From Les

The Gift of Rain is set in 1930s Penang, Malaya. While his family is taking an extended trip to England, sixteen year old Philip Hutton meets a Japanese diplomat named Hayato Endo who offers to teach him aikido. As such, Philip and Endo enter into a student and sensei relationship. But in 1941 when Japan enters the war by attacking Malaya and Pearl Harbor, Philip is left to question his loyalties: to his sensei or to his country. The Gift Of Rain is the debut novel by Malaysian author, Tan Twan Eng. It was long-listed for the 2007 Man Booker Prize. This lavish literary novel is rich with exotic history and full of twists and turns. Highly recommended for literary history fans!

From Barbara

Murray, Yxta Maya. King's Gold (Harper $15 Signed). "When a stranger approaches Lola Sanchez, a Long Beach, Calif., bookshop owner and the daughter of legendary archeologist and old-fashioned pulp hero Tomas de la Rosa, with a centuries-old letter offering clues to the location of Montezuma's lost gold, she can't resist the lure—especially when told that her father died while searching for the treasure. Assisted by her half-sister, fiancé, mother and stepfather, Lola follows the clues in a suicidal treasure hunt that leads across Italy and to some of history's most iconic sites. The characters are unique and memorable, the action fast-

paced, the plot serpentine and the riddles challenging in this entertaining adventure. In heroine Sanchez, Murray has created a perfect counterweight to the traditi

onal macho hero," says PW.

Adding, "Law professor Murray continues her Red Lion series begun in Queen Jade ($14 June) with a death-defying treasure hunt that transforms her sedentary, word-mad bibliophile heroine into a genuine biblio-adventurer."
Conquest ($13), a Modern First 2002 Pick, features Sara Gonzales, a

rare-book restorer at the Getty.

Need a Good Book to Read?

2008 AGATHA AWARDS

The Agatha Awards are literary awards for mystery and crime writers who write mystery novels in the traditional method exemplified by Agatha Christie. At an annual convention in Washington, D.C., the Agatha Awards are handed out by Malice Domestic Ltd, in five categories: Best Novel; Best First Mystery; Best Short Story; Best Non-Fiction; Best Children's/Young Adult Mystery.

Malice Domestic Ltd was established in 1989, and was incorporated as a corporation in 1992. It is governed by a volunteer board of directors.

According to them the genre for an Agatha novel is loosely defined as mysteries which contain no explicit sex or excessive gore or violence. It usually features an amateur detective, journalist, or an ordinary citizen, in a confined setting, with characters who know one another.

This years winners are:

BEST NOVEL
Louise Penny, Fatal Grace (St Martins $6.99).

BEST FIRST NOVEL
Hank Phillippi Ryan, Prime Time (Harlequin out of stock).

BEST NONFICTION
Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley, Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters (The Penguin Press $37.95).

BEST SHORT STORY
Donna Andrews, "A Rat's Tale," in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, (Sept/Oct 2007)

BEST JUVENILE
Sarah Masters Buckley, A Light in the Cellar (American Girl)

2008 EDGAR ALLAN POE AWARDS

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. They honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film and theatre published or produced in the past year.

Wow, these awards underline how well our First Mystery Club succeeds in bringing members the best in mystery.

BEST NOVEL
John Hart, Down River (St Martins $24.95). Hart's King of Lies ($6.99) was a 2006 FMC Pick.

BEST FIRST NOVEL BY AN AMERICAN AUTHOR
Tana French, In the Woods ($14 Aug.). This was a 2007 FMC Pick. She comes to sign Likeness (Viking $24.95) on Aug. 1.

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Megan Abbott, Queenpin (Simon & Schuster $13). Abbott's Die a Little ($23) was a 2005 FMC Pick and Edgar nominee.

BEST FACT CRIME
Vincent Bugliosi, Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (W.W. Norton and Company $49.95).

BEST CRITICAL/BIOGRAPHICAL
Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley, Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters (The Penguin Press $37.95).

BEST SHORT STORY
Susan Straight, "The Golden Gopher ' – Los Angeles Noir (Akashic $15), ed. by Denise Hamilton.

New For Kids

Crime Lab: Trap the Spy by Hunter S. Fulghum ($20). A dangerous crime has been committed! Spies have infiltrated a top-secret lab, a double agent is loose, and someone has stolen some important plans. Tracking down spies is tricky, and young readers can learn whether or not they’re up to the task with this book and crime lab. Using the tools included, they test theories and narrow down suspects. Will they succeed and become super sleuths, or end up scratching their heads?


Steel Trapp: The Challenge ($17) is the first book in a new YA series by bestselling author Ridley Pearson. Steven “Steel” Trapp is a science geek extraordinaire, with a photographic memory. Once he’s seen something, he can remember it in vivid detail. He has a memory like a steel trap, which is where he gets his nickname. Set at a Washington D. C. Science Fair this fast paced story will keep you guessing right to the end.

Tree Shepherd's Daughter ($10) by Gillian Summers the first in The Faire Folk Trilogy a new YA series. When her mother dies, 15 year old Keelie Heartwood is forced to leave California to live with her nomadic father at a Renaissance festival. Payacting the Dark Ages is an LA girl's worst nightmare, and she plans to ditch this medieval geekland ASAP. But then Keelie begins to see the fairies and discovers her connection to a community of elves...

Charlaine Harris will be at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore

Charlaine Harris will be at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore Friday, May 9th at 7:00 pm to sign From Dead to Worse ($25), a new Southern Vampire Mystery, featuring Sookie Stackhouse. I love this series. Fans of Kim Harrison and Laurell K. Hamilton will love Sookie Stackhouse, the barmaid with a disability, she can read minds. Sookie as a tan, blue-eyed, buxom blonde, but although she's young, fit and good looking, she has trouble with suitors.Being able to read her date's minds is a big turn-off and her reputation as a weirdo doesn't make her very attractive either. She leads a lonely life until this guy walks into the bar and she refreshingly can not read his mind...

Soon to be an HBO series, True Blood is adapted from this mystery series written by Charlaine Harris, starring Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse, a psychic waitress who battles vampires and other supernatural creatures in Louisiana.

SPECIAL SNEAK PREVIEW: Chapter One of From Dead to Worse
Don't miss this chance to meet this awesome author. For more information or to reserve a copy of any of Charlaine's books you can call 480 947 2974 or visit wwwpoisonedpen.com. Charlaine will inscribe her books and we can ship to anywhere!

Berkley has just brought Charlaine Harris's beloved Aurora Teagarden mysteries back into print. Cozy-readers, if you missed these you now have a second chance to treat yourself.

In Real Murders ($8) we meet Aurora Teagarden, or Roe to her friends, a librarian with an interest in true crime literature and murder. Roe belongs to a small group that meets weekly to discuss real murders. After one of the members is killed, Roe can't help but get involved. A Bone to Pick ($8) the second in the series has also been reissued.

From Lea

Unger, Lisa. Black Out (Shaye Areheart Books $23) In her third book, Lisa Unger brings us an intriguingly complex character in Annie Powers .Living a beautiful life in a wealthy Florida suburb, she has a past that's about to catch up with her.

A staged death and an assumed identity can't free her from her past as the emotionally broken lover and/or accomplice of a brutal serial killer.

Now she has to fight to save herself and her family from the darkest demon from her former life.

A tense absorbing look at a fragile young woman trying to discover the truth of her past life and hope for her future.

Black Out Trailer