Father's Day by Keith Gilman

Father's Day by Keith Gilman ($27 Signed)

Father’s Day is Keith Gilman’s provocative debut from St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books. It was awarded Best First Novel by the Private Eye Writers of America.

Father’s Day is a dark and atmospheric tale of an ex-cop from Philadelphia asked to track down the missing daughter of an old friend. The investigation takes him deep into his past, into the darkest corners of the city where the ghosts of his most painful memories await his return.

He uncovers truths about the alleged suicide of his friend, a fellow officer with the Philadelphia police department; truths about the accusations that ended both their careers; truths about the woman who had come between them; truths about the tortured life of the girl he’s trying to find and naturally, truths about himself.

"Fresh, authentic, and downright gut-wrenching, FATHER'S DAY grabbed me by the collar and wouldn't let go. Gilman's voice is a powerful new addition to the crime fiction community."

Reed Farrel - Coleman, Shamus, Barry, and Anthony Award-winning author of Empty Ever After

"Gilman has a cop's eye for detail and a hardboiled humor that can't be faked. A palpable evil fills the pages of FATHER'S DAY that is both terrifying and relentless. Gilman writes sharply and knows where all the bodies are buried; his Philadelphia is worth a visit."

William Lashner - NY Times Best Selling Author of A KILLER'S KISS.

“Dark, gritty and hauntingly lyrical, Keith Gilman writes noir with the authenticity of a cop who has actually worked the mean streets,”

Robin Burcell, award-winning author of Face of a Killer

Father’s Day is a novel with multiple layers of meaning, taught psychological depth, strong noir elements and stark visual imagery. It is a terrifying exploration of the emotions behind our deepest fears.

Lea Says, "Don't Miss This Great Book!"

Ryan, Andie. Shakedown ($24 Signed)

What a great first novel! Have you ever tried to understand the financial shenanigans of some of the giants of the industry? Wish you could? Then read The Shakedown and get some answers. Wall Street's most highly respected financial giant is involved in a growing financial scandal.

Tom Hollister, Sledd Payne's public relations executive, is called upon to whitewash this, only to find himself involved in a murder conspiracy and an insidious fraud that could threaten the life savings of millions of investors and bring Sledd Payne to its knees.

Sound Familiar? Throw in a family in crisis, an aging call girl and a scheming executive and you're in for a page turner.

I couldn't put it down and I advise you to pick up a copy and hunker down for a good read!

Don't miss your chance to talk to this author on Thursday, June 11 at 7 pm as she signs and discusses her book.

The Alchemy of Murder by Carol Mccleary

The Alchemy of Murder by Carol Mccleary

PARIS 1889. THE WORLD’S FAIR

The Alchemist is how I’ve come to think of him; he has a passion for the dark side of knowledge, mixing murder and madness with science

Nellie Bly – reporter, feminist and amateur detective – is in Paris on the trail of an enigmatic killer.

The city is a dangerous place: an epidemic of Black Fever rages, anarchists plot to overthrow the government and a murderer preys on the prostitutes who haunt the streets of Montmartre. But it is also a city of culture, a magnet for artists and men of science and letters. Can the combined genius of Oscar Wilde, Jules Verne and Louis Pasteur help Nellie prove a match for Jack the Ripper?

‘Dazzling’ William Martin

About the Author
Carol McCleary was born in Seoul, Korea and lived in Hong Kong, Japan and the Philippines before settling in the USA. She now lives on Cape Cod in an antique house. The Alchemy of Murder is her first novel and she is currently working on Nellie Bly’s next adventure.

Embrace the Grim Reaper by Judy Clemens

Embrace the Grim Reaper by Judy Clemens

Casey Maldonado’s life is over--at least as she knows it. In one brief moment of fire and wrenching metal, everything important was gone. The car manufacturer was generous with its settlement, but it can never be enough. Her family and friends, not to mention her lawyers, want her to go for more. More money. More publicity. More everything. But Casey is done. No financial gain or courtroom retribution will bring back what really matters. So she packs up, puts her house on the market, and leaves town. Her only companion? Death, who won’t take her, but won’t leave her alone.

