Start the new year off with a new series! Now through Monday, January 5, we are offering 20% off on all first-in-series titles throughout the store. New books only (we have a separate promotion on used books right now; see the coupon below), but otherwise no limits. This promotion is good in-store and also on telephone, email and website orders. (Discount won't show up in your online shopping cart, but will be taken before you are charged for your order.) Our everyday free shipping offer also applies, as does our Reading Resolutions for 2009 program; make "try a new series" part of your resolution and save even more!
Listed below are just a few of the many, many first-in-series titles that we recommend. Need help finding something to try? We'd be delighted to help you find a new writer you'll cherish.
Arruda, Suzanne. Mark of the Lion ($14). High adventure in 1920s Africa. Suzanne visits The Mystery Company next Tuesday, January 6, at 7 pm. Buy now!
Atherton, Nancy. Aunt Dimity's Death ($7.99). Cozy and heartwarming, without being drippy. (Guys can read this too, despite the stuffed pink bunny rabbit on the cover.) The best example of the restorative power of a great mystery that I can think of. Buy now!
Balzo, Sandra. Uncommon Grounds ($13.95). Maggie Thorsen is the proud owner of a brand-new gourmet coffee shop in Wisconsin, but the opening is marred by the murder of her partner. Catchy, engaging and clever. Buy now!
Barr, Nevada. Track of the Cat ($7.99). This series follows a park ranger on the job in National Parks throughout this country. Great armchair site-seeing, with a intriguing character you'll grow to love. Buy now!
Biggers, Earl Derr. House Without a Key ($14.95). Attractive new edition of the classic 1925 novel that introduced Charlie Chan. Beautiful Hawaii setting, clever plot. Yes, it's dated, but less than you'd think. Buy now!
Chercover, Sean. Big City, Bad Blood ($7.99). Cool new Chicago private eye series. Winner of the Shamus Award for best first private eye novel of 2007. Buy now!
Clemens, Judy. Till the Cows Come Home ($14.95). This series features a dairy farmer and the loveable oddballs (musicians, tattoo enthusiasts, etc.) she hangs out with. Clemens has a nice eye for character. Buy now!
Cleverly, Barbara. Last Kashmiri Rose ($13). Atmospheric police series set in 1920s India. Lush, exotic and beautiful. Buy now!
Cohen, Jeff. Some Like It Hot Buttered ($6.99). One of Austin's favorites, this series about the owner of a movie theater in New Jersey is filled with movie trivia. Buy now!
Cotterill, Colin. Coroner's Lunch ($12). Why would we want to read about Laos in the aftermath of the Communist takeover in the 1970s? Cotterill sees the humor in the chaos, and offers a rich portrayal of the culture. Buy now!
Crais, Robert. Monkey's Raincoat ($7.99). Perhaps the finest example of the private eye as social worker. Great wisecracks, and an incisive, sympathetic portrayal of the PI's client. Buy now!
Dams, Jeanne M.. Death in Lacquer Red ($8.95). First in this nice historical series set in South Bend at the turn of the last century. Jeanne calls her mysteries "cheerful" and it's an apt description. Buy now!
Davis, Lindsey. Silver Pigs ($6.99). Intrigue in Roman Britain, first in an innovative series that marries the vernacular of the hardboiled detetive novel to interesting times in the Roman Empire. Buy now!
Doss, James. Shaman Sings ($6.99). Quirky and delightful Native American series. Buy now!
Eisler, Barry. Rain Fall ($7.99). Sympathy for an assassin? Eisler makes us care about a man who kills people. The details of how he goes about his work are fascinating. (How does Eisler know this stuff?) Buy now!
Evans, Mary Anna. Artifacts ($14.95). Archeological series set in America's Southeast, featuring oddball characters we grow to love. Buy now!
Fforde, Jasper. Eyre Affair ($15). Douglas Adams meets Monty Python meets Charlotte Bronte. A hilarious treat for book lovers. Buy now!
Fowler, Christopher. Full Dark House ($13). Quirky and unique, this is the first in an unusual series that's weird yet faithful to all the conventions of the classic detective story. Extraordinary and wonderful. Buy now!
Freeman, Brian. Immoral ($6.99). Compelling Minnesota police novel; absolutely perfect for the plane or beach. Buy now!
Grabenstein, Chris. Tilt A Whirl ($14.95). Murder on the Jersey shore featuring a straight-arrow cop and his rookie partner who doesn't really know what to make of him. Their partnership is beautifully portrayed, as is the delightful seediness of the setting. Buy now!
