New Signed Firsts

Michael Harvey's The Fifth floor, is a sizzling follow-up to The Chicago Way ('A magnificent debut that should be read by all'-John Grisham; 'This book heralds the arrival of a major new voice'-Michael Connelly) opens with a murder in contemporary Chicago and winds its way back to Mrs. O'Leary's cow and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.: When PI Michael Kelly is hired by an ex-flame to tail her abusive husband, he expects trouble of a domestic rather than a historical nature. Life, however, is not so simple. The tail leads Kelly to an old house on Chicago's North Side. Inside it, the private investigator finds a body and, perhaps, the answer to one of Chicago's most enduring mysteries: who started the Great Chicago Fire and why. The ensuing investigation takes Kelly to places he'd rather not go, specifically, City Hall's fifth floor, where the mayor is feeling the heat and looking to play for keeps. Ultimately, Kelly finds himself in a world where nothing is quite what it seems, face-to-face with a killer bent on rewriting history and staring down demons from a past he never knew he had.: A fast-stepping, intricately woven narrative, rich with the history and atmosphere of a great city, The Fifth Floor is a worthy successor to Harvey's critically acclaimed debut. : About the Author: : Michael Harvey is a journalist, documentary film producer, and writer, as well as the co-creator and executive producer of the television series Cold Case Files. His work has won many national and international awards, as well as an Academy Award nomination. He lives in Chicago.

The reviews are in:

Advance Praise for Michael Harvey's The Fifth Floor
“Michael Harvey is a magnificent new voice.”
—John Grisham

“In The Fifth Floor, Michael Harvey gives us a tale of murder, bare-knuckle mayoral politics, and historical catastrophe–in short, the perfect Chicago detective story, complete with a loving tour of the city’s funkier locales that’ll make any displaced Chicagoan long for home.”
—Erik Larson, author of The Devil In the White City

“Harvey’s superb second thriller . . . Harvey’s plot twists in all the right places, and his noir-inspired dialogue crackles without sounding showy. Marlowe and Spade would readily welcome Michael Kelly into their fold.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“PI Michael Kelly digs into the history of the Great Chicago Fire for his second case in what’s shaping up as a strong series. . . . Dry wit, delectable clues and tricky leads hallmark this trenchant tale of the Windy City.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Read an Excert


And don't miss Amy Mackinnon's debut Tethered.

Clara Marsh is an undertaker who doesn’t believe in God. She spends her solitary life among the dead, preparing their last baths and bidding them farewell with a bouquet from her own garden. Her carefully structured life shifts when she discovers a neglected little girl, Trecie, playing in the funeral parlor, desperate for a friend.

It changes even more when Detective Mike Sullivan starts questioning her again about a body she prepared three years ago, an unidentified girl found murdered in a nearby strip of woods. Unclaimed by family, the community christened her Precious Doe. When Clara and Mike learn Trecie may be involved with the same people who killed Precious Doe, Clara must choose between the stead-fast existence of loneliness and the perils of binding one’s life to another.

Author's Website

Click Here For a Great Interview

Another Good Read

The Grand Master, Dick Francis, returns in prize-winning form with Silks.

Geoffrey Mason did it for the money. It is obvious that his client Julian Trent is guilty, and it’s about time rich boy Trent is taught a lesson for his violent ways. The only thing still bothering Geoff is that he is going to miss participating in the Foxhunter Steeplechase— the “Gold Cup” for amateur riders—because the trial has taken a lot longer than expected. Although still an amateur, Geoff is well known (as “Perry” Mason) among the pro riders, including Steve Mitchell and Scot Barlow—arguably the two top pros. So when Scot Barlow is murdered—with Mitchell’s pitchfork nonetheless—Geoff finds himself pulled into the case as a junior barrister. The problem is: which side is he on? Mitchell claims he has been framed, but Geoff knows there was tension between Mitchell and Barlow; in fact, Geoff stumbled across Barlow beaten and bloody not too long ago, and Barlow claimed it was Mitchell who had done the dirty work. To make matters worse, Julian Trent has somehow finagled is way out of prison and has sworn to hunt down Geoff unless he’s a “good little lawyer” and does what he’s told in the Mitchell case. Geoff is left facing adversaries from all sides, tearing him between doing what is right and what will keep him alive.