Stopping on a whim in Clymer, a small blue-collar town in the midst of Ohio farmland, Casey discovers a town wrapped in tragedy. Not only is HomeMaker, the town’s appliance factory and main employer, moving to Mexico, but the town has been rocked by the suicide of a beloved single mother.
Casey is drawn to the town, and soon realizes that many of the citizens don’t believe the verdict of suicide at all. Death encourages her to investigate, and she uncovers information that points to the factory. Was the victim’s death a cover-up? Did she truly have the means, as she claimed, to keep the factory from leaving town?

When Casey begins to receive messages that she should leave well enough alone, she decides she’d be better off back on the road, but the murderer can’t let her go with everything she knows…

From Booklist
Devastated by the deaths of her husband and infant son in a car crash that she alone survived, Casey Maldonado has taken to traveling, accompanied by Death, whom only she can see. She ends up in Clymer, Ohio, a small town devastated by the defection of a manufacturing company. She quickly becomes involved with Home Sweet Home, an organization that feeds struggling families, and she also takes a part in a local theater production. When she learns of the apparent suicide of a local woman, Ellen Schnieder, she begins an investigation, along with Ellen’s boyfriend, to prove that the death was actually murder. Complicating matters, the theater’s director seems to be in some kind of trouble with some unsavory men, and Casey is being pursued by executives from the car company who paid her settlement. An interesting premise (shades, almost, of The Fugitive) and a vulnerable but strong protagonist are the highlights here, though the character of Death adds an unexpected dimension. Clemens, author of the Stella Crown series, could have another winner. --Sue O'Brien

The intriguing first in a new series from Clemens (/Different Paths/ and four other Stella Crown mysteries) introduces a classic tragic heroine, Casey Maldonado, and her companion, the Grim Reaper. Casey, who's trying to come to terms with personal losses suffered in a fatal car accident, regularly wishes that Death will take her so she can spend eternity with her departed loved ones. Unfortunately for Casey, it's not her time, and Death decides only to tag along on her sad journey. Hitching rides to anywhere, Casey ends up in Clymer, Ohio, a town as deeply troubled as she is. Casey is soon drawn into investigating the death of a young mother, who supposedly committed suicide after losing her job. Clemens is adept at creating an appealing cast of characters while keeping the plot moving at a fast clip. Casey and Death make an oddly entertaining pair, and readers will hope to see their relationship fleshed out in future titles. --Publishers Weekly, March 2009

Don't miss a Night with Lee Child and his Brother, Andrew Grant!

WEDNESDAY, May 27: LEE CHILD brings his brother ANDREW GRANT to see us. 7 pm at the Scottsdale Public Library on Drinkwater.

LEE CHILD brings his brother ANDREW GRANT talk and sign their new books at this Library Fundraiser Wednesday, May 27. Doors open at 6 pm. The talk begins at 7 pm

Scottsdale Public Library is on Drinkwater just south of Indian School Rd.

Civic Center Library

3839 N Drinkwater Blvd,
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

Tickets are $29 and include a copy of either Gone Tomorrow by Child or Even by Grant.

There is a Companion ticket available for $2.00

To get Gone Tomorrow and/or Even autographed, copies of the book must be purchased at the event or ahead of time from The Poisoned Pen.

For more information please call: 480 947 2974 Signed books are also available!

NOTE: No matter how many we order, in the past we have always sold out, so please purchase your copy quickly to avoid disappointment.

MYSTERY FANZINES

Need a new source of reviews? We carry a number of fanzines bearing articles, reviews, news written by fans and authors. It's up to you to evaluate their quality which can vary as their contributors, many unpaid, come and go.

