Blindman's Bluff by Fay Kellerman Signed

We have the new Fay Kellerman signed!

Don't miss the new Decker and Lazarus Novel, Blindman's Bluff ($28)

LAPD homicide detective Peter Decker and his wife, Rina Lazarus, will be blindsided by a brutal multiple murder in this twisting tale of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman.

"They say dead men don't talk, but if you listen, they do."

As a lieutenant in the LAPD, homicide detective Peter Decker doesn't get many calls at 3 a.m. unless a case is nasty, sensational—or both. Someone has broken into the exclusive Coyote Ranch compound of billionaire developer Guy Kaffey and viciously gunned him down, along with his wife and four employees.

A well-known figure on both the business and society pages, Kaffey, with his sons and his younger brother, Mace, built most of the shopping malls in Southern California and earned a reputation for philanthropy, donating millions to worthy causes. It doesn't take long for Peter, his trusted detectives Scott Oliver and Marge Dunn, and the rest of his homicide team to figure out that the gruesome killings must be an inside job. Things become even more entangled when they discover that Kaffey's largesse had included organizations that extended second chances to delinquents, many of whom Kaffey had hired for his personal security. But was the job pure murder/robbery or something even more twisted? A developer of Kaffey's magnitude doesn't make billions without making more enemies with blood grudges.

With leads taking the team across L.A., up and down the Golden State, and into Mexico, Decker is plenty busy—and plenty thankful not to have to worry about his wife, Rina Lazarus, getting caught up in this deadly case. Rina is out of harm's way, serving on a jury at the courthouse.

But then a chance encounter with a court translator who needs her help leads Rina into the terrifying heart of her husband's murder investigations—and straight into the path of a gang of ruthless killers. To protect Rina, Decker must find his prey before death unites his two worlds.

A fast-paced tour through the urban landscape of L.A., Blindman's Bluff is a riveting mile-a-minute thrill ride from a formidable master of her craft.

We have the new E.L. Doctorow signed!

Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow (Random $28 Signed).

The eccentric brothers Homer and Langley Collyer made headlines all over the world when their four story Harlem brownstone was excavated after their deaths. What the authorities found was a astonishing: the place was packed floor to ceiling with stuff, shifting piles of newspaper, several pianos, and assorted junk collected over several decades. The hoarding brothers became culturally synonymous with obsessive compulsive disorder. Doctorow does a tremendous job of bringing these misunderstood oddballs to life. The arc of the Collyer brothers lives ran from the late Victorian period to after World War II, and we see a drastically changing world from the vantage point of these vigorously intellectual hermits.

Sex Scenes Late at Night with Diana Gabaldon

Gabaldon read from her forthcoming Outlander novel Echo in the Bone (see Sept. 22 events at www.poisonedpen.com) and earlier work. Customers were expected to wear their best lingerie, we provided the chocolates.

Check our calendar for September 22, the Launch Party for Echo in the Bone at the Arizona Biltmore Grand Ballroom, 6 pm. Tickets are required, they are free with the purchase of Echo in the Bone from The Poisoned Pen. A ticket permits the purchase of one Companion Ticket at $2.00.

One more clip of Diana reading from An Echo in the Bone. Probably not appropriate for kids...depending on your opinon.

You can, of course, pre-order copies of An Echo in the Bone by calling The Poisoned Pen at 1-888-560-9919

The Princess of Landover Signed by Terry Brooks

The Princess of Landover by Terry Brooks ($28) Signed

After fourteen years, New York Times bestselling fantasy master Terry Brooks has returned to the magic kingdom of Landover. The remarkable realm of dragons, demons, wizards, and wonders that wove an irresistible spell in five classic novels throws open its gates at long last for a brand-new adventure featuring a dazzling cast of characters and creatures.

Ben Holiday, Chicago lawyer and mere mortal turned monarch of enchanted Landover, has grappled with scheming barons, fire-breathing beasts, diabolical conjurers, and extremely wicked witches. None of whom have prepared him for the most daunting of challengers–a teenage daughter. Sent by Ben and his beloved sylph bride, Willow, to an exclusive girls’ prep school, headstrong (and half-magical) Mistaya Holiday has found life in the natural world a less than perfect fit. And when her latest rebellious antics get her indefinitely suspended, she’s determined to resume her real education–learning sorcery from court wizard Questor Thews–whether her parents like it or not.

But back home in Landover, Mistaya’s frustrated father is just as determined that the precocious princess learn some responsibility, and he declares her grounded until she successfully refurbishes the long-forsaken royal library. Mortified by the prospect of salvaging a king’s ransom in moldy books–and horrified by word that repulsive local nobleman Lord Laphroig seeks to marry her–Mistaya decides that the only way to run her own life is to run away from home.

So begins an eventful odyssey peppered with a formidable dragon, recalcitrant gnomes, an inscrutable magic cat, a handsome librarian, a sinister sorcerer, and more than a few narrow escapes as fate draws Landover’s intrepid princess to the last place she expected to go, and into the thick of a mystery that will put her mettle to the test–and might bring the kingdom to its knees.