Have you read this yet?

A new YA just arrived. Sisters of Misery by Megan Hall
There are some girls who have everything…She has the right clothes, the right friends, and the right last name, but fifteen-year-old Maddie Crane sometimes feels like an outsider in her clique in the wealthy, seaside town of Hawthorne, Massachusetts. And when her gorgeous, eccentric cousin Cordelia LeClaire moves to town, Maddie is drawn toward her ethereal, magical spirit and teeters even more toward the edge of her friends’ tightly-knit circle...Then there are the jealous ones…Kate Endicott and the Sisters of Misery—a secret clique of the most popular, powerful girls in school—are less than thrilled by Cordelia’s arrival. When Kate’s on-again, off-again boyfriend Trevor takes an interest in Cordelia, the Sisters of Misery become determined to make her pay…Now Maddie must choose between the allure and power of the Sisters of Misery and her loyalty to her beloved cousin. But she’ll have to give up on ever fitting in and accept the disturbing truth about the town, her friends, her mysterious cousin, and even herself as she faces the terrifying wrath of the Sisters of Misery…
"An exciting, dangerous, and mysterious world! Megan Kelley Hall has crafted a story that'll keep you guessing until the last page." --Richelle Mead, author, Vampire Academy series
"A dazzling and dishy portrait of magic, mystery, and coming of age. Readers will eat this up and come begging for more." --Laurie Stolarz, author of the bestselling Blue is for Nightmares series
“One of the very best things in life is discovering an author you want to read more of. Sisters of Misery makes me want to read a whole lot more of Megan Kelley Hall.” --Ellen Hopkins, author of Crank and Impulse

Margaret Coel's Blood Memory and Willima Kent Krueger's Red Knife

We have two wonderful books not to be missed, Margaret Coel's Blood Memory, her first stand-alone novel dealing with contemporary Native American affairs.

Someone is trying to kill Catherine McLeod.

Catherine is an investigative reporter for a major Denver newspaper. At first she thinks someone wants her dead because of what she must have written for the paper. But soon she realizes that she has been targeted for death because of what she might write in the future. She has no idea of what that might be.

As an assassin closes in, Catherine finds herself in a race for her life to uncover the story that someone is determined to keep hidden. Soon she realizes the story revolves around a massacre of Arapaho and Cheyenne Indians in 1864—the Sand Creek Massacre—and the efforts of the tribes to build a 300 million dollar casino on the plains close to Denver. But behind the headlines, Catherine comes to understand, is the real story of what happened in the past, a story buried for one hundred and fifty years.

And behind the facts of that story is someone who wants her dead.

The race to uncover the truth takes Catherine through the streets and neighborhoods of Denver to the power centers of Washington, D.C. Desperate to stay one step ahead of the assassin stalking her, Catherine sheds her old identity and everything familiar in her life, gradually becoming someone else. Along the way, she must come to terms with her own past and the Arapaho blood that she had never acknowledged. But only by facing the past can she write a story never before told and, ultimately, save her own life.

Come meet Margaret Monday, September 8 at 7pm at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore.

Red Knife by William Kent Krueger the latest book in the award-winning Cork O'Connor series finds the charismatic private investigator caught in the middle of a racial gang war that's turning picturesque Tamarack County, Minnesota, into a bloody battlefield.

When the daughter of a powerful businessman dies as a result of her meth addiction, her father, strong-willed and brutal Buck Reinhardt, vows revenge. His target is the Red Boyz, a gang of Ojibwe youths accused of supplying the girl's fatal drug dose. When the head of the Red Boyz and his wife are murdered in a way that suggests execution, the Ojibwe gang mobilizes, and the citizens of Tamarack County brace themselves for war, white against red.

