  This Week at "M"
86 East Third Ave., San Mateo, CA 94401 Phone: 650-401-8077
OR Toll Free outside Bay Area: 888-405-8077
October 3rd, 2011 |
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Store Hours! MONDAY - SATURDAY 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM SUNDAY 12 Noon to 6:00 PM
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| Greetings! | Come SUNDAY, come meet Michael Stanley -- but don't be shocked when you see TWO guys, who combine their first names for their nom de plume. They are the writing team of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, both born in South Africa. Stanley is a pilot, and on one of their flying safaris to Botswana and Zimbabwe they got the idea for Det. David "Kubu" Bengu of the Botwana CID. (Check out a great "interview" of Kubu). Their many adventures included tracking lions at night, fighting bush fires on the Savuti plains in northern Botswana, being charged by an elephant, and having their plane's door pop open over the Kalahari, scattering navigation maps over the desert.
Note also: we have drop-by signings on Tuesday and Thursday from two outstanding bestselling authors.
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"M" ON THE WEB: Be sure to check out www.MforMystery.com and scroll down to the Catalogs, where ALL titles have a convenient shopping cart option.
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How to Order
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3 WAYS TO PLACE AN ORDER: BY PHONE: (650) 401-8077 or (888) 405-8077 toll free outside Bay Area EMAIL: info@mformystery.com USE the SHOPPING CART feature with PayPal!
PLEASE NOTE: All hardcovers are shipped with Brodart mylar covers to protect the integrity of the dust jacket. All packages are shipped with bubble wrap to secure the book(s) during transport to insure quality every time! COMPLETE SHIPPING INFO IS AT END OF NEWSLETTER.
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 Upcoming Author Events
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REMEMBER . . . It is never too soon to reserve your copy of ANY forthcoming book, whether the author is signing in-store or otherwise. These first editions, especially once signed, are limited in quantity. Orders may be placed by email (info@mformystery.com) any time, or telephone (650-401-8077) during store hours.
All events are free and open to the public. To be in the signing line you must buy the new book from us.
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Tues., Oct. 4th DROP BY: RUSSELL BANKS
|  Lost Memory of Skin (HarperCollins, $25.99).
Booklist starred: "Banks is in top form in his seventeenth work of fiction, a cyclonic novel of arresting observations, muscular beauty, and disquieting concerns. . . . a commanding, intrepidly inquisitive, magnificently compassionate, and darkly funny novel of private and societal illusions, maladies, and truths. Kirkus said: "Banks once again explores the plight of the dispossessed, taking a big risk this time by making his protagonist a convicted sex offender. . . . Intelligent, passionate and powerful, but very stark indeed." And Library Journal concluded: "Multi-award winner Banks has written a disturbing contemporary novel that feels biblical in its examination of good and evil, penance and salvation, while issuing a cri de coeur for penal reform."
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Thurs., Oct. 6th DROP BY: NEAL STEPHENSON
|  Reamde (Wm. Morrow, $35.00).
The author of the bestselling Anathem and groundbreaking novels Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, and Cryptonomicon, is back with a high-intensity, high-stakes, action-packed adventure thriller in which a tech entrepreneur gets caught in the very real crossfire of his own online war game. (Only 1,056 pages this time!) The New York Times called it "Electrifying . . . hilarious . . . a picaresque novel about code making and code breaking, set both during World War II and during the present day." Library Journal said: "Stephenson continues to deliver cyberthrillers packed equally with detailed backstory and action adventure. It is a great crossover recommendation for sf readers interested in thrillers and for fans of spy novels who appreciate intricate plotlines and technical detail." And from Kirkus: "Who lives by the joystick dies by the joystick: Noir futurist Stephenson returns to cyberia with this fast-moving though sprawling techno-thriller."
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Sun., Oct. 9th at 2:00 PM: MICHAEL STANLEY
|  Death of the Mantis (HarperCollins, $14.99, trade paperback original).
Library Journal starred: "Impossible to put down, this immensely readable third entry from the duo of Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip (who write under their combined first names) delivers the goods. Kubu's painstaking detecting skills make him a sort of Hercule Poirot of the desert. . ." PW praised: "Alexander McCall Smith fans interested in a different take on modern-day Botswana will find it in [this] intriguing third mystery. . . . Khumanego, a Bushman, asks his police detective friend, David 'Kubu' Bengu, to intervene to prevent an injustice. . . . The cultural conflict between the Bushmen and their fellow countrymen lends color." And Booklist concluded: "As in the previous titles, Stanley creates a seamless and complex mystery."
