investigating a man claiming to be the long-lost heir to a noble family, Veronica Speedwell gets the surprise of her life in this new adventure from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award”“nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

London, 1889. Veronica Speedwell and her natural historian beau Stoker are summoned by Sir Hugo Montgomerie, head of Special Branch. He has a personal request on behalf of his goddaughter, Euphemia Hathaway. After years of traveling the world, her eldest brother, Jonathan, heir to Hathaway Hall, was believed to have been killed in the catastrophic eruption of Krakatoa a few years before.

But now a man matching Jonathan’s description and carrying his possessions has arrived at Hathaway Hall with no memory of his identity or where he has been. Could this man truly be Jonathan, back from the dead? Or is he a devious impostor, determined to gain ownership over the family’s most valuable possessions—a legendary parure of priceless Rajasthani jewels? It’s a delicate situation, and Veronica is Sir Hugo’s only hope.

Veronica and Stoker agree to go to Hathaway Hall to covertly investigate the mysterious amnesiac. Veronica is soon shocked to find herself face-to-face with a ghost from her past. To help Sir Hugo discover the truth, she must open doors to her own history that she long believed to be shut for good.

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Deanna Raybourn is the author of the award-winning, New York Times bestselling Lady Julia Grey series as well as the USA Today bestselling and Edgar Award”“nominated Veronica Speedwell Mysteries and several stand-alone works.

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Enjoy the discussion of Veronica’s past in the recent virtual event.

Pull out your calendar right now, or bring up your online one. You’re going to want to mark down these upcoming virtual author appearances at The Poisoned Pen. You’ll also want to check the Web Store to pre-order books by your favorite authors. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Check out these events.

The Poisoned Pen recently hosted the book launch for the third Nora Kelly book, Diablo Mesa by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. And, if you’re lucky enough to get one of the last signed copies of the book, it will come with a set of trading cards. No promises because the signed copies are going fast. You can order copies through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/32tvzj79

Here’s the description of Diablo Mesa.

#1 New York Times bestselling authors Preston & Child continue with the wildly popular series featuring archaeologist Nora Kelly and FBI Agent Corrie Swanson. 

Lucas Tappan, a wealthy and eccentric billionaire and founder of Icarus Space Systems, approaches the Santa Fe Archaeological Institute with an outlandish proposal—to finance a careful, scientific excavation of the Roswell Incident site, where a UFO is alleged to have crashed in 1947. A skeptical Nora Kelly, to her great annoyance, is tasked with the job. 

Nora’s excavation immediately uncovers two murder victims buried at the site, faces and hands obliterated with acid to erase their identities. Special Agent Corrie Swanson is assigned to the case. As Nora’s excavation proceeds, uncovering things both bizarre and seemingly inexplicable, Corrie’s homicide investigation throws open a Pandora’s box of espionage and violence, uncovering bloody traces of a powerful force that will stop at nothing to protect its secrets—and that threatens to engulf them all in an unimaginable fate.

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The thrillers of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child “stand head and shoulders above their rivals” (Publishers Weekly). Preston and Child’s Relic and The Cabinet of Curiosities were chosen by readers in a National Public Radio poll as being among the one hundred greatest thrillers ever written, and Relic was made into a number”‘one box office hit movie. They are coauthors of the famed Pendergast series, and their recent novels include Bloodless, The Scorpion’s Tail, Crooked River, Old Bones, and Verses for the Dead. In addition to his novels, Preston writes about archaeology for the New Yorker and Smithsonian magazines. Child is a Florida resident and former book editor who has published seven novels of his own, including such bestsellers as Full Wolf Moon and Deep Storm. Readers can sign up for The Pendergast File, a monthly “strangely entertaining note” from the authors, at their website, www.PrestonChild.com. The authors welcome visitors to their Facebook page, where they post regularly.

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Enjoy the event with two of The Poisoned Pen’s favorites, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

Iceland’s First Lady, Eliza Reid, is the author of the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. She’ll be joined by guest host, Yrsa Sigurdardottir, on Friday, Feb. 18 at 12 noon, 2 PM ET, as they discuss Reid’s book, Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World. You can order the book through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/5n8zpeh7

Here’s the description of Secrets of the Sprakkar.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!

