Our Tea Party Saturday was such a success we ran a bit short on treats and down to only 4 Signed copies of the delightful
(Viking $25.95) which is a perfect gift for Mother's Day. Don't delay. There's a stately homes tour and some (accurate) history of Russian refugees to England in the post-Revolution years.

Don't forget we do our very own programming from The Poisoned Pen. View past and upcoming livestreamed events by clicking here. 

New in Livestream: T Jefferson Parker (biopic and music too)

Plus you can read a wonderful article about Jeff and his work that published yesterday in the Arizona Republic (yes, a week later than our event, but still....) by clicking here

See it Here

Buy It Here.

Keep US Here.

Thank you for your continued support

Barbara and The Poisoned Pen Staff

Our book clubs are for buyers, not for discussion groups. The idea is to give members of each club something new and wonderful to reach each month.

To see our January -April Picks, please click here

then check out each club for what it offers and the new Picks

To join a book club, email sales@poisonedpen.com

To read and/or download the April Booknews, click here

Events, Nonfiction, First Novels, British Books, Global Novels, The Cozy Corner, our new Classics Revisited, Trade and Mass Market Paperback Picks, New Books, Southwestern Stuff, Mass Market Fiction, and History/Mystery

To see our Picks, please click here  

To browse April books by categories:

Unsigned Hardcovers: click here

Signed Hardcovers, click here

Trade Paperbacks, click here

Mass Market Paperbacks, click here

Tonight at 7:00 PM

Kristin Hannah signs Fly Away (St Martins $28) Another Mother's Day gift idea, for older readers, bittersweet

If the boy is father to the man, then the girl is to the woman. Childhood shaped Tully Hart and her BFF, Kate Ryan. Together they survived, even thrived. But then came a rift, and then Kate battled breast cancer and died. Tullly, always larger than life, can barely bear it. But how is Kate's daughter, 16-year-old Marah, to navigate this bleak new world where neither Tully nor her father, Johnny, is available to her, so consumed in their own grief are they? Marah too becomes unreachable. Nothing and no one seems to matter to her...until she falls in love with a young man who makes her smile again and leads her into his dangerous, shadowy world. A single, tragic choice and a middle-of-the-night phone call set those who loved Kate on a difficult path for those who have lost their way. They will need each other--and maybe a miracle. 

WEDNESDAY MAY 1 7:00 PM

  Mostly geared to soon-to-be college graduates and those new to the work world though business people in all stages of their career have told me they found it insightful. They're tips people would never have learned in school. Jim Nantz from CBS Sports and Joe Scarborough from MSNBC are among those who endorse the book.  The book's theme is based on the movie that debuted in 2000 called "Pay IT Forward," where the gifts we receive are meant to be shared. The book's goal is to start a conversation.

After reading, make sure you submit your own BOOM! BOOM! Tips at www.theboomboombook.comso you can pay it forward.

THURSDAY MAY 2 7:00 PM

Daniel Palmer signs Stolen (Kensington $25) 

Palmer explores the timely subject of identity theft in a riveting and brilliantly plotted new novel. 

We first meet John Bodine, computer game designer, as he climbs a testing peak in Tibet. We catch up with him next in Boston in another life and death situation: his much loved wife Ruby Dawes has just been diagnosed with Stage 3 melanoma, a cancer discovered on the sole of her foot. 

Fortunately there's a chemo drug for Ruby. But the supply of the generic is completely out of stock worldwide and the name brand is priced at $300K. And the cheap medical insurance they carry cites a technicality in its refusal to pay for the name drug. Faced with the ultimate ticking clock for Ruby, John makes a risky move: he steals another insurance customer's identity and files a false claim for Ruby's medication. The plan works perfectly- until the customer in question contacts John with a startling proposition. 

If John and Ruby agree to play a little game he's devised, he won't report their fraud. The rules of "Criminal" are simple: commit real crimes. But of course the whole sequence is far from simple and involves a serial killer. John learns what goes around, comes around in this high concept and smoothly plotted thriller

We do need to order the lunches so please register no later than NOON on THURSDAY MAY 2

SATURDAY MAY 4 10 AM-4 PM CozyCon2

Burton Barr Library 1221 N Central Avenue, Phoenix 85004

Registration: $40 includes lunch and 3 afternoon panels 480 947-2974 or email sales@poisonedpen.com

Paranormal and Psychic: Blackwell, Haines, Laurie

Nothing Like a Dame: Coonts, Kendrick, McKinlay, Milchman

Historical Mystery: Ramsay (Jerusalem 29 CE), Robertson (Sherlock Holmes variation), Gardner (Regency)