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Thurs., Oct. 13th DROP BY: DANIEL WOODRELL
|  The Outlaw Album: Stories (Little, Brown, $24.95).
Kirkus praised: "Twelve spare, haunting and brutal slices of country noir from the genre's most gifted practitioner. . . . Hard words and harsh trials from a writer who knows all too well the frozen ground he occupies." Library Journal said: "Dark, tough, and chilling, this collection packs a wallop, leaving readers to draw solid comparisons to works by Ken Bruen and James Ellroy. Some of these 12 tales are tragic, and some are funny, but all are unforgettable." And from PW: "In his eight novels, Woodrell (Winter's Bone) has been doing for his native Missouri Ozarks what William Faulkner did for rural Mississippi. . . . Despite the simmering tensions among family members, between friends and neighbors, and, especially, towards strangers, however, the criminals in these 12 tales always maintain a simple code of honor as they seek their own brand of justice against those who've crossed them."
ALSO:
--  'The Bayou Trilogy' (Mulholland Books, 2011, $16.99) Trade paperpack original. New. Signed.
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Fri., Oct. 14th at 7:00 PM: DENISE MINA
|  The End of the Wasp Season (Little, Brown & Company $25.99).
PW said: "In Mina's stellar follow-up to Still Midnight, Det. Sgt. Alex Morrow, who's five months pregnant with twins, looks into the murder of Sarah Erroll, who was kicked to death in her childhood home in an affluent Glasgow suburb. The discovery of more than 600,000 euros in the house suggests robbery wasn't a motive." Library Journal praised: "Mina exhibits her usual thoughtful flair for tough female protagonists and morally complex suspects and victims." And Kirkus concluded: "[Mina] takes you so deep inside her troubled characters that long after you turn the last page, you wonder if you'll ever get out again."
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Sun., Oct. 16th DROP BY: RICHARD KADREY
|  Aloha From Hell (HarperCollins, $23.99).
"Kadrey's mixture of horror themes and noir patter is highly enjoyable, and the supporting players, who range from the dead to the partly dead to the undead, with various permutations in between, are an entertaining bunch. . . Great stuff for those so inclined," said Booklist. And PW said: "Compelling if cartoon-like ultra-violence and sometimes brilliantly metaphoric language drive Kadrey's third Sandman Slim contemporary noir (after 2010's Kill The Dead). . . . Its profane mixture of noir atmospherics, black humor, and nonstop action will please Kadrey's many fans."
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Wed., Oct. 19th at 7:30 PM at the BELMONT LIBRARY: VENDELA VIDA
| The BELMONT LIBRARY is located at 1110 Alameda de las Pulgas, two blocks south of Ralston.
 The Lovers (Ecco, $13.99 trade paperback reprint).
"A brilliant, topsy-turvy, twenty-first-century variation on E. M. Forster's Passage to India. . . . Vida creates an atmosphere at once molten and chilling as she deftly exposes the wounding reverberations of timeless conflicts between men and women, parents and children, East and West, appearance and truth," said Booklist. The San Francisco Chronicle added: "Vida's work becomes clearer and more sophisticated with every book she writes; and 'The Lovers' is her best and most disturbing novel yet." And Josh Emmons at the New York Times concluded: "[The Lovers] is a satisfying, often brilliant portrait of a woman searching for relief from things that will not, she discovers at last with something like acceptance, go away."
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Thur., Oct. 20th DROP BY: AMITAV GHOSH
|  River of Smoke (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $28.00).
"In the second installment of Ghosh's Ibis trilogy (after the Booker Prize shortlisted Sea of Poppies) hang on for dear life or risk being lost at sea in this tour of mid 19th-century south Asia. This novel is exhilarating. . . crammed with period detail and pidgin languages. Three ships barely survive an Indian Ocean cyclone in late 1838. Their passengers, each possessing a secret, wash up in Canton (now Guangzhou), China. . . . Ghosh is a highly imaginative, articulate writer. The dialects he mimics are delightful, as are the vignettes and asides that make up the bulk of this book," said PW. And Kirkus concluded: "Ghosh triumphs both through the clarity of his style and the sweep of his vision, and he leaves the reader eager for volume three."
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Tues., Oct. 25th at 7:00 PM: "M" is for Mystery Bookclub
| This m onth's book is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.
Join us every last Tuesday of the month for lively discussion about selected books! Please note: This is not an author event and the author will not be present.
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Wed., Oct. 26th or Thur., Oct 27th DROP BY: CHARLES FRAZIER
|  Nightwoods (Random House, $26.00).