“Secrets of the Sprakkar is a fascinating window into what a more gender-equal world could look like, and why it’s worth striving for. Iceland is doing a lot to level the playing field: paid parental leave, affordable childcare, and broad support for gender equality as a core value. Reid takes us on an exploration not only around this fascinating island, but also through the triumphs and stumbles of a country as it journeys towards gender equality.”

—Hillary Rodham Clinton

Iceland is the best place on earth to be a woman—but why?

For the past twelve years, the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report has ranked Iceland number one on its list of countries closing the gap in equality between men and women. What is it about Iceland that makes many women’s experience there so positive? Why has their society made such meaningful progress in this ongoing battle, from electing the world’s first female president to passing legislation specifically designed to help even the playing field at work and at home? And how can we learn from what Icelanders have already discovered about women’s powerful place in society and how increased fairness benefits everyone?

Eliza Reid, the First Lady of Iceland, examines her adopted homeland’s attitude toward women—the deep-seated cultural sense of fairness, the influence of current and historical role models, and, crucially, the areas where Iceland still has room for improvement. Reid’s own experience as an immigrant from small-town Canada who never expected to become a first lady is expertly interwoven with interviews with dozens of sprakkar (“extraordinary women”) to form the backbone of an illuminating discussion of what it means to move through the world as a woman, and how the rules of society play more of a role in who we view as “equal” than we may understand. Secrets of the Sprakkar is a powerful and atmospheric portrait of a tiny country that could lead the way forward for us all.

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ELIZA REID is the co-founder of the acclaimed Iceland Writers Retreat. Eliza grew up near Ottawa, Canada, and moved to Iceland in 2003. She is the sitting First Lady of Iceland.

Mark Greaney’s latest Gray Man thriller, Sierra Six, has been the Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. The eleventh book in the series is a prequel that provides the history of Court Gentry, the Gray Man. But, the story also tells a current story. Greaney talks about it with the video. And, of course, you can order a copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/34Xpbyd

Here’s the description of Sierra Six.

It’s been years since the Gray Man’s first mission, but the trouble’s just getting started in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

Before he was the Gray Man, Court Gentry was Sierra Six, the junior member of a CIA action team.

In their first mission they took out a terrorist leader, at a terrible price. Years have passed. The Gray Man is on a simple mission when he sees a ghost: the long-dead terrorist, but he’s remarkably energetic for a dead man. 

A decade of time hasn’t changed the Gray Man. He isn’t one to leave a job unfinished or a blood debt unpaid.

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Mark Greaney‘s research for the Gray Man novels, including Relentless, One Minute Out, Mission Critical, Agent in Place, Gunmetal Gray, Back Blast, Dead Eye, Ballistic, On Target, and The Gray Man, has taken him to more than twenty countries and trained alongside military and law enforcement in the use of firearms, battlefield medicine, and close-range combative tactics. With Marine LtCol Rip Rawlings, he wrote the New York Times bestseller Red Metal. He is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers Tom Clancy Support and Defend, Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect, Tom Clancy Commander in Chief, and Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance. With Tom Clancy, he coauthored Locked On, Threat Vector, and Command Authority.

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Enjoy Mark Greaney’s conversation with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, and with an actual in-person audience.

The Grayson Sherbrooke Otherworldly Adventures, Books 1-5, is Catherine Coulter’s latest collection of novellas. Coulter discusses her numerous books with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3Jk5Oyq

Here’s the description of The Grayson Sherbrooke Otherworldly Adventures, Books 1-5. The book has a perfect cover for Valentine’s Day, doesn’t it?

Much like the hero of his frightening gothic adventure stories, well-known English author Grayson Sherbrooke has his own share of run-ins with peculiar supernatural beings, both good and evil. From his home on the northern coast of England, Sherbrooke leaps into these otherworldly mysteries to find the truth with the help of his son, Pip; his beautiful neighbor, Miranda, and her daughter, P. C.; and an orphan named Barnaby.

Set in the mid-nineteenth century and featuring a delightfully quirky cast of characters, The Grayson Sherbrooke Novella Collection will keep you entertained for hours as you join Sherbrooke and his rag-tag team of investigators to solve bizarre, out-of-this-world cases.