First 100 to register will receive a free goodie bag of swag from assorted authors

Juliet Blackwell signs Murder on the House (Berkley $7.99) Haunted Home Renovation Mystery

Deborah Coonts signs Lucky Bastard (Forge $26) Lucky O'Toole

Ashley Gardner signs A Death in Norfolk ($11) Captain Lacey Regency

Carolyn Haines signs Smarty Bones (St Martins $25) Sarah Booth Delaney AND as RB Chesterton, starts a series with The Darkling (Pegasus $25)

Beth Kendrick signs The Week Before the Wedding (NAL $15)

Victoria Laurie signs What a Ghoul Wants (Signet $7.99) Ghost Hunter Mystery

Jenn McKinlay signs Going, Going, Ganache (Berkley $7.99) Bakery Mystery

Jenny Milchman signs Cover of Snow (Random $26) Debut

Frederick Ramsay signs Holy Smoke (Poisoned Pen $25 or $15) Jerusalem Mystery

Michael Robertson The Baker Street Translation (St Martins $25) Baker Street Letters Mystery

Or rather, looking at our calendar, what isn't at The Pen?

TUESDAY MAY 7 7:00 PM Launch Party

David Morrell signs Murder As a Fine Art (Morrow $26) Thomas De Quincey Victorian thriller

WEDNESDAY MAY 8 7:00 PM

Gini Koch signs Alien in the House (DAW $7.99) 7^th in SciFi series

THURSDAY MAY 9 7:00 PM Small Press Special

Meagan Beaumont signs Carved in Darkness (Midnight Ink $15)

Matt Coyle signs Yesterday's Echo (Ocean View $27)

Darrell James signs Sonora Crossing (Midnight Ink $15) Del Shannon

FRIDAY MAY 10 TGIF 7:00 PM

John Sandford signs Silken Prey (Putnam $28) Lucas Davenport

SATURDAY MAY 11 10:30 AM

Coffee and Crime Club discusses Cristobel Kent's A Fine and Private Place ($15), a police procedural set in Florence, Italy

And then at NOON:

Suzanne Rindell signs The Other Typist (Putnam $26) Unnerving debut novel

MONDAY MAY 13 7:00 PM Diamond (Daggers) Are Forever

Peter Lovesey signs The Tooth Tattoo (Soho $26) Chief Supt. Peter Diamond in a witty and wicked British crime

TUESDAY MAY 14 7:00 PM

Jon Talton signs The Night Detectives (Poisoned Pen $25) David Mapstone goes PI with former Sheriff Peralta. CSI:Phoenix (and some San Diego)

Also in trade paper: The Night Detectives ($15)

WEDNESDAY MAY 15 4:15 PM Happy Hour

A Skyped Interview with Dan Brown discussing Inferno (Doubleday $30). Those who buy a copy from The Pen will be put into a drawing for 10 signed copies plus some for mail order customers. Receipt required

THURSDAY MAY 16 7:00 PM

John Lescroart signs The Ophelia Cut (Atria $27) Dismas Hardy

FRIDAY MAY 17 7:00 PM

Michael Harvey signs The Innocence Game (Knopf $25) Chicago Legal thriller begins at Northwestern University

MONDAY MAY 20 7:00 PM

Sophie Littlefield signs Garden of Stones (Mira $18)

TUESDAY MAY 21 7:00 PM

Walter Mosley signs Little Green (Doubleday $26) Easy Rawlins

WEDNESDAY MAY 22 7:00 PM Gothic Night

Alex Grecian signs The Black Country (Putnam $27) Victorian Scotland Yard Murder Squad in knockout English Gothic

THURSDAY MAY 23 7:00 PM

Josh Harris signs Captain Phil Harris: The Deadliest Catch

SATURDAY MAY 25 5:00 PM

John Scalzi signs The Human Division (Forge $26) Sequel to

TUESDAY MAY 28 7:00 PM

Clive Cussler and Graham Brown both sign Zero Hour (Putnam $29) NUMA Files Awesome weaponry targets Australia

THURSDAY MAY 30 7:00 PM

Hardboiled Crime discusses Anthony Neil smith's Yellow Medicine ($15) set in rural Minnesota

MONDAY JUNE 3 7:00 PM

Steph Cha signs Follow Her Home (St Martins $25) Debut, Korean community

TUESDAY JUNE 4 7:00 PM A Pair of Crime

Ace Atkins signs a new Spenser Robert B Parker's Wonderland (Putnam $27)