Both sides look to Cork O'Connor, a man of mixed heritage, to uncover the truth behind the murders. A former sheriff, Cork has lived, fought, and nearly died to keep the small-town streets and his family safe from harm. He knows that violence is never a virtue, but he believes that it's sometimes a necessary response to the evil that men do. Racing to find answers before the bloodshed spreads, Cork himself becomes involved in the darkest of deeds. As the unspeakable unfolds in the remote and beautiful place he calls home, Cork is forced to confront the horrific truth: Violence is a beast that cannot be contained.

In Red Knife, Krueger gives his readers a vivid picture of racial conflict in small-town America, as well as a sensitive look at the secrets we keep from even those closest to us and the destructive nature of all that is left unsaid between fathers and sons, husbands and wives, friends and lovers.

William is signing at The Poisoned Pen Bookstore on Thursday, September 25 at 7pm. He will speak and sign. The event is free and open to the public. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to meet this fascinating author.

You can read and except here

Two Adrenalin Pumped Novels...

Einburgh's Tony Black has a smoking debut in Paying For It a Gus Dury Novel.

Gus Dury once had a high-flying career as a journalist and a wife he adored. But now he is living on the edge, a drink away from Edinburgh's down-and-outs, drifting from bar to bar, trying not to sign divorce papers. But the road takes an unexpected turn when a friend asks him to investigate the brutal torture and killing of his son, and Gus becomes embroiled in a much bigger story of political corruption and illegal people-trafficking. Seedy doss-houses, bleak wastelands and sudden violence contrast with the cobbled streets and cool bistros of fashionable Edinburgh, as the puzzle unravels to a truly shocking ending.

Tony's website


or Simon Kernick's Deadline

'We've got your daughter.' It's evening, you're back late from work - and the house is in darkness. You step inside, and the phone rings. You answer it - and your world turns upside down. Your fourteen-year-old daughter's been taken, and her kidnappers demand half a million pounds in cash. They give you 48 hours to raise the money, and warn you that if you call the police, she'll die. Trying desperately to remain calm, you realise that your husband - the man you married only two years previously - is also missing. But he can't be involved in your daughter's abduction. Or can he? As your nightmare begins, you can be certain of only two things: that you will do anything to get your daughter back alive - and that time is running out ...
Simon's Website

New Andrew Pepper mystery

Kill-Devil and Water is the new pyke mystery from Andrew Pepper and we have it signed.

London: 1840. The economy is sliding into recession; gangs of unemployed workers roam the streets; the city is on the verge of anarchy and a murderer prowls the capital's poor neighbourhoods.
Pyke, still grieving over the death of his wife and struggling to shoulder his responsibilities as a father, is in debtors' prison, having lost his home and reached the edge of bankruptcy. Fitzroy Tilling, now head of the new Metropolitan Police Force gives Pyke his freedom, but in return he must agree to investigate the brutal death of a young mulatto woman, recently arrived from Jamaica, and apparently working as a prostitute. Her body, found near the docks, has been viciously mutilated, but the police force are concentrating all their resources on the suspicious death of an influential aristocrat, and Pyke must therefore work alone.
It is not long before another poor, young woman turns up dead, also mutilated and dumped by the river, and Pyke begins to suspect that he has stumbled on something more sinister, and more far-reaching than the murder of a couple of prostitutes.
Torn between his duties as a father and his instincts as an investigator, between grief for his wife and desire for one of his suspects, Pyke's investigation takes him from the London docks to the sugar plantations of Jamaica, from a fading colonial mansion to the back-street pornography shops of the East End and from the sewers beneath the city to the vaults of the Bank of England, in a struggle against ambitious and ruthless enemies, as well as demons of his own.