New UK Signed Titles Just In

We received a UK shipment yesterday. Hurry and place your order if you would like one of these signed, firsts. Quantities are limited. Just call The Poisoned Pen Bookstore at 480 947 2974 0r 888 560 9919

Billingham, Mark. Bloodline. ($41) Signed
When a dead body is found in a North London flat, it seems like a straightforward domestic murder until a bloodstained sliver of X-ray is found clutched in the dead woman's fist - and it quickly becomes clear that this case is anything but ordinary. DI Thorne discovers that the victim's mother had herself been murdered fifteen years before by infamous serial killer Raymond Garvey. The hunt to catch Garvey was one of the biggest in the history of the Met, and ended with seven women dead. When more bodies and more fragments of X-ray are discovered, Thorne has a macabre jigsaw to piece together until the horrifying picture finally emerges. A killer is targeting the children of Raymond Garvey's victims. Thorne must move quickly to protect those still on the murderer's list, but nothing and nobody are what they seem. Not when Thorne is dealing with one of the most twisted killers he has ever hunted...


Black, Tony. Gutted ($41)
When the gangland owner of a pit bull that killed a three-year-old girl is found gutted on an Edinburgh hill Gus Dury is asked to investigate, and soon finds himself up to his neck in the warring underworld of the city's sink estates. Amidst illegal dog fights, a missing fifty grand and a police force and judiciary desperate to cover their links to a brutal killing, Gus must work fast to root out the truth, whilst the case sinks its teeth ever deeper into him.

Chevalier, Tracy. Remarkable Creatures ($37)
In the year of the 150th anniversary of Origin of Species, set in a town where Jane Austen was a frequent visitor, Tracy Chevalier once again shows her uncanny sense for the topical. In the early nineteenth century, a windswept beach along the English coast brims with fossils for those with the eye! From the moment she's struck by lightning as a baby, it is clear Mary Anning is marked for greatness. When she uncovers unknown dinosaur fossils in the cliffs near her home, she sets the scientific world alight, challenging ideas about the world's creation and stimulating debate over our origins. In an arena dominated by men, however, Mary is soon reduced to a serving role, facing prejudice from the academic community, vicious gossip from neighbours, and the heartbreak of forbidden love. Even nature is a threat, throwing bitter cold, storms, and landslips at her. Luckily Mary finds an unlikely champion in prickly, intelligent Elizabeth Philpot, a middle-class spinster who is also fossil-obsessed. Their relationship strikes a delicate balance between fierce loyalty and barely suppressed envy. Despite their differences in age and background, Mary and Elizabeth discover that, in struggling for recognition, friendship is their strongest weapon. Remarkable Creatures is Tracy Chevalier's stunning new novel of how one woman's gift transcends class and gender to lead to some of the most important discoveries of the nineteenth century. Above all, it is a revealing portrait of the intricate and resilient nature of female friendship.

Jackson, Douglas. Claudius ($32)
The year is 43AD ...In Southern England, Caratacus, war chief of the Britons, watches from a hilltop as the scarlet cloaks of the Roman legions spread across his lands like blood. In Rome, Emperor Claudius, newly risen to the imperial throne, dreams of taking his place in history alongside his illustrious forebears Caesar and Augustus. Among the legions marches Rufus, keeper of the Emperor's elephant. War is coming and the united tribes of Britain will make a desperate stand against the might of Rome. The Emperor has a very special place for Rufus and his elephant in the midst of the battle - as a secret weapon to cow the Britons with the visible manifestation of Rome's power. "Claudius" is a masterful telling of one of the greatest stories from Roman history, the conquest of Britain. It is an epic story of ambition, courage, conspiracy, battle and bloodshed, and confirms Douglas Jackson as one of the best historical novelists writing today.

Mills, Jenni. The Buried Circle ($31)
A pacy literary thriller, 'The Buried Circle' is a gripping blend of fact and fiction, peopled with extraordinary characters. The village of Avebury is one of the most mysterious places in the English countryside. Surrounded by ancient standing stones, crop circles and burial mounds, this is a place where all is not as it seems. In 1938, the archaeologist Alexander Keiller -- a millionaire playboy with a passion for ritual magic -- plans to reconstruct the 5000-year-old stone circle at Avebury. As war looms, Frannie Robinson and her boyfriend Davey are among those who fall under his spell, with fatal results. Seventy years later, Frannie's granddaughter India, filming in the area, survives a helicopter crash. Devastated, she decides to move back to Avebury and her grandmother, setting out on a quest to discover the truth about her family. But why is her grandmother so reluctant to talk about Keiller and the war? And exactly whose past is India unearthing!?

Mina, Denise. Still Midnight ($31)
Life ought to be simple for DI Alex Morrow. She's an up-and-coming Glasgow cop, just about to be presented with the case that could make her career. Her half-brother Danny is also on the up. Unfortunately for her, he's making his name on the other side of the tracks - in the murky shadows of Glasgow's criminal underworld. Nearby, a peaceful Sunday evening in a suburban neighbourhood is brutally shattered by a vicious attack. A battered van pulls up to the door of an ordinary-looking home and disgorges a group of armed men in balaclavas. They smash into the house, hold the terrified family within at gunpoint and demand millions of pounds. Baffled, the family protest that they don't have that sort of money. As quickly as they came, the attackers snatch the elderly grandfather and storm off into the night. When DI Morrow arrives she soon realises that there are too many missing links in this seemingly random attack: nothing quite makes sense. Who were the men? And why did they think this normal household concealed untold riches? The family is certainly not talking and as Morrow starts to delve deeper, she realises that there are dark secrets all around... As she searches for answers to one family's secrets, she must protect her own. Can she keep her bosses in the dark about her criminal brother? Or is something going to have to give?