And a new Quinn Colson, the Ranger, in Broken Places (Putnam $27)

June 5 Lauren Beukes June 6: Taylor Stevens; June 8 Jeffery Deaver 2 PM; June 11 Robert K. Tanenbaum (nonfiction); June 12 Craig Johnson; June 13 Ridley Pearson and Jon Steele; June 14 Steve Berry; June 15 Dennis Palumbo 2 PM; June 18: Jason Matthews; June 19: Ingrid Thoft; June 20 Walter Walker; June 23 5 PM Kevin Hearne; June 24 James Rollins; June 25 Linda Castillo; June 27 Dorothea Benton Frank; June 28 Alex Bledsoe; June 29 David Freed 2 PM; July 6 Poisoned Pen Conference. And wait until you see July! Blake; Lutz;Thor; Walker; Kava; Taylor; Silva; Rosenfelt; Huston; Clayton; Fairstein

Note: I seldom list new trade and mass market paperbacks in the Enews because the ones we recommend are easily found by clicking into our Staff Picks as shows above. There is a wealth of good reading there! 

Gibson, Gregory. The Old Turk's Load Signed (Grove $26). 

Angelo DiNoto is the most powerful crime lord in New Jersey, his empire bolstered by importing pure heroin courtesy of the poppies grown by an old Turkish farmer. When a five million dollar heroin shipment lands in the lap of shady developer Richard Mudni, he decides to use it to help his fading business acquire some much needed capital. His daughter, Gloria, is literally in bed with a band of wannabe revolutionaries, and sees the heroin as her ticket out of her meek boyfriend's arms and away from her father's looming shadow. Mailman is a longtime postal clerk who has seen it all-until throat cancer robs him of his voice and the will to live-and thinks finding the drugs is the perfect cap to a failed life. 'Walkaway' Kelly is a punch-drunk P.I. hired by Mundi to tail Gloria, but when he uncovers the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Mundi's wife, he'll do anything to uncover the truth. Stir in Kelly's young protégé, brothers who work as DiNoto's ruthless enforcers, Mundi's conflicted collections agent, and you have an Elmore Leonard-esque cast of characters running rampant. Actually, this new First Mystery Club Pick, recalls Donald E. Westlake.

Hallinan, Timothy. Little Elvises Signed (Soho $25)

Hallinan, that superb chronicler of Bangkok seen via Poke Rafferty, has penned a trio about Junior Bender, LA thief. This is the second volume. LA burglar Junior is being bullied into proving aging music industry mogul Vinnie DiGaudio is innocent of the murder of a nasty tabloid journalist he'd threatened to kill a couple times. It doesn't help that the dead journalist's widow is one pretty lady, and she's trying to get Junior to mix pleasure with business. Just as the investigation is spiraling out of control, Junior's hard-drinking landlady begs him to solve the disappearance of her daughter, who got involved with a very questionable character. And, worst news of all, both Junior's ex-wife and his thirteen-year-old daughter, Rina, seem to have new boyfriends. We expect Tim to visit to sign all three sometime in late summer.

Hart, Carolyn G. Dead White and Blue Signed (Berkley $27)

Summer is a hectic time of the year for Annie Darling. Sun and scorching temperatures never fail to bring swarms of tourists to her mystery bookstore, Death on Demand, for the latest beach reads. But Annie still finds time to enjoy herself. The Broward's Rock Fourth of July dance is just around the corner, and the island is buzzing with excitement-Shell Hurst included. Shell is the kind of woman wives hate-for good reason-and most of them wish she would just disappear. But when she does, and a teenage girl is the only one who seems to notice, Annie can't help but feel like someone should be looking for her. Last seen walking into the pine trees at the Fourth of July fireworks display, Shell has seemingly vanished without a trace. The residents of Broward's Rock grow uneasy when a second islander mysteriously disappears. Annie and her husband, Max, know something dangerous is brewing. They soon find themselves following a twisted trail marked by blackmail, betrayal, and adultery, winding from the corridors of the island's lovely inn to a pier lashed by pelting rain, to a gathering on the terrace of a country club where a trap is set...

Lescroart, John. The Ophelia Cut Signed (Atria $26.99)

Signed May 16

The first full-on Dismas Hardy case since 2009 draws an Indie Next Pick (from independent booksellers): Dismas Hardy used to be a star attorney in the San Francisco DA's office, but now he practices criminal law and there are things from his past that he'd like to keep locked away. When Dismas' niece is raped, her father, Moses McGuire, makes it clear he'd be happy to kill the man who did it. In fact, he threatens the arrogant assistant to a powerful San Francisco politician, and when this man is murdered, the evidence points to Moses. An off-the-wagon alcoholic with a loose tongue, Moses is under arrest and he knows dangerous secrets about several people, including Dismas. This is Lescroart's best yet!" 