This collection includes five books in Coulter’s supernatural series: The Strange Visitation at Wolffe Hall, The Resident Evil at Blackthorn Manor, The Ancient Spirits of Sedgwick House, The Virgin Bride of Northcliffe Hall, and The Red Witch of Ravenstone Folly.

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Catherine Coulter is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. She has written more than eighty novels, including the popular FBI Thriller series. She earned an MA degree in European history at Boston College and is a former Wall Street speechwriter.

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Enjoy Coulter’s discussion of her background and books.

Let’s talk vodka, and the kick-off to Gregg Hurwitz’ latest Orphan X novel, Dark Horse. There are signed copies of Dark Horse, the seventh one in the series, through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/35XBfjC

Here’s the summary of Dark Horse.

“Awesome and propulsive.” —New York Times

Gregg Hurwitz’s New York Times bestselling series returns when Orphan X faces his most challenging mission ever in Dark Horse.

Evan Smoak is a man with many identities and a challenging past. As Orphan X, he was a government assassin for the off-the-books Orphan Program. After he broke with the Program, he adopted a new name and a new mission–The Nowhere Man, helping the most desperate in their times of trouble. Having just survived an attack on his life and the complete devastation of his base of operations, as well as his complicated (and deepening) relationship with his neighbor Mia Hall, Evan isn’t interested in taking on a new mission. But one finds him anyway.

Aragon Urrea is a kingpin of a major drug-dealing operation in South Texas. He’s also the patron of the local area–supplying employment in legitimate operations, providing help to the helpless, rough justice to the downtrodden, and a future to a people normally with little hope. He’s complicated–a not completely good man, who does bad things for often good reasons. However, for all his money and power, he is helpless when one of the most vicious cartels kidnaps his innocent eighteen year old daughter, spiriting her away into the armored complex that is their headquarters in Mexico. With no other way to rescue his daughter, he turns to The Nowhere Man.

Now not only must Evan figure out how to get into the impregnable fortress of a heavily armed, deeply paranoid cartel leader, but he must decide if he should help a very bad man–no matter how just the cause.

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GREGG HURWITZ is the New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen novels, including the #1 international bestseller Orphan X, the first in a series of thrillers featuring Evan Smoak. He has also written young adult novels: The Rains and its sequel, The Last Chance. Hurwitz’s books have been shortlisted for numerous literary awards, graced top ten lists, and have been translated into twenty-eight languages.

Hurwitz is also a New York Times bestselling comic book writer, having penned stories for Marvel (Wolverine, The Punisher) and DC (Batman). Additionally, he has written screenplays for many major studios and written, developed, and produced television for various networks.

Hurwitz resides in Los Angeles with two Rhodesian ridgebacks.

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Here’s the conversation (and a toast) with Gregg Hurwitz.

Charles Todd recently appeared to discuss the twenty-fourth Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery, A Game of Fear. But, fans might really want to watch the virtual event because there are photos of Caroline Todd, and Charles joined in to talk about his mother with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.

Charles Todd signed copies of A Game of Fear, and they are available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/34AQAq6

Here’s the summary of A Game of Fear.

In this newest installment of the acclaimed New York Times bestselling series, Scotland Yard’s Ian Rutledge is faced with his most perplexing case yet: a murder with no body, and a killer who can only be a ghost.

Spring, 1921. Scotland Yard sends Inspector Ian Rutledge to the sea-battered village of Walmer on the coast of Essex, where amongst the salt flats and a military airfield lies Benton Abbey, a grand manor with a storied past. The lady of the house may prove his most bewildering witness yet. She claims she saw a violent murder—but there is no body, no blood. She also insists she recognized the killer: Captain Nelson. Only it could not have been Nelson because he died during the war.

Everyone in the village believes that Lady Benton’s losses have turned her mind—she is, after all, a grieving widow and mother—but the woman Rutledge interviews is rational and self-possessed. And then there is Captain Nelson: what really happened to him in the war? The more Rutledge delves into this baffling case, the more suspicious tragedies he uncovers. The Abbey and the airfield hold their secrets tightly. Until Rutledge arrives, and a new trail of death follows… 

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Charles Todd is the New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries, the Bess Crawford mysteries, and two stand-alone novels. A mother-and-son writing team, Caroline passed away in August 2021 and Charles lives in Florida.

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If you’re a fan, you’ll appreciate this video.