O'Brien, Sean. Afterlife ($35)
Martin and Alex meet at university and - although Martin can never quite work out why - become friends. When they finish their undergraduate studies, and with the summer ahead of them before they have to think about the future, they and their respective girlfriends - Susie and Jane - rent a house in the middle of nowhere. While Jane writes and Susie finds a job at the local art college, the two boys spend their days doing little other than sleeping, drinking, smoking and trying to keep cool in scorching temperatures. As the heat builds, however so does the tension between the four; then, when a glamorous, hedonistic American student arrives in their midst, events and emotions escalate still further. A novel about power, rivalry, jealousy and - in the end - murder, "Afterlife" is a gripping exploration of how some outcomes are decided long before we're even aware of the options.

Riches, Anthony. Empire, Wounds of Honour ($32)Marcus Valerius Aquila has scarcely landed in Britannia when he has to run for his life - condemned to dishonorable death by power-crazed Emperor Commodus. The plan is to take a new name, serve in an obscure regiment on Hadrian's Wall and lie low until he can hope for justice. Then a rebel army sweeps down from the wastes north of the Wall, and Marcus has to prove he's hard enough to lead a century in the front line of a brutal, violent war.

Tyler, LC. Ten Little Herrings ($39)
When obscure crime writer Ethelred Tressider vanishes, his dogged literary agent, Elsie Thirkettle, is soon on his trail. Finding him (in a ramshackle hotel in the French Loire) proves surprisingly easy. Bringing him home proves more difficult than expected - but (as Elsie observes) who would have predicted that, in a hotel full of stamp collectors, the guests would suddenly start murdering each other? One guest is found fatally stabbed, apparently the victim of an intruder. But when a rich Russian oligarch also dies, in a hotel now swarming with policemen, suspicion falls on the remaining guests. Elsie is torn between her natural desire to interfere in the police investigation and her urgent need to escape to the town's chocolaterie. Ethelred, meanwhile, seems to know more about the killings than he is letting on. Finally the time comes when Elsie must assemble the various suspects in the Dining Room, and reveal the truth.
"Ten Little Herrings" is a brilliantly anarchic take on the classic "Country House Mystery", and an uproarious sequel to the first Elsie and Ethelred mystery, "The Herring Seller's Apprentice".

PPP Author Rachel Brady has just posted a cool contest for her new book, Final Approach

PPP Author Rachel Brady has just posted a cool contest for her new book, Final Approach.

Click here for contest rules

You can meet Rachel At the Poisoned Pen Bookstore on Oct 30 when she signs Final Approach (Poisoned Pen $25), her debut novel set in Houston where skullduggery is occurring in a flight school. If you've ever been interested in parachuting this is the event to attend!

"Sometimes clues just fall from the sky. Four years ago, Emily Locke's life was shattered when her infant daughter and husband were lost in an inexplicable accident. She has nearly rebuilt her fragile mental health when a disgraced former police detective, now working as a P.I., resurfaces to ask for help-reconnaissance at a Texas skydiving establishment over a thousand miles away. Emily knows better than to work with Richard Cole again, but can't refuse when she learns it's about a missing boy."

More Books Just In

Borg, Todd. Tahoe Night (Thriller $17 Signed).

I wrote this up for you before but the proud author has sent me this sterling review from Library Journal:

"In his seventh adventure (after Tahoe Avalanche and the Ben Franklin Award-winning Tahoe Silence), Owen McKenna is asked to protect former TV talk-show host Leah Printner from a stalker but finds this task more difficult than he first thought it would be. Leah had lost her husband and half of her face in a devastating auto accident; so why is she now being pursued by a murderous stalker?

VERDICT Borg has written another white-knuckle thriller set in California's beautiful Lake Tahoe region. A sure bet for mystery buffs waiting for the next Robert B. Parker and Lee Child novels."

We stock all of Borg's books ($17 each trade paperback originals).

Elias, Gerald. Devil's Trill (St Martins $25 Signed Sept. 5).

A cat-and-mouse game springs from the theft of a priceless violin from Carnegie Hall in this debut by Tucson concert violinist and symphony master (Utah) Elias. Daniel Jacobus is a blind, disappointed, reclusive, very vulgar violin teacher living in self-imposed exile in rural New England. He is drawn back into the competitive world of classic performance when he elects to attend this year's Grimsley Competition at Carnegie Hall, run by the ruthless Musical Arts Project, or MAP, which ruthlessly exploits the anointed prodigies who win. The Grimsley victor is granted the honor of playing the "Piccolino" Stradivarius, a uniquely dazzling, three-quarter size instrument that has brought misfortune to all who possessed it over the centuries since the Duchess and the dwarf violinist first owning it were murdered. The Piccolino is stolen at the winner's reception-and Jacobus, who has tried to destroy it, is the suspect. With the help of an old colleague and his new student, Yumi Shinagawa, Jacobus sets out to rid the world of MAP, retrieve the Piccolino,and prove his innocence. This far-ranging novel takes you to unexpected places and furnishes a real education in aspects of the music world that will surprise you.

Ferrigno, Robert. Heart of the Assassin (Scribner $28 Signed).

Set in a future American divided into two major regions, Edgar-finalist Ferrigno nicely ties up the wildly diverse plot lines that have motivated his many characters. NY, DC, and Mecca have all been nuked by the Old One, a 150-year-old fanatic trying to become the Muslim messiah who will lead a new caliphate. The only person who can stop him is Rakkim Epps, a fedayeen warrior whose historian wife, Sarah, is masterminding an effort to unite America by finding a piece of the true cross, buried somewhere in the D.C. nuclear hot zone. One can read this volume as a stand-alone, but to enjoy the vast breadth of what is truly a remarkable achievement, one should start with book one in the trilogy, Prayers for the Assassin, then Sins of the Assassin ($7.99 each), nominated for the 2009 Edgar Allan Poe Award.

