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It's July. And the heat is on in Phoenix. Regardless, we're still pumping out mysteries. Don't forget, all of our new hardcovers are also available as signed books--at no additional cost (while supplies last). Signed books make great gifts for serious mystery readers, for collectors, or for your book-loving relatives. To order, call our office directly 1-800-421-3976.
Booksellers (I know you read this newsletter, too) can also order at the above number. Order early for larger quantities and resale discounts!
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What's New...
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Poisoned Pen Press never sits still. This month we're condensing offices. We've had three spaces in the past, but the third space was largely used for storage and was occupied by one lone employee (everyone say hi to my charming brother, Daniel). Now Daniel is in with the rest of us, rubbing elbows with the production and editorial teams next door. In the meantime, Elizabeth, Rob, Marilyn, and I are still chilling in the main office. For more pictures and ideas, become a fan of Poisoned Pen Press on Facebook.
 Floodgates by Mary Anna Evans
In New Orleans, legend and romance drip from the lacy balconies as
surely as Spanish moss drips from the branches of the city's ancient
oaks. Faye Longchamp is happy just to get up in the
morning and go to work. But centuries of tragedy shadow the city--wars,
slavery, and a monumental flood that killed a thousand people and still
threatens to wash all that history away.
Faye and her team of
archaeologists, fighting to save New Orleans' past, are horrified when
a corpse surfaces that's far too new to be an archaeological find. The
police presume it's just another in a long, sad sequence of
dead bodies left by Hurricane Katrina, until Faye shows them a truth
that only an archaeologist could see: the debris piled on top of the
dead woman is all wrong.
Faye knows that this is not a drowning victim whose life
was snuffed out by Katrina. Someone brought the woman
to this flooded-out house and left her dead body behind. Presumably,
that someone killed her.
Faye and her fiance Joe Wolf Mantooth are
drawn into the investigation by a detective who believes their
professional expertise is critical to the case. They quickly learn that
trouble swirled around the victim, Shelly Broussard, like winds around
the still, quiet eye of a hurricane. Is Shelly's heroic rescue work
in the aftermath of Katrina the key to her death? Or does the sheaf of
photos in her work files hold the answer? Will Faye and Joe be the next
innocents engulfed in a deadly deception?
According to the Booklist starred review, "Voodoo, Native American
spirituality, greed, and corruption all play roles in what is easily
the best installment yet in a too-little-known series."
(Hardcover, $24.95)
 Leaden Skies by Ann Parker
In the summer of 1880, a lucky silver find in the
mining boomtown of Leadville, Colorado, isn't the only thing that leads
folks into temptation. And although possible investment in Leadville's
silver mines is a main reason that former president and Civil War
general Ulysses S. Grant is touring this city at the top of the
Rockies, others in his retinue and in town are enticed by other
visions. Political aspirations fuel the dreams of young John Quincy
Adams Wesley and his mother, while itinerant fire insurance mapmaker
Cecil Farnesworth struggles against the seductive call of State Street,
Leadville's red-light district.
As part owner of the Silver Queen
Saloon, Inez Stannert has often observed the ruination that comes from
yielding to temptation. Still, that knowledge hasn't stopped Inez from
taking Reverend Justice Sands as her lover, in the absence of news of
her missing husband. Nor does it stop her from striking a backroom deal
with upscale brothel madam Frisco Flo in effort to become financially independent.
But when the body of Lizzie,
one of Flo's women, is discovered and Inez learns that Flo has another
silent business partner whose identity she will not divulge, Inez
begins to have second thoughts. In a race against time to
untangle the dealings of the high and the low during Grant's visit,
Inez must also face her own demons from the past, even as she fights to save
her reputation and her life.
Publishers Weekly states that, "Parker is proficient in showing the crossroads
between civilization and the frontier, including emerging new roles for women."
(Hardcover, $24.95)
 Murder on a Midsummer Night by Kerry Greenwood
When the most hated landlord in San Francisco takes an unexpected jump
off the roof of his own building, it isn't too hard to find suspects.
But the police want to call it a suicide, because both the Mayor and
press are complaining about the dismal closure rate for homicide
investigations.
Ex-cop Sam McGowan knows it was murder. He also knows that anyone
living on the top floor of the building should be a suspect, including
himself. So Sam decides to get to know his neighbors:
A lonely jazz singer more than willing to confess to any crime, past or present;
Two young women paying for graduate school by operating a website that reveals a lot more than their SAT scores;
The B-movie producer with a swollen prostate and shrinking bank balance;
And the brothers at the end of the hall, who just quit their day jobs to sell marijuana for the Mexican mob.
The
only thing these people have in common is a general agreement-- their dead
landlord got what he deserved--and that one of them is probably
responsible. As more bodies surface and alliances shift, Sam finds
himself jumping back and forth between his old life as a cop and his new one as a murder suspect, unable to decide where he really belongs.