Graham, Caroline. Killings at Badger's Drift ($14.95). English village mystery, exceptionally well plotted. Basis for the Midsommer Murders television series. Buy now!
Hallinan, Timothy. Nail Through the Heart ($13.95). Tough and romantic, about a travel writer who settles in Thailand. Buy now!
Hockensmith, Steve. Holmes on the Range ($13.95). Lively, entertaining novel about two brothers, cowboys in Montana in the late 19th century who are inspired by Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories to solve a murder on the ranch. The book is great fun throughout, and at the end turns into an unexpectedly lovely paean to family and to books themselves. Buy now!
Indridason, Arnaldur. Jar City ($14). A dark, atmospheric and fascinating series set in Iceland. Buy now!
Johnson, Craig. Cold Dish ($14). Another atmospheric series, this one set in wide-open Wyoming country. Buy now!
Kimberly, Alice. Ghost and Mrs. McClure ($6.99). Frothy fun. A woman buys a bookstore in Rhode Island and discovers that it's haunted. Alice Kimberly is another pen name for the folks who also coffeehouse mysteries under the name Cleo Coyle. Buy now!
Levine, Laura. This Pen for Hire ($5.99). A freelance writer gets involved in mischief when an ad she writes for a client leads to his discovery of a body. Levine, who worked on The Bob Newhart Show, has impeccable comic timing. Buy now!
MacInerney, Karen. Murder Most Maine ($13.95). A likable cozy New England bed-and-breakfast series. Buy now!
Mayor, Archer. Open Season (#1) ($14.95). I'm a big fan of the Joe Gunther series, which I think is the best pure police procedural series going today. Mayor's portrayal of the gritty details of the work is fascinating, he writes chases scenes that get your heart racing, and the Vermont setting is to die for. Buy now!
Page, Katherine Hall. Body in the Belfry ($7.99). A cozy culinary series set in a New England small town. Buy now!
Rees, Matt Benyon. The Collaborator of Bethlehem ($13.95). Set in Palestinian terroritories, ripped from the headlines. Riveting, revealing, heartbreaking. Buy now!
Robinson, Peter. Gallows View ($7.50). A solid British police procedural series that's grown deeper and richer through the years. Buy now!
Sansom, C.J.. Dissolution ($15). In 1537, Henry VIII is working to undermine the Catholic Church. Young Matthew Shardlake is dispatched to a monastery on the coast to investigate the murder of a royal commissioner. An intricate and fascinating view of church and state during a remarkable period, through the eyes of a protagonist who isn't as worldly as he thinks he is. Buy now!
Saums, Mary. Thistle And Twigg ($6.99). In rural Alabama, an unlikely friendship develops between two women, one a lifelong resident of this small town, the other a newcomer who's surprising in a number of different ways. This book made me think of Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax novels, but Saums has her own up-to-date spin on the premise. Buy now!
Schweizer, Mark. Alto Wore Tweed ($12.95). Ever been involved in a small town church? You'll recognize and love the antics that Schweizer describes in this over-the-top hilarious series featuring a police chief who's also his church's choir director. Buy now!
Spencer-Fleming, Julia. In the Bleak Midwinter ($6.99). More small town church intrigue, through a very different tone from the Schweizer book. Mystery and romance in the Adirondacks featuring a newly ordained Episcopal priest and the married police chief she should not be falling for. Buy now!
White, Randy Wayne. Sanibel Flats ($7.99). A marine biologist as action hero? White pulls it off beautifully. Buy now!
Finally, here are firsts in series by authors we're featuring at Bouchercon 2009, the World Mystery Convention which we're bringing here to Indianapolis in October:
Guest of honor:
Connelly, Michael. Black Echo ($7.99). When did we know that Michael Connelly would become one of the top names in the genre? Pick up this first Harry Bosch novel and you'll see why we knew right from the start. Buy now!
Toastmaster:
Rozan, S.J.. China Trade ($6.99). Great series featuring a pair of New York private eyes who work together and edge towards/away from other involvement. The banter between Lydia and Bill is fabulous, as is the Chinatown setting. Buy now!
Honored Youth Author:
Van Draanen, Wendelin. Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief ($6.50). Sue Grafton for younger readers. Cool, catchy and engaging. Highly recommended for late elementary school and middle school readers. Buy now!
These are just a few of our suggestions. The promotion applies to ALL first-in-series titles in the store. Come in and explore for yourself!