Konrath, JA. Cherry Bomb (Hyperion $26 Signed).

At the close of 2008's Fuzzy Navel ($7.99),
one of Chicago PD Lt. Jacqueline Daniels's loved ones is dead. But who? So we open with a funeral. While Jack stands graveside, tears in her eyes, her cell phone rings. It's the killer, taunting Jack, drawing her even further into a twisted game of cat and mouse....




Reichs, Kathy. 206 Bones (Scribner $27 Signed Sept. 1 at CSI: Phoenix).

Dr. Tempe Brennan returns to consciousness in a very dark, very cold small space, bound hands to feet...She's been entombed. And the American city we're in here is not Charlotte but Chicago, Tempe's home as a small child. She and Lt. Ryan of the Surete de Quebec had accompanied the recently discovered remains of a missing heiress all the way from Montreal to the Chicago morgue-where Tempe is suddenly accused of mishandling the autopsy-and the case. How likely is that? But who has whacked Tempe and buried her, and even if she remembers, what can she do about it all trussed up underground?

SWEEPING UP GLASS the hit from Carolyn Wall

SWEEPING UP GLASS
By Carolyn Wall
327 pages. Delta. $14.

Carolyn Wall’s debut novel about a backward, racially segregated stretch of Kentucky in the 1930s is already causing a buzz. (It was originally published in a 2008 limited edition by Poisoned Pen Press.) Her heroine, Olivia Harker Cross, has endured enough hardships for a dozen lifetimes — a mentally ill mother, a dead father, wrecked romance, brutal poverty. She has gained a steady foothold in life when someone starts killing the Alaskan silver wolves near her mountain home. (“The long howl of a wolf rolls over me like a toothache,” Olivia relates in the book’s opening line.) Olivia is reluctantly drawn into a dark mystery about her family and her town that reaches back to her childhood, infecting the present. By the end this rich literary portrait of a woman and a place unexpectedly transforms into a surprise-filled thriller.

New Signed Books From the Poisoned Pen

Atkinson, Michael. Hemingway Deadlights ($27) Signed

It is 1956 and Hemingway has spent much of the year at his home in Key West, hiding from tourists and autograph hunters. But a friend’s sudden death rouses Papa from his idyll. To say that the cause of death is suspicious is to put it lightly. It’s not every day that a part-time smuggler is impaled on a harpoon. A witty, literate, and action-filled debut, Hemingway Deadlights catches the famed author in his later years, battling to solve the injustices in a flawed world.

McCreet, James. The Incendiary's Trail ($39 MacMillan) Signed

Murder is rampant in Early Victorian London. Detective Inspector Newsome of the new Detective Force decides to recruit a recently-apprehended master criminal to help bring the culprits to justice. A polymath with a mysterious past, the man is no eager volunteer. And when the ghastly murder of conjoined twins galvanizes the city, Newsome blackmails his prisoner - Noah Dyson, as he calls himself - into working with the Force's finest: Sergeant George Williamson. Unknown to the policemen, the criminal genius behind the murder shares a dark past with their new associate. It is not justice that is on Dyson's mind, but retribution. As Williamson and Dyson together close the net, the murder-rate soars and the streets of London begin to burn. Ingeniously plotted and seething with grotesque characters, James McCreet's striking debut will grip readers from its first dark pages.

Starr, Jason. Panic Attack ($27) Signed

Starred Review from PW "A bungled burglary sparks Starr's darkly humorous crime thriller. Carlos Sanchez wasn't expecting anyone to be home, much less have an entire clip emptied into him as he reached the top of the stairs of the brownstone he breaks into in Forest Hills Gardens, Queens. The gun-wielding psychologist, Adam Bloom, is almost equally surprised—instead of being hailed as a hero for defending his wife and daughter in his own home, the media vilify him as a crazed vigilante for using all 10 bullets. Even worse, the sociopathic Johnny Long, going along with his pal Carlos for an easy score, decides to make the Blooms pay in more blood for the incident after he escapes into the night. Targeting the wife and daughter, the vainly handsome Long may be a delicious bit of self-parody by the photogenic author, who remains unexcelled in portraying self-involved New Yorkers. Funny and suspenseful, this novel is Starr delightfully at the top of his game."

New Signed Books From The Poisoned Pen

Here Is a list of our new Signed US Firsts:

Alleyn, Susanne. The Cavalier of the Apocalypse ($27) Signed

Starred Review from PW -"After two mysteries set in the aftermath of the French Revolution, Game of Patience (2006) and A Treasury of Regrets (2007), Alleyn recounts how her series sleuth, Aristide Ravel, became a detective in this superb prequel set in 1786. While visiting the site of a Paris church fire, Ravel, a poor aspiring writer who bears the emotional scars of a long-ago family trauma, encounters Inspector Brasseur, whom he recognizes as a former neighbor. Brasseur later seeks Ravel's help when an unidentified man turns up dead in a churchyard, his throat slit and a Masonic symbol carved into his chest, and hires Ravel as a subinspector. As the inquiry continues, Ravel begins to suspect that the Masons may be connected with a plot to replace Louis XVI with the Duc d'Orléans as well as a scandal involving the disappearance of the queen's necklace. Alleyn expertly captures the politics and atmosphere of the period, seamlessly integrating them into a traditional whodunit plot."

Douglas, Carole Nelson. Cat in a Topaz Tango ($27) Signed

Midnight Louis is back in he 21sr adventure to find that Temple Barr and Matt Devine make a cozy engaged couple, and the feisty redhead is all for her handsome radio host fiance staring in a week-long televised Las Vegas charity event, "Dancing with the Celebs." But while ex-priest Matt struggles to master the sexy moves of the tango, a killer stalks the dance floor. Not only is Matt in danger, but so is the lovely tween Mariah, daughter of homicide cop C. R. Molina, who is dancing in the Junior Divison of the show.