Booklists calls this title "another fine entry in this long-running and deservedly popular series." (Hardcover, $24.95)
And don't forget our paperbacks--the perfect traveling companions...
 Iron Ties by Ann Parker
The railroad is coming to Leadville and its rich Rocky Mountain mines.
And who is coming to celebrate its arrival but Ulysses S. Grant, 18th
President of the U.S. and former commander of the Union armies. Like
other residents in the Colorado boomtown this summer of 1880, Inez
Stannert regards the news as mixed. Some folks have wicked memories of
the war, others have a stake in the competing railroad lines. And
photographer Susan Carothers, Inez's friend, is caught in the deadly
crossfire...
Iron Ties
is Ann Parker's second novel, following Silver Lies, winner of the
Willa (Cather) Literary Award for Historical Fiction, the Colorado Gold
Award, and finalist for the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award
and the Spur Award for Best Novel of the West.
(Paperback, $14.95)
 The Vagabond Virgins by Ken Kuhlken
In the weeks before the 1979 Mexican elections, San Diego P.I. Alvaro
Hickey follows newspaper accounts of the stories Baja California
campesinos are spreading about visits from the Holy Virgin. She's
admonishing them to vote the corrupt and tyrannical PRI out of power.
Though Alvaro doubts her divinity, he's firmly on her side. He harbors
deep personal and political antipathy to the PRI, even before Lourdes
Shuler comes asking him to unite her with her sister Lupe, whom she
claims is the campesinos Virgin. He's not the kind to turn down an appeal
for help, especially from a beauty he senses might fill a missing part
of him. Besides, the published sketch a savant girl drew of the Virgin
looks identical to Lourdes. He imagines she might not have a sister.
Then, on their way to dinner, they pick up a tail. Lourdes admits the
man could've been sent by her brother Andres, an advisor to the Mexican
president, to retrieve the fortune in gold she stole from her dead
father. She claims their father was a German Nazi, and that her sister
murdered him. Alvaro chooses to stand with the lady while realizing she
might become his last adventure. And as yet, even while they travel the
back roads and trails of Baja, he doesn't know about the infamous
comandante of the Mexican federal police who has come from the Capital
to rid the land of this Virgin, who may be the lady at Alvaros side.
(Paperback, $14.95)
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Where Are Our Authors...
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We're back for another round of where are our authors... Apparently, the heat is not a deterrent for author publicity!
Mark de Castrique
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July 18, 2009,
Signing & Presentation 1:30PMThomas Wolfe Memorial, Asheville,
NC.
Mary Anna Evans
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July 29/09 - 08/01/09,Teaching multiple workshops as
faculty member of Anhinga Writers' Studio's 2009 Summer Workshops,South (AL,
AR, FL, GA, LA, MC, SC, TN).
Ann Littlewood
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July 16, 2009,Oregon
Zoo,City of Vancouver Senior Tour.
Tim Maleeny
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July 1, 2009,Borders Books Sacramento,Joint signing with
John Lescroart,Borders Sacramento, 2339 Fair Oaks Boulevard, Sacramento, CA
95825
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July 9, 2009,Thrillerfest
Conference,Thrillerfest Conference in NewYork,Thrillerfest
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Grand Hyatt Hotel, 109 East 42nd Street, New
York, NY 10017
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July 13, 2009,Book
Passage Bookstore,Signing JUMP at Book Passage,Book Passage Bookstore, 1 Tamal Vista
Blvd, Corte Madera, CA 94925
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July 14, 2009,Poisoned Pen
Bookstore, Joint signing with Joe Lansdale.
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July 16, 2009, Mystery Writers Conference, 4 days at Book
Passage,On Faculty at Mystery Writing Conference Book Passage,Book Passage
Mystery Writers Conference
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Book Passage Bookstore, 1 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera,
CA 94925
Michael Norman
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July 11, 2009,American
Library Association Conference,National Library Conference.
Ann Parker
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July July 2009, M is for Mystery,Bookdsigning.
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July 21, 2009,
Bookshop West Portal, San Francisco, CA,Booksigning.
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July 22, 2009,
Towne Center
Books, Pleasanton, CA,Booksigning.
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July 23, 2009,
Books Inc., Mountain View, CA,Booksigning.
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July 25, 2009,
Murder by the Book, Denver, CO,Booksigning.
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July 25, 2009,
Breckenridge Welcome Center, Breckenridge, CO,Booksigning.
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July 2July 2009, Avon Public
Library,Talk/Booksigning at The Avon Public Library.
Frederick Ramsay
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July 12, 2009,
St John the Baptist Church,Booksigning.
Priscilla Royal
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July 17 2009,
Poisoned Pen Bookstore,Booksigning at The Poisoned Pen.
Clea Simon
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July 23, 2009,Wellesley Booksmith,Beach Reads - a book
talk/wine and cheese reception with Sisters in Crime authors Rosemary Harris, and Hank Phillippi
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Happy Reading!
Jessica Tribble (and Elizabeth Weld)
Poisoned Pen Press
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