Booklist called it "[A] taut narrative of love and suspense, told against a gritty background of bootlegging and violence. The characters are rich and unforgettable, and the prose almost lyrical. This is Charles Frazier at his best." The Independent (UK) praised: "Frazier is a writer whose spare prose paradoxically oozes atmosphere -- you can almost smell the verdant pine trees and hear the crack of twigs underfoot. The history of the place -- Cherokee Indians turfed out by Spaniards and then American settlers -- wafts through, adding a richness and depth." And Kirkus concluded: "Where his debut (Cold Mountain, 1997) won the literary lottery as an award-winning popular blockbuster, this suggests that Frazier is more than a one-hit wonder."
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November 2011: (Asterisk indicates name added since last week.)
| Thurs., Nov. 3rd at 7:00 PM: JOHN CONNOLLY - 'Infernals' (Young Adult Novel) - Click Here to Pre-Order and 'The Burning Soul' - Click Here to Pre-Order
Sun., Nov. 6th at 2:00 PM DOUBLE AUTHOR EVENT: ANN PARKER - 'Mercury Rises' - Click Here to Pre-Order and PRISCILLA ROYAL - 'A Killing Season' - Click Here to Pre-Order
Sun., Nov. 13th at 3:00 PM at the BELMONT LIBRARY: DAVID VANN - 'Last Day on Earth' - Click Here to Pre-Order
Thurs., Nov. 17th at 7:00 PM: ANTHONY HOROWITZ - 'The House of Silk'- Click Here to Pre-Order
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Coming Attractions
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| WINTER 2011/2012 PREVIEW: (Asterisk indicates name added since last week* .) | AVERY AAMES / CARA BLACK / KATE CARLISLE / SARA PARETSKY / PENNY WARNER
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| Signed First Editions - Just Arrived | back to top
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SEBASTIAN BARRY - On Caanan's Side
|  (Viking, $25.95).
"...Barry is a supple narrator and a virtuoso stylist. Lilly Bere -- exile, housemaid, wife, mother, cook, survivor -- tells her story in a radiant Irish voice. . . . Narrating a story of hatred and vengefulness in the voice of a woman resolute in compassion, Barry applies a breadth of vision often absent when nationalists and revolutionaries of any nationality consider the 'other,' especially if that 'other' happens to be a loyalist of the ancien regime," said the Washington Post. And The Guardian (UK) called it "an intense and immersive read, one in which brutal events are cast in a diffuse light that gives them an almost mythic quality. But the narrative's dreamlike qualities do not eclipse Barry's determination to scrutinise the less travelled byways of history and to give a voice to their buffeted, battered but nonetheless enduring victims."
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LAWRENCE BLOCK - The Night and the Music
|  (trade paperback print-on-demand, $15.00).
SIGNED! A complete collection of Matthew Scudder short fiction, from a pair of novelettes written in the mid-1970's to a brand-new story written less than two months ago. Includes an Appreciation of the Scudder series by screenwriter/director Brian Koppelman; and an Afterword that puts the stories in context and recounts some of the circumstances of their composition. There are eleven stories in all. Nine of them have been published in magazines and/or collected in various anthologies. One piece, "Mick Ballou Looks at the Blank Screen," has appeared only as the text of a 100-copy limited broadside. And the final story, the elegiac "One Last Night at Grogan's," was written this summer and is published here for the first time.
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LEAH HAGER COHEN - The Grief of Others
|  (Penguin, $26.95).
"With gorgeous prose, Cohen skillfully takes us from past to present and back again as she explores the ramifications of family loss, grief and longing," said Kirkus. And PW said: "Cohen's fourth novel is a meditation on loss, suffering, and secrets. . . . This is an ambitious novel offering insight into the rift between the public and the private, and illuminating the many ways in which we deal with tragedy." Praise also from Library Journal: "Cohen's stunning writing and ruthless, beautiful magnification of soul-crushing sorrow mesmerizes, wounds, and possibly even heals her readers. Her courageous novel is to be savored."
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JEFFREY EUGENIDES - The Marriage Plot
|  (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $28.00).