And so Temple gets dragooned into resurrecting her kicky teen persona, Zoe Chloe Ozone, now an Internet hottie, to ensure Matt and Mariah don't foxtrot into a fatal mistep.

Where is Louie in all this? Well, he's out and about, proving that he's still the cat's meow. But he's got his paws full as he tries to keep all the various players in his little troupe from dancing right into death's arms...

Fesperman, Dan. The Arms Maker of Berlin ($27) Signed

This powerfully suspenseful new novel from Dan Fesperman takes us deep into the early 1940s in Switzerland and Germany as it traces the long reach of the wartime intrigues of the White Rose student movement, which dared to speak out against Hitler.

When Nat Turnbull, a history professor who specializes in the German resistance, gets the news that his estranged mentor, Gordon Wolfe, has been arrested for possession of stolen World War II archives, he’s hardly surprised that, even at the age of eighty-four, Gordon has gotten himself in trouble. But what’s in the archives is staggering: a spymaster’s trove missing since the end of the war, one that Gordon has always claimed is full of “secrets you can’t find anywhere else . . . live ammunition.”

Yet key documents are still missing, and Nat believes Gordon has hidden them. The FBI agrees, and when Gordon is found dead in jail, the Bureau dispatches Nat to track down the material, which has also piqued the interest of several dangerous competitors. As he follows a trail of cryptic clues left behind by Gordon, assisted by an attractive academic with questionable motives, Nat’s quest takes him to Bern and Berlin, where his path soon crosses that of Kurt Bauer, an aging German arms merchant still hoarding his own wartime secrets. As their stories—and Gordon’s—intersect across half a century, long-buried exploits of deceit, devotion, and doomed resistance begin working their way to the surface. And as the stakes rise, so do the risks . .

Finder, Joseph. Vanished ($28) Signed

Nick Heller is tough, smart, and stubborn. And in his line of work, it's essential. Trained in the Special Forces, Nick is a high-powered intelligence investigator--exposing secrets that powerful people would rather keep hidden. He's a guy you don't want to mess with. He's also the man you call when you need a problem fixed.

Desperate, with nowhere else to run, Nick's nephew, Gabe makes that call one night. After being attacked in Georgetown, his mother, Lauren, lies in a coma, and his step-dad, Roger, Nick's brother, has vanished without a trace.

Nick and Roger have been on the outs since the arrest, trial, and conviction of their father, the notorious "fugitive financier," Victor Heller. Where Nick strayed from the path, Roger followed their father's footsteps into the corporate world. Now, as Nick searches for his brother, he's on a collision course with one of the most powerful corporations in the world--and they will stop at nothing to protect their secrets.

Ghelfi, Brent. The Venona Cable ($25) Signed

First met in Volk's Game and Volk's Shadow ($14 signed firsts), Volk becomes involved in Cold War espionage and disinformation when a famous Hollywood filmmaker is found dead in Moscow and decrypted documents from the Venona Cables are released. The Soviet messages had implicated the Rosenbergs, Alger Hiss, Kim Philby, tons of other Soviet spies. How crucial is a difference on one marked-up intercept, and why must Volk suddenly clear his long-missing pilot father's name? It's a great read.

"The accolades Ghelfi has received for his Volk novels are well deserved, and this will only add to his acclaim."—Booklist

“Keeps the Cold War hot with the intrigues of … a slate of characters who are seldom what they seem…. Swift, sharp character descriptions and atmospheric evocations of gray, melancholy Moscow and the seedier streets of Los Angeles add style and color to a delectably complicated plot.”—Kirkus Reviews

Hockensmith, Steve. The Crack in the Lens ($27) Signed

Starred Review from PW - "Set in 1893, a few weeks after the events of 2008's The Black Dove, Hockensmith's excellent fourth mystery to feature Otto Big Red Amlingmeyer and his older brother, Gustav (aka Old Red), takes them to San Marcos, Tex. The laconic Old Red, whose life took an unexpected turn after his brother introduced him to the deductive methods of Sherlock Holmes, reveals that the love of his life, hooker Gertrude Eichelberger, was murdered in San Marcos five years earlier. The pair's efforts to investigate put them at odds with the local pimps as well as the law. The brothers discover that Gertrude was but the first victim of a serial killer, who modeled his crimes after Jack the Ripper. The personal stake Old Red has in catching the murderer adds an emotional dimension to the puzzle, which Edgar-finalist Hockensmith nicely leavens with witty prose and cliffhanging chapter endings."

Littlefield, Sophie. A Bad Day for Sorry ($25) Signed

This title was one of our First Mystery Club picks.

Stella Hardesty dispatched her abusive husband with a wrench shortly before her fiftieth birthday. A few years later, she’s so busy delivering home-style justice on her days off, helping other women deal with their own abusive husbands and boyfriends, that she barely has time to run her sewing shop in her rural Missouri hometown. Some men need more convincing than others, but it’s usually nothing a little light bondage or old-fashioned whuppin' can’t fix. Since Stella works outside of the law, she’s free to do whatever it takes to get the job done---as long as she keeps her distance from the handsome devil of a local sheriff, Goat Jones.

