In This Issue What's New... Where Are Our Authors... Join Our List Issue:  December, 2008 I'm not really sure where my year went.  I'm also not sure how I got behind on my holiday shopping.  Thankfully, Poisoned Pen Press has plenty of great titles to fill out my holiday needs. Just remember, if you want those titles in time for Christmas, you must order before December 10th. What's New... Poisoned Pen Press is pleased to announce that beginning February 1st, our books will be distributed by Ingram Publisher Services (IPS).    In the past, we have distributed our own books.  This gave us control over our inventory and helped us to keep our costs low.  However, many bookstores (chains and independents, alike) prefer to order their books from distributors and wholesalers at a bulk discount. As a result, sometimes our books weren't as available to our readers as we would have liked.   So what does this move to a distributor mean to you?  It means that Poisoned Pen Press books should be more readily available from bookstores big and small.  It means that the booksellers don't have to jump through hoops to order from us individually. And it means that our readers will be able to buy the same high-quality mysteries they've come to expect in even more of their favorite bookstores.    This month, we have some great new books bound to please a variety of readers.   Anteater of Death  by Betty Webb But if Lucy, the pregnant Giant Anteater from Belize, didn't kill the man found dead in her enclosure, who did? California zookeeper Teddy Bentley must find the real murderer before her furry friend is shipped off to another zoo in disgrace. Then another human bites the dust, the monkeys riot, and the wolves go nuts. Things get worse when the snooty folks at Gunn Landing Harbor attempt to evict Teddy from the Merilee, her beloved houseboat. That's just the beginning. Her father, on the lam from the Feds for embezzling millions, gets targeted by a local gangster; and Caro, Teddy's socialite mother, a former beauty queen who loathes Teddy's dangerous job, starts introducing her to "eligible bachelors." But Teddy has already given her heart to Sheriff Joe Rejas, a migrant worker's son. Caro is not pleased. Zoo life, animal lore, and the leaky ups and downs of Central Coast California houseboat living create a thrilling backdrop for murder. Betty Webb is best known for her dark and often timely Lena Jones series. While Anteater of Death may not be a throwback to Betty's days as a journalist, according to Kirkus Reviews  "Webb (Desert Cut, 2008, etc.) kicks off her new series with a bright heroine and an appealingly offbeat setting: a firm foundation later episodes can build on."  (Hardcover, $24.95)   Death by Water by Kerry Greenwood. The nice men at P&O are worried. A succession of jewelry thefts from the first-class passengers is hardly the best advertisement for their cruises. Especially when it is likely that a passenger is the thief. Phryne Fisher, with her Lulu bob, green eyes, cupid's bow lips, and sense that the ends justify the means, is just the person to mingle seamlessly with the upper classes and take on a case of theft on the high seas-or at least on the S.S. Hinemoa, on a luxury cruise to New Zealand. She is carrying the Great Queen of Sapphires, the Maharani, as bait. Shipboard romances, champagne cocktails, erotic photographers, jealous swains, Mickey Finns, jazz musicians, blackmail, and attempted murder mingle before the thieves find out-as have countless love-smitten men before them-that where the glamorous and intelligent Phryne is concerned, resistance is futile.  ($24.95, Hardcover) Greasing the Pinata by Tim Maleeny. A former U.S. Senator vanishes days after his son goes missing. When they're both found dead on a golf course, body parts missing, in Mexico, the Senator's estranged daughter Rebecca resolves to discover what happened. Private investigator Cape Weathers doesn't really want the case. He can't stand politicians and doesn't know the terrain. But when it looks like the daughter may become the next victim, Cape crosses the border looking for answers. Cape asks his deadly companion Sally, trained by the Hong Kong Triads, to watch his back as he stumbles onto a conspiracy that leads from corporate boardrooms in San Francisco to strongholds in Mexico. Together they confront a killer determined to bury the past along with anyone trying to dig it up. Miles away from home and nowhere near finding the answers, Cape manages to get kidnapped, steal from the mob, piss off the DEA, alienate the local police, confound a computer genius, and somehow lose the client he's been protecting all along. Greasing the Piņata is a novel about family, politics, and the devastating effects of tequila on a private detective's investigative abilities. According to Publishers Weekly, " An appealing hero, well-crafted villains, snappy dialogue and an energetic plot show that Maleeny...is a definite contender in the private detective subgenre."  ($24.95, Hardcover) Where Are Our Authors... Vicki Delany Dec. 4, Indigo Spirit, First Canadian Place, King Street West, Toronto, Ontario, noon Dec.18, Indigo Spirit, Royal Bank Plaza, Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario, noon   Larry Karp Dec 4, Third Place Books, 7pm, Lake Forest Park, WA Dec 9, Whodunit?Books, 7pm, Olympia, WA Dec 14, Murder by the Book, 2-3pm, Portland, OR   Tim Maleeny Dec 3, M is for Mystery, 7pm, San Mateo, CA.   Clea Simon Dec. 16, Release party for  Deadfall: Crime Stories by New England Writers at Redbones, 55 ChesterSt., Davis Square, Somerville, MA. 5:30-7 p.m.   Betty Webb Dec. 2, Changing Hands, 7 p.m., Tempe, AZ Dec. 6, Ajo Library, 1 p.m., Ajo, AZ Dec. 15, Glendale Foothills Library, 6:30 p.m., Glendale, AZ   Happy Holidays,   Jessica Tribble Poisoned Pen Press