You might well prefer to subscribe to one or more directly. To alert you to some of the most visible, most of which accept advertising:

Crimespree
Issue 30 May/June 2009. Featured: John Connolly
http://www.crimespreemag.com/

Deadly Pleasures
Spring 2009. Featured: Peter Robinson, Edgar Award Nominations
http://www.deadlypleasures.com/

Firsts, The Book Collector's Magazine
May 2009. The Literature of the Blues. Collecting Annie Proulx. Comfort Books (guilty pleasures, what's yours?). Books into film: Cannery Row
http://www.firsts.com/

Mystery News
April/May 2009. Featured: John Sandford
http://www.blackravenpress.com/

Mystery Scene
Issue 109 Spring 2009. Featured: Laurie R. King
http://www.mysteryscenemag.com/

Mystery Readers Journal
Thematically organized each issue. Currently: Crime for the Holidays
Supports various reading groups with info.
http://www.mysteryreaders.org/

The Strand
Articles and Short Fiction, covers nonfiction too
http://www.strandmag.com/

Some like The Armchair Detective and The Drood Review have folded, some fanzines are strictly virtual, as are blogs too innumerable to mention. Author websites also direct you to review media.

Harry Bosch

I would like to upload an image in preparation of our upcoming author event with Michael Connelly. Many fans will be at least a little aware of who the artist Hieronymous Bosch was and what kind of artwork be produced. But, I was unaware how truly frightening Bosch's artwork is. View the image above in more detail, by clicking on it. I assure you, if your children ever produced something like this, they would end up on a couch in a doctors office.

The event at the store with Michael Connelly will be held on June 4, 2009 at 7:00pm. You will be able to watch the event live on our webcam page HERE, and you can advance order copies of the book on our website HERE.

UPDATE: For those who have never heard of Harry Bosch the following is taken from Wikipedia.

Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch (pronounced /haɪˈrɒnɨməs ˈboʊʃ/) is a literary character created by Michael Connelly in the 1992 novel The Black Echo, and the lead character in a police procedural series now numbering thirteen novels. The novels are more or less coincident in time frame with the year in which they were published.

"Harry", as he is commonly known by his associates, is a veteran police homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. Bosch was named after the 15th century Dutch artist, Hieronymus Bosch by his mother.

New Signed Books From The Poisoned Pen

Here are some of our New Signed Books From The Poisoned Pen

US:
Elmore Leonard, The Road Dogs ($28 Signed)
Legendary New York Times bestselling author Elmore Leonard returns with three of his favorite characters: Jack Foley from Out of Sight, Cundo Rey from LaBrava, and Dawn Navarro from Riding the Rap.

Jack Foley, the charming bank robber from Out of Sight, is serving a thirty-year sentence in a Miami penitentiary, but he's made an unlikely friend on the inside who just might be able to do something about that. Fellow inmate Cundo Rey, an extremely wealthy Cuban criminal, arranges for Foley's sentence to be reduced from thirty years to three months, and when Jack is released just two weeks ahead of Cundo, he agrees to wait for him in Venice Beach, California.

Also waiting for Cundo is his common-law wife, Dawn Navarro, a professional psychic with a slightly ulterior motive for staying with Cundo: namely, she wants his money. And with the arrival of Jack, she sees the perfect partner in a plan to relieve Cundo of his fortune. Cundo may be Jack's friend, but does that mean he can trust him? And can either of them trust Dawn?

Road Dogs is Elmore Leonard at his best—with his trademark tight plotting and pitch-perfect dialogue—and readers will love seeing Cundo, Jack, and Dawn back in action and working together . . . or are they?

Don't miss this one!

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Cemetery Dance ($28 Signed)

Pendergast-the world's most enigmatic FBI Special Agent-returns to New York City to investigate a murderous cult.

William Smithback, a New York Times reporter, and his wife Nora Kelly, a Museum of Natural History archaeologist, are brutally attacked in their apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Eyewitnesses claim, and the security camera confirms, that the assailant was their strange, sinister neighbor-a man who, by all reports, was already dead and buried weeks earlier. While Captain Laura Hayward leads the official investigation, Pendergast and Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta undertake their own private-and decidedly unorthodox-quest for the truth. Their serpentine journey takes them to an enclave of Manhattan they never imagined could exist: a secretive, reclusive cult of Obeah and vodou
which no outsiders have ever survived.