When young mother Chrissy Shaw asks Stella for help with her no-good husband, Roy Dean, it looks like an easy case. Until Roy Dean disappears with Chrissy’s two-year-old son, Tucker. Stella quickly learns that Roy Dean was involved with some very scary men, as she tries to sort out who’s hiding information and who’s merely trying to kill her. It’s going to take a hell of a fight to get the little boy back home to his mama, but if anyone can do it, it’s Stella Hardesty.

Sophie Littlefield possesses all the verve and confidence of a seasoned pro. This debut novel rings true at every heart-stopping turn, utterly bewitching us with its gutsy, compassionate voice and boasting some of the most captivating, complex characters in crime fiction today.

Maron, Margaret. Sand Sharks ($27) Signed

Starred review from Library Journal "Outstanding....Maron tackles big issues...with insight and pathos....Maron has never written a bad book, and with the 13^th in the series, she gives a clear picture of contemporary life in the rural South, tying it up in a neat mystery that keeps the reader guessing to the end. Highly recommended."

USA TODAY call this "HARD ROW is laced with strong and timely political statements about undocumented workers....Readers will be satisfied with the newest entry in this reliable series."

When Judge Deborah Knott travels to WrightsvilleBeach for a summer conference for North Carolina District Court Judges, she stumbles upon the body of one of her colleagues. Meanwhile, Deborah's husband, Sheriff's Deputy Dwight Bryant, is in Virginia with his son, tying up loose ends left by the death of his first wife. When another judge is found murdered at the conference, it soon becomes evident that Deborah may be the killer's next target. Her relaxing trip to the seaside soon transforms into a harrowing experience, and she must summon all of her strength and investigative expertise to track down the culprit before she becomes the next victim.

Parker, Ann. Leaden Skies ($25) Signed

Saloon co-owner Inez Stannert juggles divorcing her missing husband, her affair with the Reverend Sands, and her secret business partnership with Frisco Flo. Eager to protect her investment when one of Flo's girls is killed, Inez, part owner of the Silver Queen saloon but on shaky ground there what with the divorce, looks into the case. Zealous journalists, a fire insurance mapmaker with a past, an ambitious mother with a wastrel son, and politicians and railroad men eager to benefit from the visit of Ulysses S. Grant who is touring Leadville this 1880 form grist to Inez's mill. And we left out the ruthless city tax collector known as The Hatchett.

Tropper, Jonathan. This is Where I Leave You ($27) Signed

The death of Judd Foxman’s father marks the first time that the entire Foxman family—including Judd’s mother, brothers, and sister—have been together in years. Conspicuously absent: Judd’s wife, Jen, whose fourteen-month affair with Judd’s radio-shock-jock boss has recently become painfully public.

Simultaneously mourning the death of his father and the demise of his marriage, Judd joins the rest of the Foxmans as they reluctantly submit to their patriarch’s dying request: to spend the seven days following the funeral together. In the same house. Like a family.

As the week quickly spins out of control, longstanding grudges resurface, secrets are revealed, and old passions reawakened. For Judd, it’s a weeklong attempt to make sense of the mess his life has become while trying in vain not to get sucked into the regressive battles of his madly dysfunctional family. All of which would be hard enough without the bomb Jen dropped the day Judd’s father died: She’s pregnant.

This Is Where I Leave You is Jonathan Tropper's most accomplished work to date, a riotously funny, emotionally raw novel about love, marriage, divorce, family, and the ties that bind—whether we like it or not.

Our Guy's night ( Aug. 11) at The Poisoned Pen

Wow, what a night we had with authors Brett Battles, John Lescroart and Steve Martin. The store was packed and everyone was in high spirits when the guys took center stage.

Brett Battles signed Shadow of Betrayal (Doubleday $25).

Battles's first novel The Cleaner ($6.99) made a 2007 First Mystery Pick meaning we shipped some 150 to him to sign. We followed up with the spine-tingling and twisty The Deceived ($7.99) in 2008, a book with a plot that surprised at every turn. Great stuff.

John Lescroart signed his new book Plague of Secrets, (Dutton $27).

A multiple murder case plagued by lies and deception, there is one terrible secret that defense attorney Dismas Hardy is duty-bound to protect. Even if the price is his client's life.

Lawyer Martini came back to sign Guardian of Lies (Morrow $27) (he was here in late June for the Arizona Bar Association Convention) and hang out with Lescroart and Battles. And in the audience we had authors Brent Ghelfi (We are host a kick off TUESDAY AUGUST 18 for Brent i 7:30 pm at Arizona Biltmore Grand Ballroom where he will discus and sign his new Volk, The Venona Cable (Holt $25)) and Camille Kimball (who debuts, September 1: at our CSI; Phoenix at the Arizona Biltmore Grand Ballroom. Jack Ballentine (Author of Muder For Hire) will be at the Sept 1st event leading the discusion for the book and events surrounding the Phoenix Serial Shooter: Sudden Shot (Berkley $7.99), at approximately 8 pm. People involved in the case may appear.)

A Sudden Shot - The Phoenix Serial Shooter

From the back cover of Camille Kimball's novel:

"During a brutally hot summer in Phoenix, Arizona, the unimaginable happened: the city fell victim to one of the most publicized serial killing sprees in history. But this was only the beginning. Often using shotguns with buckshot, Dale Hausner and Sam Dieteman tormented the city for an entire year. From their Toyota Camry, they took aim at men and women, whit and black, Latino and Indian, homeless and rich-even horses and dogs.

With no evidence and no apparent motive, the police were confounded-until on detective, a former military man with a fondness for animals, began to put the pieces together. As the bodies continued to pile up in Phoenix and its neighboring towns, Detective Cliff Jewell brought together police departments from across city limits fo finally nail the snipers who had descended upon rural pastures and tony suburbs-and who seemingly had an appetite for everything and everyone in their path."

