For every book we publish, I write an extensive editor letter that tells book buyers and reviewers why I think our books are worth reading--publishing is largely about knowing your market. I know this because I've run The Poisoned Pen Bookstore for more than 20 years. As a bookseller, I'm always looking for more insight.  I know not everyone can read as fast or as much as I do, so why not tell people what they are getting?  What makes our books special?  How are we helping them (and you) Discover Mystery™?    

This monthly column will give you what we've been giving booksellers for years: a look into what I think makes our books special.  

We are publishing something a little unusual this season: a mystery collection. Out of all the names in mystery, there is one detective everyone knows: Sherlock Holmes. Laurie R. King, author of the Mary Russell/Sherlock Homes series, and Leslie Klinger, one of today's foremost experts in the Sherlock Holmes canon, bring us Sherlock Holmes in a never before seen way. With the two experts presiding, numerous bestselling authors contributed stories inspired by Sherlock Holmes to A Study in Sherlock. From comedy to illustrations, the collection of authors portray the different angles of Sherlock Holmes and his mysteries. This is the kind of anthology that every collector should own. It's fun, fresh, and still plenty Holmesian for the scholar and hard-core fan.  

With his Sam Blackman series, Mark de Castrique has done a stupendous job of incorporating literary history into modern mystery. Authors of crime fiction tap into the lives of other authors for material with glee, often making sleuths out of Conan Doyle or Hemingway or Poe. So why not poet Carl Sandburg who conveniently lived in Flat Rock, North Carolina, a stone's throw from the Asheville offices of private investigators Sam Blackman and Nakayla Robertson? We meet up with Sam Blackman this time in The Sandburg Connection, the third installment of the series by Mark de Castrique.      

You can read more about each of these titles below. I hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed editing them.  

 A Killing Season, Priscilla Royal  

When Baron Herbert returns from crusade he grows increasingly morose and withdraws from his family. When his sons begin to die in strange accidents, questions are asked whether Herbert harbors a dark sin for which God has cursed him. Read more...  

($24.95 HC, $14.95 Pbk, $22.95 Lg Prnt Pbk).  

The third installment in the Sam Blackman series begins with a simple assignment. Private investigator Sam Blackman and his partner Nakayla Robertson are to follow Professor Janice Wainwright, who's suing a surgeon for malpractice, and catch her in activities that undercut her claim. Read more...  

($24.95 HC, $14.95 Pbk, $22.95 Lg Prnt Pbk).

From our President, Robert Rosenwald who is on his way to places far and yon.

By the time you read this we will either be in Prague or en route there on our way to Frankfurt to theFrankfurtBookFair.  Frankfurt is by far the largest book fair in the world with eight massive exhibit halls filled with everything imaginable, and many things not, related to the business of publishing, printing, and selling books. Why are we going? It's a really good question and I'm not sure I can answer it entirely, but I'll throw out a few reasons aside from the business trip to cover some of the expenses of a vacation aspect.

We start off in Munich where we'll be meeting with Agence Hoffman, one of the premier literary agencies of Germany. We have been working with the agency for a little over a year now with a view towards them selling Poisoned Pen Press titles into Germany. Nothing to report yet, but I have no doubt it will happen. I just sent them six recently published manuscripts that they requested a look at. Barbara and I will have had lunch with them on Tuesday and we'll both have smiled a lot. I am writing this in the lounge at LAX as we're awaiting departure, and in the spirit of full disclosure, right now and until the 1st of October, it is Oktoberfest in Munich and we will likely be forced to drink a stein or two of beer and eat a few wurst-factors which will likely contribute to the smiles.

After three days in Munich will have picked up our auto rental and gone to Salzburg and Innsbruck in Austria, and then on to Prague, after which we go to Dresden, Wittenberg, Leipzig, and Goslar before finally arriving in Frankfurt on October 11.

Scheduled at Frankfurt  we have meetings with a German to English translator, a Chinese copyright clearance center, a meeting with one of the Publishers from Penguin, Australia, a meeting with Ingram, and a meeting with Danny and Heather Baror-our father- daughter agent team who represents Poisoned Pen Press in its ongoing efforts to sell foreign rights and are, imho, the best in the business. For those who don't know, Danny represents such luminaries as Lawrence Block, Joe Lansdale, Diana Gabaldon, and our own Dana Stabenow and Carolyn Wall among many other fine authors.

But what will happen at the show-who knows? My experience has been that every trade show we attend something happens-maybe a film connection, maybe a rights sale, maybe a new author, maybe a new way to create ebooks, or maybe a new ebook vendor. It's all a part of the excitement and joy. We'll see old friends and meet new ones. We'll have some schnitzel, red cabbage, and kartoffelen and pimp your books. And we'll come back richer for the experience even if poorer for the travel. It's a dirty job...