UK:
Rory Clements, Martyr ($32 Signed)
England is close to war. Within days the axe could fall on the neck of Mary Queen of Scots, and Spain is already gathering a battle fleet to avenge her.

Tensions in Elizabeth I’s government are at breaking point. At the eye of the storm is John Shakespeare, chief intelligencer in the secret service of Sir Francis Walsingham. When an intercept reveals a plot to assassinate England’s ‘sea dragon’, Francis Drake, Shakespeare is ordered to protect him. With Drake on land fitting out his ships, he is frighteningly vulnerable. If he dies, England will be open to invasion.

In a London rife with rumour, Shakespeare must decide which leads to follow, which to ignore. When a high-born young woman is found mutilated and murdered at an illicit printing house, it is political gunpowder – and he has no option but to investigate.

But why is Shakespeare shadowed at every turn by the brutal Richard Topcliffe, the blood-drenched priest-hunter who claims intimacy with Queen Elizabeth herself? What is Topcliffe’s interest in a housemaid, whose baby has been stolen? And where do two fugitive Jesuit priests fit into the puzzle, one happy to die for God, the other to kill for Him?

From the splendour and intrigue of the royal court, to the sleek warships of Her Majesty’s Navy and the teeming brothels of Southwark, Shakespeare soon learns that nothing is as it seems . . .

John Harvey, Far Cry ($45 Signed)
Ruth and Simon Pierce's rare romantic break is shattered by devastating news: their daughter, Heather, on holiday in Cornwall with a friend's family, has disappeared...The loss is more than they - or their marriage - can bear. But time does heal and slowly Ruth builds a new life for herself with a new husband, Andrew - even a second daughter, Beatrice. The chances that history could repeat itself are next-to-impossible - that is until, years later, a desperate phone call launches DI Will Grayson and his partner, DS Helen Walker, into an investigation which will test their professional and emotional resources to the very limit. Yet as Grayson becomes increasingly obsessed with a recently released child-abuser and Helen is drawn deeper into a destructive love affair with a married colleague, there is a real danger that their most demanding investigation yet will slip fatefully through their hands.

Travel Writing by Peter. Ferry

Peter Ferry, Travel Writing ($26 Signed)

"The protagonist in Peter Ferry's winning first novel is named Peter Ferry. Ferry the novelist teaches high school in a Chicago suburb and writes travel pieces. Ditto his fictional double. As if this isn't arch enough, Ferry has Peter's writing students critique the unfolding story. But Ferry's prose is so entrancing, his mild-mannered yet covertly audacious hero is so compelling, there is nothing intrusive or pretentious about this metafiction setup. In fact, it adds to the mystery and charm. It all begins in winter when Peter makes eye contact with an obviously intoxicated woman just before she crashes her car and dies. Peter cannot put this behind him. He learns that her name was Lisa Kim. He goes to her funeral, meets her family and friends, and becomes convinced that her death was no accident. As Peter pursues a clever, if risky, amateur investigation, Ferry interjects Peter's uproariously funny and shrewdly caustic travel pieces set in Mexico, Thailand, and the wilds of Ontario. In all, a mordantly funny and diabolically smart novel of happenstance and responsibility. "
--Donna Seaman Booklist

We got more singed Lucy's Legacy!

Donald Johanson Lucy's Legacy (Crown $25 Signed)

A story that begins in November 1974 when Dr. Johanson discovered the skeleton of the female hominid australopithecine known as Lucy, in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia. Dr. Johanson established the Institute of Human Origins, in Berkeley, California, in 1981. Johanson and the institute moved to Arizona State University in 1998.


We were lucky to get a new handful of first editions after Dr. Johanson's sold out event.

What a year so far....

Iain Pears

The Higgins Clark Clan

Kyle Mills

Nevada Barr (and Evelyn)

Jerry Stahl (w/ Patrick)

Qiu Xiaolong

Lisa Lutz

Sandi Ault

Stone's Fall Iain Pears

A return to the form that launched Iain Pears onto bestseller lists around the world: a vast historical mystery, marvelous in its ambition and ingenius in its complexity.

