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

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Barbara and The Poisoned Pen Staff

To read and/or download the May Booknews, please click here

This is a HUGE issue. So many events and good books to cover. Stock up on summer readings. Think gifts for Mom and Dad.

Events, Books for Father's Day, First Novels, British Books, Global Novels, The Cozy Corner, our new Classics Revisited, Trade and Mass Market Paperback Picks, New Books, Mass Market Fiction, and History/Mystery

To browse May books by categories:

Unsigned Hardcovers: click here

Signed Hardcovers, click here

Trade Paperbacks, click here

Mass Market Paperbacks, click here

British Crime Club One paperback or hardcover per month

May: Lovesey, Peter. The Tooth Tattoo

First Mystery Club Up to 24 Signed Firsts per year

Ridgway, Bee. The River of No Return

Rindell, Suzanne. The Other Typist

Fresh Fiction Club One paperback or hardcover per month

May: Ahmad, A X. The Caretaker

Hardboiled Crime Club One Signed First per month

May: Waite, Urban. Carrion Birds

History/Mystery Club One Signed First per month

May: David Morrell, Murder As a Fine Art

History Paperback One per month

Modern First Editions One Signed First per month

May: Simsion, Graeme. The Rosie Project

Surprise Me! Club One Signed First Per Month

May: Palmer, Daniel. Stolen

Thriller Club One First per month, mostly Signed

May: Harper, Tom. The Orpheus Descent

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

Click here to read reviews of six independent bookstores

The Poisoned Pen: Scottsdale, Arizona

While its name suggests a criminal enterprise, The Poisoned Pen specializes in fiction -- not only mysteries, but historical novels, literary fiction and works set in the Southwest. Still, crime fiction is close to its dark little heart -- beating since 1989 -- and this is a place that stocks its shelves with British and Canadian titles that are often impossible to find elsewhere. The store's owners are so passionate about books that they founded the Poisoned Pen Press in 1997, and it's since become one of the largest hardcover publishers of English-language mysteries.

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. Plus we are giving away a lot of free reading copies of forthcoming books for those purchasing any book by an author speaking at the conference.

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

Bed-and-breakfast-with a side of ghosts. Word has spread that contractor Mel Turner can communicate with the spirits of the dead, and she's having a hard time maintaining a low profile. She decides to embrace her reputation for the chance to restore a historic house that calls to her. The new owners, who hope to run a haunted bed-and-breakfast, want Mel to encourage the ghosts that supposedly roam the halls to enhance the house's paranormal charm. The catch: Mel has to spend one night in the house to win the project. During the spine-chilling sleepover, the estate gains another supernatural occupant when someone doesn't survive the night. As Mel tries to coax the resident spirits into revealing the identity of the killer, she risks becoming the next casualty of this dangerous renovation.

"Like everything else in Vegas, the corpse is displayed extravagantly, draped over the hood of a candy apple red Ferrari, the heel of a Jimmy Choo stiletto embedded in her neck. Lucky O'Toole, that lusty, wryly self-deprecating troubleshooter for the glitzy Babylon Casino, is patching up the ding the departing cabaret singer Teddie left in her heart by drooling over French chef Jean Charles. She's just fired the much-loathed poker room manager and secured a seat at the high-stakes table for a deaf young man when she's called on to deal with the dead woman perched on the pricey Ferrari spotlighted in the casino's dealership. Babylon security tapes show the soon-to-be-dead gal cheating but losing big anyway, then getting followed from the card table by Dane, her soon-to-be ex. As Lucky and Detective Romeo try to round him up, other problems surface. The poker room manager is poisoned. Shady Slim Grady, who always shows up for the big-stakes poker tournament, turns up dead in his plane."-Kirkus. And there's more, much more. Sex and sass, always fun.

Ashley Gardner signs A Death in Norfolk ($11) 

A Captain Lacey Regency, one of my favorite series set in this age. So often Regencies are told from the female perspective but here we get a wounded veteran of the Napoleonic Wars making a life. Arriving with his fiancee to examine his run-down estate in Norfolk, he also completes an "errand" for a friend, a London crime king, which sucks him into murders and stolen art and other difficult matters including past crimes....