This paperback original is to be released on the 1st of September. For all interested in attending the event, there are tickets. Click here to reserve a book. Or, here to find out more.

It will be at the Arizona Biltmore, NOT The Poisoned Pen.

Tickets for this event are $2.

In addition, the author and subject of another true crime novel Murder for Hire, Phoenix officer Jack Ballentine will be talking about his new book.

Last, and surely not least, Kathy Reichs will also be talking about her latest 206 Bones.

This should be an awesome event which we has been dubbed CSI Phoenix.

From the initial response, it sounds like a huge portion of the Phoenix PD will also be in attendance. Just today, the main Phoenix Detective Cliff Jewell, who pieced together the Phoenix Serial Case, popped into the store today to scope out the joint and of course, I took a photo. I believe he will be at the signing as well, although you can't hold me to it.



If you would like to do a little catching up on the case in question, there is a Wikipedia article, an article from the AZ Republic as well as many others.

On a brief side note: A cool reference tool in this case is to check out is Google's News Archive Search. Just a search of Hausner and Dieteman brought up a little time line showing how often they were written about in a given set of years. Attached is an image below.

New Signed US Titles From the Poisoned Pen

Here are our New Signed US Titles From the Poisoned Pen:

De Catrique, Mark. The Fitzgerald Ruse ($25) Signed

Former Chief Warrant Office and amputee Sam Blackman and his partner, Nakayla Robertson, are opening a detective agency. They have high hopes that the thriving mountain region will provide a steady stream of cases. Their first client, a quirky elderly woman in a retirement community, makes a strange request. She wants Sam to right a wrong she committed over seventy years ago. Her victim: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Her crime: stealing a manuscript when Fitzgerald resided in the stately Grove Park Inn. Sam's task seems simple enough: retrieve the woman's lockbox and deliver the manuscript to Fitzgerald's heirs.

Grossman, Lev. The Magicians ($28) Signed

Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A senior in high school, he’s still secretly preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the craft of modern sorcery. He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. Something is missing, though. Magic doesn’t bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he dreamed it would. After graduation he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real. But the land of Quentin's fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he could have imagined. His childhood dream becomes a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart.

Konrath, JA. Cherry Bomb ($26) Signed
Cherry Bomb, the sixth Jack Daniels mystery, opens at the funeral. While Jack stands graveside, tears in her eyes, her cell phone rings. It's the killer, escaped maniac Alex Kork, taunting Jack, drawing her ever further into a twisted game of cat and mouse. Because while Alex is more than willing to kill random victims, Jack is her true prey. But which woman wants revenge more?

Sakey, Marcus. The Amateurs ($28) Signed

In just three novels, Marcus Sakey has staked a claim as “an astoundingly good writer,” one whose believable characters—always ordinary people—face excruciating situations with life- or-death consequences. The Amateurs asks a chilling question: Do you get what you deserve, or what you take?

Alex is failing as a father. Ian keeps dangerous secrets. Jenn is pining for adventure; Mitch is pining for Jenn. Four friends just getting by. Every Thursday night they’ve found solace in a couple of beers and a couple of laughs. But months turn to years, and suddenly a decade is gone. None of them are where—or who—they hoped to be.

And they’ve decided to do something about it. To stop waiting, and start taking.

But what was supposed to be a victimless crime has become a bloody nightmare. People have been killed. A child is in danger. Ruthless men pursue them with relentless fury. And tensions they thought were long-buried threaten to destroy them. As their whole world begins to unravel, each will have to choose between their own life and the lives of others—including their best friends.

White, Stephen. The Siege ($28) Signed

Stephen White—author of over a dozen New York Times bestsellers— returns with a relentlessly propelled, thriller that will remind readers of his acclaimed Kill Me. Stephen White’s Alan Gregory novels are beloved by both fans and critics—the most recent, Dead Time, was a USA Today and Book-Sense bestseller. In The Siege, Gregory’s longtime friend Sam Purdy takes center stage in a story that feels ripped from tomorrow’s headlines. From the first page on, readers need to be buckled in for a nonstop ride full of terror and pathos. As a lovely weekend approaches on the Yale campus it appears that a number of students—including the sons of both the Secretary of the Army and newest Supreme Court justice—may have gone missing. Kidnapping? Terrorism? The authorities aren’t sure.

But the high-profile disappearances draw the attention of the CIA and the FBI’s vaunted Hostage Rescue Team. Attention quickly focuses on the fortress-like tomb of one of Yale’s secret societies. Suspended Boulder police detective Sam Purdy soon finds himself in New Haven, where he is quickly snared by an unlikely pair of Feds: FBI agent Christopher Poe and CIA analyst Deirdre Drake. Sam, Poe, and Dee join together, desperately trying to solve the riddle of what is going on inside the windowless stone tomb on the edge of campus.

The clock is pounding in their ears. The unknown enemy is playing by no known rules . . . is making no demands . . . is refusing to communicate with the hostage negotiator . . . is somehow anticipating every FBI move . . . is completely unconcerned about getting away . . . And . . . is sending students, one by one, out of the building’s front door to die.

New Frist Edition Signed British Titles From The Poisoned Pen

We just got a wonderful shipment in from the UK. Please call or email as the quantities are limited.

Connolly, John. The Lovers ($45 Hodder) Signed

When Charlie Parker was still a boy, his father, a NYPD cop, killed a young couple, a boy and a girl barely older than his son, then took his own life. There was no explanation for his actions.