In his most dazzling novel since the groundbreaking New York Times bestseller An Instance of the Fingerpost, Iain Pears tells the story of John Stone, financier and arms dealer, a man so wealthy that in the years before World War One he was able to manipulate markets, industries, and indeed entire countries and continents.

A panoramic novel with a riveting mystery at its heart, Stone’s Fall is a quest to discover how and why John Stone dies, falling out of a window at his London home.

Chronologically, it moves backwards–from London in 1909 to Paris in 1890, and finally to Venice in 1867– and in the process the quest to uncover the truth plays out against the backdrop of the evolution of high-stakes international finance, Europe’s first great age of espionage, and the start of the twentieth century’s arms race.

Like Fingerpost, Stone’s Fall is an intricately plotted and richly satisfying puzzle–an erudite work of history and fiction that feels utterly true and oddly timely–and marks the triumphant return of one of the world’s great storytellers.

Running from the Devil by Jamie Freveletti Signed

Running from the Devil by Jamie Freveletti Signed


race against evil . . .

Emma Caldridge, a chemist for a cosmetics company, is en route from Miami to Bogotá when her plane is hijacked and spins out of control into the mountains near the Venezuelan border. Thrown unhurt from the wreckage, she can do nothing but watch as guerrillas take the other passengers hostage.

An endurance marathon runner, Emma silently trails the guerrillas and their captives, using her athletic prowess and scientific knowledge to stay alive. Those skills become essential when she discovers an injured passenger, secret government agent Cameron Sumner, separated from the group. Together they follow the hostages, staying one step ahead by staying one step behind.

Meanwhile, as news of the hijacking breaks in Washington, the Department of Defense turns to Edward Banner, former military officer and current CEO of a security consulting firm, for help. Banner quickly sends a special task force to the crash site, intent on locating the survivors before it’s too late.

But finding Emma and Sumner is only the beginning, as Banner starts to realize that Emma was on a personal mission when the plane went down. There is more to the beautiful, talented biochemist than anyone ever imagined, for in her possession is a volatile biological weapon in an ingenious disguise, one that her enemies have set for auction to the highest bidder.

Combining the action-packed plotting of Lee Child and Daniel Silva, and the rich scientific detail of Kathy Reichs and Tess Gerritsen, Running from the Devil is a breathtaking debut from a bold and daring new author.

New Frist Edition Signed Books at The Poisoned Pen

The Sting of Justice by Cora Harrison ($40 UK Signed)
This is the third in Cora Harrison's charming "Burren" series. The autumn has come to the Burren, it's a time of harvest: of gathering for the winter to come. The end of summer for most and the end of life for others.When Mara attends the funeral of a local priest of the Burren, the last things she expects is another corpse to be found on the church steps - a man stung to death by bees. Sorley the silversmith was a greedy and distrusted man: there would be no shortage of people who wanted him dead but who really stood to profit from his murder? As Mara investigates she must use all her cunning and prowess as a lady judge to bring the sting of justice to a killer with hatred in their hearts and murder on their mind.

Blind Eye by Stuart Macbride ($45 UK Signed)
The new Logan McRae thriller set in gritty Aberdeen, from the bestselling author of Cold Granite and Flesh House. It's summer in the Granite City, but even the sunshine can't improve the mood at Grampian Police Headquarters. Aberdeen's growing Polish community is under attack from a serial offender who leaves mutilated victims to be discovered on building sites -- eyes gouged out and the sockets burned. Detective Sergeant Logan McRae is assigned to the investigation, codenamed Operation Oedipus, but with the victims too scared to talk, it's going nowhere fast. When the next victim turns out to be not a newly arrived eastern european, but Simon McLeod, owner of the Turf n' Track bookies, Logan suddenly finds himself caught up in a world of drug wars, prostitution rings and gun-running courtesy of Aberdeen's oldest and most vicious crime lord.