Talton, Jon. The Night Detectives Signed (Poisoned Pen $24.95) 

Signed May 14

The private-detective business starts out badly for former Phoenix Deputy David Mapstone, who has teamed up with his old friend and boss, Sheriff Mike Peralta, when both lose their jobs in the wake of a highly charged election. 

Their first client is gunned down just after hiring them. The case: a suspicious death investigation involving a young Arizona woman who fell from a condo tower in San Diego. The police call Grace Hunter's death a suicide, but the client doesn't buy it. He's her brother. Or is he? Actually-who is he? The cops working the murder scene find multiple driver's licenses on his body. Traveling to San Diego, Mapstone finds the dead woman's boyfriend, who is trying to care for their baby and can't believe Grace would kill herself. He, too, hires our new PIs to solve Grace's death. But a darker story emerges. Grace was putting herself through college as a high-priced call girl, an escort for rich men who valued her looks and discretion. Before the day is out, the boyfriend is murdered and Mapstone barely escapes with his own life. Someone is killing Peralta's and Mapstone's clients. And may be coming for them. 

Solving the case will take them into a dark, dangerous world. Neither the lovely beaches of San Diego nor the enchanting desert of Arizona can conceal the brutal danger that lies beneath. While the pair no longer wears badges, they are still detectives. And like cops who work a graveyard beat, they are (for now) night detectives. In its Starred Review, Booklist notes,"Mapstone's seventh outing after South Phoenix Rules features tight prose and plotting and a pair of complex and fallible protagonists whose character development continues in a series that just keeps getting better and better."

(Mulholland $26). May 7

A Gaslight thriller indeed, reaching all the way back to the unsolved 1811 murders on London's Ratcliffe Highway. Still unsolved although PD James wrote about the crime in her nonfiction The Maul and the Pear Tree. I find Morrell's solution credible and love the way he goes about finding it. Thomas De Quincey, infamous for his memoir Confessions of an English Opium-Eater-Victorians had major drug habits, thanks to the opium trade facilitated by England's eastern empire-is the major suspect in a series of ferocious mass murders identical to ones that terrorized London 43 years earlier. The blueprint for the killings seems to be De Quincey's essay "On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts." Desperate to clear his name but crippled by opium addiction, De Quincey is aided in his efforts to clear his name and solve (both) crimes by his devoted daughter Emily and a pair of determined Scotland Yard detectives

Sandford, John. Silken Prey (Putnam $28). May 13

Lucas Davenport is getting looser as is his commitment to the BCA. So when he's pushed into a quagmire of politics, dirty dealings, and a truly psychopathic female running for the Senate-why not dig in for the truth-or at the very least, a response? A man with Lucas' money and nerve isn't sweating small stuff, or his career. And it's a good thing as this woman who plays by no rules but her own may prove smarter than anyone.... An interesting echo in the news about Senator Menendez and a purported frame up over Dominican prostitutes proves fiction mirrors truth.

Saturday July 6: 9-4:30 Our annual Poisoned Pen Conference 

Tuesday August 21: Frederick Forsyth

Tuesday September 10: Sue Grafton Book Launch for W Is for.... 

Our rate at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa for all these exceptional events is $95 night plus taxes.

An upgrade to the next level is $115/night.

The Code to use when reserving a room is 2726435

Our contact is Patrick Pilcher, 602.954.2538  

Patrick.Pilcher@waldorfastoria.com

The Arizona Biltmore hosts our annual Conference once again.
Saturday July 6 9 AM-4:30 PM.  

Registration $50  Cash buffet lunch. Cupcakes for dessert to go with the Cupcake Cozy Panel

Call 888 560 9919 or 480 947-2974 

Confirmed authors now include Marcia Clark with

Friday July 19 7:00 PM

Daniel Silva signs The English Girl (Harper $28) Gabriel Allon 

(come in early for July 16: Martin Walker, 17: Alex Kava, and 18, Brad Taylor)

Wednesday August 21 7:00 PM

Frederick Forsyth signs The Kill List

(Putnam $27.95)

(stay over for Carol O'Connell August 22)

Tuesday September 10 7:00 PM

Sue Grafton signs W is for .... (Putnam $28.95) Kinsey Millhone #23