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

The strident, rude Professor Olive Twist of gigantic feet and shoes has come to Zinnia, Mississippi to study a mysterious grave wherein lies the Lady in Red, a beautiful mid-19^th Century (going by the clothes) woman preserved in alcohol when first found but now deteriorated and reburied. Academically ambitious Olive claims she can not only identify the corpse, she can also prove the woman's scandalous role in the nation's history. Olive takes it a step too far, though, when she starts connecting elite Zinnia families with such a scandal: the assassination of Lincoln. Dander up, Zinnia's society ladies know only one way to handle Olive: they call on the private investigative services of Sarah Booth Delaney and Tinkie Bellcase Richmond, both with ancestors involved. Enmity crackles at the local B&B. And then Sarah Booth discovers a dead body there.... Fans of this long-running entertaining series know that Haines' creativity over spiking any romance for Sarah Booth runs as high as plotting the mysteries for those at Dahlia House and for Daddy's Girls.

As RB Chesterton, The Darkling (Pegasus $25). PW reviews: "Coden, Ala., once a thriving resort town, serves as the setting for this sharp and edgy gothic thriller, set in 1974, from Chesterton, a pen name of Carolyn Haines (Revenant). Coden residents look to California transplants Berta and Bob Henderson to bring prosperity back, since the couple plan to restore the shabby Paradise Inn, once a magnet for Hollywood legends. Meanwhile, canny 21-year-old Marie Bosarge, whom the Hendersons have hired to tutor their three adventurous youngsters and to be a companion to 16-year-old Annie, a foster child of uncertain origin, slowly realizes she's dealing with malevolent forces she can't understand. Why do unidentified claw marks appear in Belle Fleur, the family's historic house? And who's the sinister wraith at the edge of the woods? As Marie begins to research the past of the Paradise Inn and Belle Fleur, she comes across a tragic and horrific story that resonates into the present."

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

You will guess from the title that all will not be smooth sailing as a vibrant young couple arrive in small-town Vermont to put the finishing touches on their wedding at the groom's family's much cherished summer resort. And you'd be right... Fun for Moms and Daughters

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

Kidwella Castle in northern Wales is rumored to be haunted by a deadly ghost-the Grim Widow, who allegedly drowns unsuspecting guests in the castle's moat. Not long after M. J. and her crew arrive at the castle to film their ghost-hunting cable TV show, Ghoul Getters, two new victims are added to the Widow's grisly roster. Fear ripples through the castle, especially when it's discovered that the victims may have had help into their watery graves from the land of the living. The local inspector suspects father-son serial killers, but M. J. thinks that theory is all wet. To catch the true culprit she will need to dive deep into the castle's past and bring some long buried secrets to the surface  

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

and other titles in her bakery and library lover's series. After a cupcake-flinging fiasco at a photo shoot for a local magazine, Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura agree to make amends by hosting a weeklong corporate boot camp at Fairy Tale Cupcakes. The idea is the brainchild of billionaire Ian Hannigan, new owner of SWS (Southwest Style), a lifestyle magazine that chronicles the lives of Scottsdale's rich and famous. He's assigned his staff to a team-building week of making cupcakes for charity. Then the magazine's creative director is found murdered outside the bakery... Includes recipes.

Jenny Milchman signs Cover of Snow (Random $26)

A debut likened to Gillian Flynn, Chris Bohjalian, and Nancy Pickard. Library Journal reviews: After her husband, Brendan, commits suicide, Nora Hamilton questions why the seemingly happy policeman ended his life. Embarking on an aggressive search for answers, Nora learns just how unwelcoming and private the small Adirondack town of Wedeskyull, NY, is to outsiders. Nora treks through snow and ice on a dangerous mission for the truth, armed with her husband's box of mementos, a mysterious photograph, and cryptic clues from an autistic mechanic. When Nora's relentless quest unearths lies and corruption in her husband's hometown, she risks loss and danger. VERDICT Milchman's debut is a chillingly good mystery thriller that quickly picks up momentum and spirals into a whirling avalanche of secrets, danger, and suspense. A First Mystery Pick back in January. 