The City and the City China Mieville ($41 UK Signed)
When the body of a murdered woman is found in the extraordinary, decaying city of Bes el, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks like a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlu of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he probes, the evidence begins to point to conspiracies far stranger, and more deadly, than anything he could have imagined. Soon his work puts him and those he cares for in danger. Borlu must travel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own, across a border like no other. With shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984 , "The City & The City" is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights.

Instruments of Darkness by Imogen Robertson ($45 UK Signed)
Daphne du Maurier meets CSI in this exhilarating debut Sussex, 1780. Anatomist and recluse Gabriel Crowther is reluctantly drawn into the lives of local high society when a dead body is found by impulsive, frustrated Harriet Westerman. Her lands share a boundary with the great estate of the county, Thornleigh Hall, home of the crippled Earl of Sussex, his beautiful second wife and his alcoholic younger son. The Earl's heir disappeared after a family dispute some fifteen years earlier, and has not been seen since. Meanwhile, inLondon, two children lose their father in a violent attack. Their new young guardian, a young writer, attempts to protect them in the confusion of the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots as he dodges his creditors among the alleyways, and learns more of his wards' complicated history -- which may lead back toSussex. When a second body is discovered near Thornleigh Hall, the pressures on Harriet and Gabriel begin to mount and the secrets of the Hall, both ancient and modern, threaten to overwhelm them all.

Baldacci, David. First Family (Grand Central $30 Signed)

First Family the new thriller from David Baldacci (Grand Central $30 Signed)

Here is the set-up: "Plenty of intense action drives bestseller Baldacci's stellar fourth novel to feature former Secret Service agents Michelle Maxwell and Sean King (after Simple Genius). Maxwell and King, D.C. PIs, step on the toes of everyone, including the FBI and the Secret Service. They even manage to bruise the ego of First Lady Jane Cox, who hires them after her 12-year-old niece is kidnapped following a birthday party at Camp David. Baldacci excels at making the improbable believable as one obsessed man, 62-year-old Sam Quarry, takes on the best security the U.S. can muster from his Alabama redoubt." Hard to resist this Publishers Weekly review, no?

John Hart, The Last Child ($27 Signed)

New Signed Books From the Poisoned Pen

S J Bolton, Awakening ($32 UK) Signed
Clara Benning, a veterinary surgeon in charge of a wildlife hospital in a small English village, is young and intelligent, but nearly a recluse. Disfigured by a childhood accident, she generally prefers the company of animals to people. But when a local man dies following a supposed snakebite, Clara’s expertise is needed. She’s chilled to learn that the victim’s postmortem shows a higher concentration of venom than could ever be found in a single snake—and that therefore the killer must be human.

Assisted by a soft-spoken neighbor and an eccentric reptile expert, Clara unravels sinister links to an abandoned house, an ancient ritual, and a fifty-year-old tragedy that has left the survivors secretive. But for someone the truth must remain buried in the past—even if they have to kill to keep it there.

Awakening is a disturbing tale of dark secrets and insidious rituals that will have readers unable to stop for a breath until they’ve reach the stunning climax of this extraordinary read from the author of the acclaimed debut novel Sacrifice.

David Gibbins, The Tiger Warrior ($32 UK) Signed
Two ancient cultures, a lost treasure from the distant past: what powerful secrets does it conceal—and how far will some go to possess them? Dive into a new full-throttle hunt from master of the action-adventure thriller David Gibbins, as he unleashes…

The trail starts in the Roman ruins and leads to a shipwreck off the coast of Egypt. Soon the world’s top marine archaeologist, Jack Howard, and his team of scientific experts and ex-Special Forces adventurers are pushing their way through the mysterious jungles of India, following in the footsteps of a legendary band of missing Roman legionnaires. Meanwhile, at a remote lake in Kyrgyzstan, a beautiful woman has found evidence of a secret knowledge that has cost the lives of countless seekers through the centuries. And what Jack uncovers will lead him to dig not only into the ancient past but into his own family history. For over a century earlier his great-great-grandfather returned from an archaeological expedition in India forever traumatized by what he’d experienced. And in order to lay the past to rest, Jack will have to unearth an artifact that might have been better left buried—and with it a power that some of history’s most ruthless tyrants have sought to rule the world….

Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall ($42 UK) Signed

In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII’s court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king’s favor and ascend to the heights of political power

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. The quest for the king’s freedom destroys his adviser, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and leaves a power vacuum.

Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people and a demon of energy: he is also a consummate politician, hardened by his personal losses, implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel presents a picture of a half-made society on the cusp of change, where individuals fight or embrace their fate with passion and courage. With a vast array of characters, overflowing with incident, the novel re-creates an era when the personal and political are separated by a hairbreadth, where success brings unlimited power but a single failure means death.

Luis Alberto Urrea, Into the Beautiful North ($25)
Nineteen-year-old Nayeli works at a taco shop in her Mexican village and dreams about her father, who journeyed to the US to find work. Recently, it has dawned on her that he isn't the only man who has left town. In fact, there are almost no men in the village--they've all gone north. While watching The Magnificent Seven, Nayeli decides to go north herself and recruit seven men--her own "Siete Magníficos"--to repopulate her hometown and protect it from the bandidos who plan on taking it over.

Filled with unforgettable characters and prose as radiant as the Sinaloan sun, INTO THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH is the story of an irresistible young woman's quest to find herself on both sides of the fence.

TWO NEW SUGGESTIONS from Evelyn David

Evelyn David . Murder Takes the Cake (Echelon $14).

Rosemary Harris - author of Pushing Up Daisies ($6.99), says
"What do a sexy mortician, a feisty septuagenarian with a souped-up scooter, and an Irish wolfhound with a nose for murder have in common? They're all helping Washington DC PI Mac Sullivan find out who's trying to kill a very nervous bride-to-be. Smart, fast and laugh-out-loud funny, Murder Takes the Cake is another tasty treat from Evelyn David who takes readers on a merry chase from a turkey farm in Virginia all the way to Capitol Hill. And JJ, a goth computer expert, is one of the coolest characters I've met in years!"

or Meet the cast first in David's Murder Off the Books (Echelon $13).

"One howling good whodunit, and a terrific debut. MURDER OFF THE BOOKS offers a plot as twisty and fast as an Irish Wolfhound. Whiskey joins the ranks of beloved four-footed sleuths. Great fun!" -Julia Spencer-Fleming, Edgar finalist and author of All Mortal Flesh

"A fast-paced mystery with a lively and indomitable heroine, a tough-guy hero, and a lovable dog." - JoAnna Carl, author of The Chocolate Bridal Bash

"Evelyn David's quirky sense of humor sparkles on every page. Murder Off The Books is a clever, witty romp with plenty of twists and surprises. A laudable debut." - Kathryn R. Wall, author, Bishop's Reach

Intriguing New Signed Books From The Poisoned Pen

Don't miss these intriguing new signed books from The Poisoned Pen:

John Hart, The Last Child ($27 Signed)

Not that we needed any further proof, after the superb King of Lies (2008) and Down River (2007), but Hart once again demonstrates that he is a remarkable storyteller. Somebody has abducted Johnny Merrimon’s twin sister, Alyssa. Thirteen-year-old Johnny hasn’t been able to let her go, and even now, a year later, he is still scouring his North Carolina town, looking in every dark place, in the belief that his sister may still be alive and close by. Keeping an eye on Johnny, while fighting his own personal demons, is Clyde Hunt, the police detective who’s spent the last year working the case, even as his marriage and career have crumbled around him. When they discover the truth, they find that it’s something darker and more frightening than either of them could have imagined. Hart once again produces a novel that is elegant, haunting, and memorable. His characters are given an emotional depth that genre characters seldom have, and the graceful, evocative prose lifts his stories right out of their genre and into the realm of capital-L literature. A must-read for every variety of fiction reader.- Booklist (starred review)

