In This Issue What's New... Where Are Our Authors... Join Our List Issue:  December, 2008 Sorry that I am late in getting this out! It's been a busy month here at Poisoned Pen Press.  Our changeover to the new distributor is complete, and we have given away 43,000 books (but I'll tell you more about that in a minute). And we're still publishing some great new titles this month! What's New... Ingram Publishing Services is our new distributor.  For our individual customers, nothing will change.  You can still order the same great titles directly from us or from our websites.  We hope that this move to IPS will mean 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.    And I just got back from Tampa.  No, I didn't get to attend the Superbowl (but talk about a tense game!).  Instead, Poisoned Pen Press partnered with the NFL and the National Education Association's Read Across America Program to give away 43,000 books in honor of the XLIII  Super Bowl as the kick off to our Great Mystery Book Giveaway-a new annual program. we hope this will be the start of a new annual program.  You can read all about this great giveaway here.     We hope that you are as excited about this new program as we are.  In the meantime, we're still publishing some great new mysteries.  New this month...   Pleasing the Dead  by Deborah Turrell Atkinson Some nasty predators dwell in paradise, and they aren't all hiding in the azure waters. The day attorney Storm Kayama arrives in Kahului to help Lara Farrell set up her new dive shop, someone bombs a restaurant. When one of Lara's employees, a recent Japanese immigrant, kills himself and one of his young daughters, Storm begins to ask questions. The tentacles of the Yakuza, the dangerous, Japanese organized crime group, grip local businesses, real estate, and politics. Cunning and deadly, the clan leaders exploit underage women and eliminate anyone who dares face up to them. Storm finds herself up against a lethal and faceless enemy, in a place where disposing of a victim is easy as dumping her in shark-infested waters. But who is hunting whom? In a struggle to the death, Storm begins to realize that surviving doesn't always mean living. For some, the ghosts of the past may be more painful than the anguish of the present. Hawaii lawyer Storm Kayama must battle against the yakuza's presence and an ancient adherence to tradition to save more young girls from a terrible fate. This is the fourth book in Atkinson's riveting series.  Publisher's Weekly is sure that  " Readers will root for the strong, likable Storm as she uncovers secrets on an island that's only idyllic on the surface." (Hardcover, $24.95)   Snakehead  by Peter May. In the fourth of Peter May's acclaimed China Thrillers, American pathologist Margaret Campbell finds herself back on home soil, only to be faced by a truck full of dead Chinese and an unavoidable confrontation with her past. Beijing detective Li Yan, now based at the Chinese embassy in Washington, is dispatched to find out how his fellow countrymen suffocated in a sealed refrigeration unit in southern Texas-only to find himself face-to-face with the woman who walked out of China, and his life, to return to the U.S. Tasked to work together again to find out who is behind the $100 million trade in illegal Chinese immigrants which led to the tragedy in Texas, they discover that the immigrants were unwitting carriers of a deadly cargo. And still wrestling with the demons of their pasts, Li and Margaret find themselves racing against time to defuse a biological time-bomb that threatens to wipe out not only their future, but that of humankind. This exciting series has been printed before in the UK, but we're happy to make it available now in the U.S. ($24.95 Hardcover) Valley of the Lost by Vicki Delany. In the bucolic mountain town of Trafalgar, British Columbia, a young woman is found dead of a heroin overdose, her baby lying at her side. While this should be an open-and-shut drug case, restraint marks on the victim suggest that the death might not have been completely accidental. As the investigation into the young woman's death and life grows, the case becomes increasingly personal for Probationary Constable Molly Smith and Sergeant John Winters. Only two things are known about the dead woman: her first name is Ashley, and she has a three-month-old baby boy. Who was she? And was this is just a drug deal gone wrong, or is there something more sinister at play? Smith's mother, Lucky, has taken in the orphaned baby: does he hold the key to solving his mother's murder? Meanwhile, Winters' wife, Eliza, is considering accepting a modeling contract with the same resort development that seems to be ripping the close-knit community apart. Has the controversial project pushed a member of this quiet community to murder? Valley of the Lost is the sequel to In the Shadow of the Glacier. Library Journal praises this new work for it's "Intertwined subplots, complex characters, and an easy prose style make this a great follow-up to Delany's debut, In the Shadow of the Glacier." ($24.95 Hardcover)   And don't forget, our new paperback selections now available Fire Prayer, by Deborah Turrell Atkinson Storm Kayama and her partner Ian Hamlin are excited to get away from Honolulu for the weekend. While they will both be doing work on this trip, it is a much needed break from the routine. Storm is supposed to check on an old friend's diabetic son. This should be easy, but when the boy's mother, Jenny Williams, turns up dead, Storm must find the boy before the murderers do. In the meantime, Ian is investigating the disappearance of Brock Liu, the son of an O'ahu shipping magnate. Are Jenny Williams' death and Brock Liu's disappearance related? Or are they both linked to an older unsolved crime? ($14.95 Tpbk)   The Fourth Sacrifice Peter May Forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell had finally decided to leave Beijing-and the man she loved-and return home to the States. But there's a new case. Four men have been killed. All of them were from China, and all were victims of what looks like ritual sacrifices. The U.S. ambassador practically forces Margaret to work once more with Li Yan. As Margaret and Li Yan investigate, they come closer and closer to finding the truth behind the killer's executions. They also come closer to a killer who will sacrifice anyone to conceal a secret. Where Are Our Authors... Deborah Turrell Atkinson February 5, 2009,  8:35 PST KZSB AM radio with Baron Ron Herron, Santa Barbara, CA   Donis Casey February 15,  "One Writing Secret I Wish Someone Had Told Me at the Beginning".  Society of Southwestern Authors,1:00 p.m., Tucson, AZ February 18, "An Afternoon of Mystery," Tempe Public Library, 3:30 p.m., Tempe, AZ   Ken Kuhlken February 26-March 1st, Florida Christian Writers' Conference, Leesburg, FL   Frederick Ramsay Southern California Writers Conference, Feb. 13-16, San Diego, CA   Priscilla Royal February 11, Benicia Public Library (AAUW event), 7PM, Benicia, CA February 24, University Press Bookstore, 5:30 PM, Berkeley, CA   Jeffrey Siger February 2, M Is For Mystery, 7:00 pm, San Mateo, CA February 4, Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 12 noon, Seattle, WA February 5, Mystery Bookstore, 7:00 pm,  Los Angeles, CA February 6, Mysterious Galaxy Books, 7:00 pm,  San  Diego, CA February 26, Tattered Cover, 7:30 pm, Denver, CO February 27, Murder By The Book, 5:30 pm,  Denver, CO February 4, Barnes and Noble Booksellers Downtown, 11:00 am, Rochester, MN     Happy Reading!   Jessica Tribble Poisoned Pen Press