Kirkus starred: "Dazzling work -- Eugenides' continues to show that he is one of the finest of contemporary novelists." Booklist also starred: "In Eugenides' first novel since the Pulitzer Prize winning Middlesex (2002), English major and devotee of classic literature Madeleine Hanna is a senior at Brown University. Only when curiosity gets the best of her does she belly up to Semiotics 211, a bastion of postmodern liberalism, and meet handsome, brilliant, mysterious Leonard Bankhead. Completing a triangle is Madeleine's friend Mitchell, a clear-eyed religious-studies student who believes himself her true intended. The drama enfolds over the next year. . . His characteristically deliberate, researched realization of place and personality serve him well." And PW starred: "Eugenides revives the coming-of-age novel for a new generation. . . . the central argument of the book is also its solution: the old stories may be best after all, but there are always new ways to complicate them."
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DENIS JOHNSON - Train Dreams
|  (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $18.00).
PW starred: "Readers eager for a fat follow-up to Tree of Smoke could be forgiven a modicum of skepticism at this tidy volume . . . but it would be a shame to pass up a chance to encounter the synthesis of Johnson's epic sensibilities rendered in miniature . . . . An ode to the vanished West that captures the splendor of the Rockies as much as the small human mysteries that pass through them, this svelte stand-alone has the virtue of being a gem in itself, and, for the uninitiated, a perfect introduction to Johnson." And the New York Times praised: "The novella . . . accumulates power because Johnson is as skilled as ever at balancing menace against ecstasy, civilization against wilderness. . . . Johnson runs twin strains of tenderness and the threat of violence . . . it might be the most powerful thing Johnson has ever written."
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S.J. ROZAN - Ghost Hero
|  (St. Martin's, $25.99).
The latest Lydia/Bill mystery from the author whose novels have won most of crime fiction's greatest honors, including the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Macavity, and Nero awards. "At the start of Edgar-winner Rozan's excellent 11th novel featuring PI partners Lydia Chin and Bill Smith, Jeff Dunbar, a collector of contemporary Chinese art, hires Lydia to get to the bottom of beguiling rumors that new works by the late Chau Chun (aka Ghost Hero Chau) have somehow surfaced. . . . Engaging characters, crisp dialogue, intelligent storytelling, and a minimum of violence add up to another winner for Rozan," said PW.
ALSO:
-- 'On the Line' (Minotaur, 2010, $24.99) New. Signed.
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Recent Signed Arrivals
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These are the signed first editions that arrived or were signed here, in the past two weeks of which we have current stock. Complete blurbs for these titles can be found on our updated Archive ; link to it on this newsletter by clicking on the gold button above, left.
DAVE BARRY and RIDLEY PEARSON - The Bridge to Neverland - Buy Now!
MICHAEL BRANDMAN - Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues - Buy Now!
COLIN COTTERILL - Killed at the Whim of a Hat - Buy Now!
DAVID KING - Death in the City of Light - Buy Now!
DEON MEYER - Trackers - Buy Now!
ARCHER MAYOR - Tag Man - Buy Now!
ERIN MORGENSTERN - The Night Circus - Buy Now!
JOYCE CAROL OATES (edt) - New Jersey Noir - Buy Now!
JIMMY OLSEN - Poison Makers - Buy Now!
ALEX SHAKAR - Luminarium - Buy Now!
SIMON TOYNE - Sanctus - Buy Now!
MARCOS VILLATORO - Blood Daughters TPBO - Buy Now!
AMY WALDMAN - The Submission - Buy Now!
MARTIN WALKER - Black Diamond - Buy Now!
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Signed First Editions - Expected Soon
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| ANY BOOK SIGNED ONLY ON A TIPPED-IN PAGE IS SO INDICATED.
Asterisk indicates name added since last week.
LAWRENCE BLOCK (as Jill Emerson) - Getting Off - Click Here to Pre-Purchase!
RITA MAE BROWN - Murder Unleashed - Click Here to Pre-Purchase!
TANIA CARVER (Pseudonym for Martyn Waites) - The Surrogate - Click Here to Pre-Purchase!
MICHAEL CONNELLY - The Drop - Click Here to Pre-Purchase!
JAMES DOSS - Coffin Man - Click Here to Pre-Purchase!
R.J. ELLORY - A Simple Act of Violence - Click Here to Pre-Purchase!
SUE GRAFTON - V Is For Vengeance - Click Here to Pre-Purchase!
* LENE KAABERBOL - The Boy in the Suitcase - Tip-Ins - Click Here to Pre-Purchase!
JOE & JOHN LANSDALE - Shadow West ($50.00 Subterranean Press Limited Edition)
VAL MCDERMID - Trick of the Dark - Click Here to Pre-Purchase!
GEORGE PELECANOS - What It Was - Click Here to Pre-Purchase!
* ANDERS ROSLUND & BORGE HELLSTROM - Cell 8 - Click Here to Pre-Purchase!