Stefanie Pinoff, In the Shadow of Gotham ($27 Signed)
“Pintoff's debut… will remind many of Caleb Carr at his best... The period detail, characterizations and plotting are all top-notch, and Ziele has enough depth to carry a series.”
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The first winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition nicely contrasts academic theorizing with the reality of police detection set against the backdrop of a vividly depicted turn-of-the-century Gotham. Recommend to readers who enjoy historicals of this period, such as Caleb Carr’s The Alienist and Ann Stamos’s Bitter Tide.”
--Library Journal (starred review)


Sarah Waters, The Little Stranger($27 Signed)
Waters (The Night Watch) reflects on the collapse of the British class system after WWII in a stunning haunted house tale whose ghosts are as horrifying as any in Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. Doctor Faraday, a lonely bachelor, first visited Hundreds Hall, where his mother once worked as a parlor maid, at age 10 in 1919. When Faraday returns 30 years later to treat a servant, he becomes obsessed with Hundreds's elegant owner, Mrs. Ayres; her 24-year-old son, Roderick, an RAF airman wounded during the war who now oversees the family farm; and her slightly older daughter, Caroline, considered a “natural spinster” by the locals, for whom the doctor develops a particular fondness. Supernatural trouble kicks in after Caroline's mild-mannered black Lab, Gyp, attacks a visiting child. A damaging fire, a suicide and worse follow. Faraday, one of literature's more unreliable narrators, carries the reader swiftly along to the devastating conclusion.
— Publishers Weekly Starred review

The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet Signed by Reif Larsen

We just received signed copies of Reif Larsen's The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet.

A brilliant, boundary-leaping debut novel tracing twelve-year-old genius map maker T.S.Spivet’s attempts to understand the ways of the world.

When twelve-year-old genius cartographer T.S. Spivet receives an unexpected phone call from the Smithsonian announcing he has won the prestigious Baird Award, life as normal—if you consider mapping family dinner table conversation normal—is interrupted and a wild cross-country adventure begins, taking T.S. from his family ranch just north of Divide, Montana, to the museum’s hallowed halls.

T.S. sets out alone, leaving before dawn with a plan to hop a freight train and hobo east. Once aboard, his adventures step into high gear and he meticulously maps, charts, and illustrates his exploits, documenting mythical wormholes in the Midwest, the urban phenomenon of “rims,” and the pleasures of McDonald’s, among other things. We come to see the world through T.S.’s eyes and in his thorough investigation of the outside world he also reveals himself.

As he travels away from the ranch and his family we learn how the journey also brings him closer to home. A secret family history found within his luggage tells the story of T.S.’s ancestors and their long-ago passage west, offering profound insight into the family he left behind and his role within it. As T.S. reads he discovers the sometimes shadowy boundary between fact and fiction and realizes that, for all his analytical rigor, the world around him is a mystery.

All that he has learned is tested when he arrives at the capital to claim his prize and is welcomed into science’s inner circle. For all its shine, fame seems more highly valued than ideas in this new world and friends are hard to find.

T.S.’s trip begins at the Copper Top Ranch and the last known place he stands is Washington, D.C., but his journey’s movement is far harder to track: How do you map the delicate lessons learned about family and self? How do you depict how it feels to first venture out on your own? Is there a definitive way to communicate the ebbs and tides of heartbreak, loss, loneliness, love? These are the questions that strike at the core of this very special debut.

Lone Star signed

Lone Star by ED Ifkovic ($25 Signed) A First Mystery Pick features Edna Ferber as a bestseller come to Hollywood where she is on the set of Giant. Does she like what George Stevens and the cast are doing to her book? And what does she make of James Dean, that doomed young man burnished by fame-and brushing death?

But it's not Dean who dies by another's hand.... I really like Ferber scholar Ifkovic's take on celebrity and how destructive it can be, just as true in 1956 as today, but more cloaked by the studios and the media. Rob and I got the DVD of Giant to watch; this book really brings it to life. Breaks your heart to think what befell Rock Hudson, Liz Taylor, and Dean.

The Sal Mineo portrait by Ifkovic is startling. Jeffrey Deaver likes it: "A pure delight. . . . Whether you're a fan of classic films or you just love classy storytelling in which fiction flirts with fact, then Lone Star is for you."