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

PW reviews: "Ramsay's entertaining second Jerusalem mystery set in the first century C.E. (after 2012's The Eighth Veil) finds Rabban Gamliel, the chief rabbi of Israel, drawn once again into a murder case against his will. When a burnt corpse surfaces at the Holy of Holies in the temple, some of the devout believe that the victim was consumed by divine fire for daring to enter the sacred site. But Gamliel is unconvinced, as is the Greek leader, Loukas, especially since the burn marks don't cover the entire body. With high priest Caiaphas incensed by the growing popularity of a certain messianic figure, there's enough political turmoil in the city to make detecting almost impossible. While the prose, plotting, and characterization may fall short of the best in the historical subgenre, Ramsay earns high marks for the series' premise."

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

The two brothers, Reggie and Nigel Heath, who rent law offices at London's 221B Baker Street, thereby assuming the obligation of replying to Sherlock Holmes' mail, are thus pulled into a new case. An American heiress wants to leave her entire fortune to Holmes. A translator wants Holmes to explain a nursery rhyme. And Reggie's rival for the love of actress Laura Rankin has gone missing. It all has to be solved before an upcoming royal event where otherwise everyone attending will be at risk. Third in a series that proves, once again, that Holmes will never die.

Food. Prizes. Fun!

Morrell, David. Murder As a Fine Art (Mulholland $26). 

Starts a nifty new series which while set a century ago is contemporary in its crimes.

Judith Flanders is the author, among other things, of The Victorian City and The Invention Of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime - so not a bad person to have in your corner! She says of Morrell's series start, "A terrific read. As one would expect of Morrell, it is compulsive and thrilling, but its use of de Quincey also allows for discursions that are both funny and touching - de Quincey and his daughter are great additions to the detective stage, and I hope we will have a lot more of them to come."

In my four decades as an author, from First Blood through The Brotherhood of the Rose and Creepers, I've always tried to find new ways to write action and suspense. Readers know that I do my best to surprise them and take them to places they've never been.

My  new novel will make you believe that you're in 1854 London as I blend fiction with fact in a harrowing exhumation of the infamous Ratcliffe Highway murders, a series of mass killings that rivaled those of Jack the Ripper for terrorizing London and all of England.

My main character also blends fiction and fact. Thomas De Quincey was one of the most fascinating personalities of Victorian England. He was obsessed about the Ratcliffe Highway killings and wrote about them vividly in his classic essay, "On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts."

De Quincey invented the term "subconscious" and anticipated Freud by a half century.  He was the first person to write about drug addiction in his infamous Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. He inspired Edgar Allan Poe, who in turn inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to create Sherlock Holmes.

This forerunner of the greatest detective will lead you into the streets, slums, mansions, and prisons of gaslit London. As a literary luminary battles a brilliant murderer, their lives are linked by secrets long buried but never forgotten.

Note: for our West Side readers, David appears at 1:00 PM. We will have books for sale there, too.

Sun City West

Palm Ridge Recreation Center, talk and book signing

13800 Deer Valley Road

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

From Judith Starkston

I am forming an Arizona chapter of the Historical Novel Society, the literary society, based in both the US and UK, devoted to promoting the enjoyment of historical fiction. Chapters have been springing up around the country the last couple years, and I've watched the strong communities of historical writers and readers that have blossomed as a result. There are many excellent HF writers in AZ and it's time to get to know each other.

First meeting will be Saturday JUNE 8 at 6:00 at the home of Judith Starkston. Drinks and snacks on the house

Email  judithstarkston@gmail.com  to get directions and be put on the mailing list, even if you aren't able to come to this particular meeting.
 

Topics: When we'd like to hold regular meetings, how often, where. What format/content we'd like to have for the meetings.
Possibilities for content of future meetings: writing craft and/or historical presentations, sharing/critiquing WIP's, socializing, your idea?