LAURA JOH ROWLAND - The Ronin's Mistress - Click Here to Pre-Purchase!
DAN SIMMONS - Phases of Gravity ($60.00 Subterranean Press Limited Edition)
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MAX ALLAN COLLINS - Quarry's Ex
|  (Hard Case Crime, Trade Paperback Original, $9.95).
Unsigned. "Set in 1980, Collins's lean, sardonic 10th noir featuring the killer-for-hire who uses the pseudonym Quarry (after Quarry in the Middle) finds Quarry in Boot Hill, Nev., earning his keep in an unusual way. Drawing on his knowledge of the hit-man world derived from his years of working for a murder middleman known as the Broker, Quarry identifies intended targets of hits, then charges a hefty fee to eliminate the hired guns out to kill them. When he learns of a plot against B-movie director Arthur Stockwell, Quarry discovers that Stockwell's wife is all too familiar -- his ex-wife, Joni, whose betrayal led the Vietnam vet to use his murderous talents in civilian life. . . Collins amply leavens the violence with wit," said PW.
ALSO:
-- 'The First Quarry' (Hard Case Crime, 2008, $6.00) Near Fine. Paperback original.
-- 'Quarry's Cut' (Foul Play Press, 1986, $19.00) Near Fine. Previously published in 1977 as "The Slasher."
New! Just in! From Hard Case Crime! Unsigned trade paperbacks:
-- 'Choke Hold' by Christa Faust (Hard Case Crime, Trade Paperback Original, $9.95) Unsigned. New.
-- 'The Consumata' by Mickey Spillane & Max Allan Collins (Hard Case Crime, Trade Paperback Original, $9.95) Unsigned.
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DELUXE & LIMITED EDITIONS
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LAWRENCE BLOCK - Afterthoughts
|  (Mysterious Press, $35.00). Limited Edition signed by Lawrence Block! Afterthoughts contains the author's reflections on his career which spans more than fifty years. These more than forty-five essays talk about his work including the semi-autobiographical series featuring Matthew Scudder. It is a must for fans of Lawrence Block. This edition is limited to 100 copies.
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MARGARET COEL - Watching Eagles Soar: Stories from the Wind River and Beyond
|  (A.S.A.P. Publishing, $300.00). This collector's 432-page limited edition has an Introduction by Craig Johnson, and an Afterword by William Kent Krueger. Artist Phil Parks created the 66 full-page illustrations; there are also eleven photographs, some from Margaret's personal collection. This edition is limited to 26 copies and is custom bound and housed in a clamshell case with one of the original illustrations laid in. The back cover essay is by Tony Hillerman. This is the first anthology of Margaret's short stories. Featured are: All ten of the Arapaho Commandments short stories, three other Father John-Vicky short stories, six other stories; the novella Molly Brown and Cleopatra's Diamond; two essays on writing and on writing about the West: Stories in the World and The West of Ghosts.
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Used Books Now in Stock!
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USED BOOKS NOW IN STOCK!
| Be sure to browse our Used mass market paperback section, where we've recently added a rather large selection of authors such as Mary Higgins Clark, Agatha Christie, Tom Clancy, Patricia Cornwell, Len Deighton, Barry Eisler, Erle Stanley Gardner, Carl Hiaasen, Donna Leon, Greg Rucka, Julie Smith, Rex Stout, and Donald Westlake (Richard Stark) and many more! These are all very good-condition copies, priced from $2.75 to $3.25. Not to be missed!
We also have a fine selection of trade paperback and hardcover used books, virtually $4-$5, all in fine condition. An excellent selection of titles including authors such as Andrea Camilleri, Alexander McCall Smith, Carol O'Connell, Stuart Woods, Sue Grafton, and Janet Evanovich.
Also, just in from the Swedish writing duo Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, we have 10 of the original US mass market editions priced at $5.00 each!
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Shipping Info:
We ship USPS Media mail within the US and USPS International Priority for overseas addresses
Shipping rates: Standard Media Mail (in the mainland US ONLY) - $6.00 for the first book $1.35 each additional book
Priority Mail Domestic - email us to discuss the options
Overseas - email us to discuss the options
We accept Visa, MC, Amex and checks by arrangement
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STORE HOURS:
| | MONDAY - SATURDAY from 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM,
SUNDAY from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM,
and evenings until approximately 9:00PM when an author is scheduled to appear at 7:00PM.
PH.: (650) 401-8077 or Toll Free outside Bay Area: 888- 405-8077
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(Soho Crime, $25.00).