Now Parker is working on his most personal case yet: an investigation into his own origins and the circumstances surrounding the death of his father.

The investigation will reveal a life haunted by lies, by secrets kept and loyalties compromised. And by two figures in the shadows, a man and a woman, with only one purpose: to bring an end to Charlie Parker’s existence

Fowler, Christopher. Bryant and May on the Loose ($39 Doubleday) Signed

Long regarded an anachronism and a thorn in the side of its superiors, the Peculiar Crimes Unit is to be disbanded. For octogenarian detectives Arthur Bryant and John May, it seems retirement is now the only option. But then a headless body is found in a freezer, and on the perimeter of a massive construction site near King's Cross, a gigantic figure has been spotted - dressed in deerskin and sporting antlers made of knives and suddenly, with limited resources and very little time, the PCU are back in business. In the panoply of great fictional detective duos, Bryant & May rank alongside (and somewhere in between) Holmes & Watson and Mulder & Scully.

Kernick, Simon. Target. ($32 Bantam) Signed

Did someone try to kill me or am I going mad? When writer Rob Fallon gets drunk one night and ends up joining his best-friend's girlfriend, Jenny, in her apartment in London's West End, he's feeling guilty before anything's even happened. But guilt quickly turns to shock when two men break into the apartment, abduct Jenny, and try to kill Rob. But when Rob reports the abduction to the police no one believes him. Jenny's father claims she's on holiday abroad, her apartment appears untouched, and the doorman didn't see or hear anything. Rob can't let things lie - not with Jenny's life in danger. But when he starts asking questions, he finds himself the target of killers . But what is it they're so desperate to hide? And what does it have to do with an ordinary girl like Jenny? Either Rob finds out, or he's dead. It's that simple.

Nadel, Barbara. Sure and Certain Death. ($45 Headline) Signed

The chilling new World War Two crime mystery by the award-winning author Barbara Nadel; fourth in the highly popular Francis Hancock series.
East London, 1940: Francis Hancock finds the brutally eviscerated body of a woman in a derelict house. Francis' sister, Nancy, knew the victim. Then, shockingly, two more murders follow. Rumours start to spread through the East End about another Jack the Ripper. When a fourth woman is murdered, Nancy admits that she knew all of the victims, and Francis sets out to find the killer, discovering a trail of murderous resentment that goes back decades...

Sidebottom, Harry. Warrior of Rome II King of Kings ($32 Penguin) Signed

AD256 – the spectre of treachery hangs ominously over the Roman Empire. The sparks of Christian fervour have spread through the empire like wildfire, and the imperium is alive with the machinations of dangerous and powerful men. All the while, Sassanid forces press forward relentlessly along the eastern frontier. The battle-bloodied general Ballista returns to the imperial court from the fallen city of Arete – only to find that there are those who would rather see him dead than alive. Ballista is soon caught in a sinister web of intrigue and religious fanaticism . . . his courage and loyalty will be put to the ultimate test in the service of Rome and the Emperor. The Warrior of Rome is back . . .

Templeton, Aline. Dead in the Water ($45 Hodder) Signed

‘When you lift a stone, dark creatures, safely hidden before, panic in the light of day . . . someone out there would become desperate to stop her finding the truth. She had to move fast.’

The young victim had been pregnant, her body washed up on the rocks. Twenty years on the murder remains unsolved; her father is now dead, and her mother refuses to talk about what went on all those years ago.

Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming is called in to reopen the case that her late father, a policeman, was unable to put to rest. As Fleming digs deeper it becomes clear that her father had struggled to keep secret some of the shameful details around the young girl's death.

Can she handle the truth she will unearth, not just about her father but about herself?

Walker, Martin. Dark Vineyard ($32 Quercus) Signed

Just before dawn one late-summer morning, Bruno is pulled from sleep by the wail of the town siren atop the Mairie, summoning the volunteer firemen of St Denis. A large barn and the fields surrounding it are ablaze. When Bruno arrives at the scene, the smell of petrol leaves no doubt - it was arson. Soon after, a wine mogul from California visits the town, with plans to buy up half the valley to create an industrial-scale wine-producing operation. Such a business would bring a healthy injection of dollars to St Denis, plus the creation of at least fifty jobs. Bruno's boss, the Mayor, supports the scheme but Bruno is less convinced. He's not against progress, but he fears his little town will never be the same once the Californians have a foothold. Then a second, similar outrage follows the crop burning. It appears that someone is determined to stop the scheme and is prepared to go to any lengths - including murder - to do so. Bruno must use all his skills, tact and local knowledge to negotiate a minefield in order to reach the truth.

Wilson, Laura. An Empty Death ($43 Orion) Signed

Summer, 1944 After almost five years of conflict, London's exhausted inhabitants, pounded by the menace of Hitler's V1 bombs, are living in a world of dereliction. War-weary DI Ted Stratton is no exception, but he cannot help being drawn in by his latest case. Called on to investigate when a doctor is found dead in Fitzrovia's Middlesex Hospital, Stratton soon realizes that someone involved is not who they appear to be. Someone who has discarded their own identity and can move and kill freely. Meanwhile Jenny, Ted's wife, is working at the local Rest Centre, although her spirit of make-do is wearing thin. When a bombed-out woman appears at the centre, declaring that the man claiming to be her husband is an imposter, Jenny thinks that it must be due to shock. The reality, however, is much stranger and far more dangerous... Ultimately, for Stratton and Jenny perhaps there is only one thing they can trust: their fear. And for one of them, that fear may prove all too real. An Empty Death is a compelling exploration of identity, memory and trust and is perfect for fans of Foyle's War.