clicking here. 

and John Sandford click here to view 

We still have Signed copies of Morrell's  Murder as a Fine Art ($26). The Washington Post calls it, "an inspired blend of innovation, history, and gore. Murder is rarely this much fun." 

Sandford's Silken Prey, ($28), 

is 

described in a rave review in Booklist as, "the best one in a long time. It's suspenseful, witty, and wise i the ways of modern politics. And the conclusion is darkly unforgettable. A superb thriller."

See it Here

Buy It Here.

Keep US Here.

Thank you for your continued support

Barbara and The Poisoned Pen Staff

While The Pen can't yet sell e-books -- our programmer has to do the set up -- Poisoned Pen Press offers all its titles in ebooks

I gave you a link to current specials, but to stay up to speed you can sign up for weekly emails of the current specials.

Click here to participate in this on-going program.

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

Diamond Dagger (and multiple award winner) Lovesey is a wonderful performer, witty, fun-loving, informative. Maybe we can get him to repeat his song that wowed our 2011 PP Conference. In any case we'll be playing the Beethoven Quartet from The Tooth Tattoo.

Although this excellent puzzle plays in Bath, travel first to Vienna, and then enjoy the Japanese elements. Who knew there was such a thinig as a tooth tattoo? You gotta love mystery in part for the cool factoids authors deliver.

Here is a comment from the NY Times: "For the most part, the murder investigation provides the structural framework for a group portrait of the eccentric members of this captivating ensemble and the music they play with such rapturous devotion. Lovesey's droll humor is on ample display as the members of Diamond's investigative team poach ideas from "C.S.I." and tease their gloomy chief for behaving like the depressive Scandinavian policemen in popular fiction."

I add, 

Peter Diamond, head of Bath CID, takes a city break with his lover Paloma in Vienna, where his favorite film, The Third Man, was set. Events (OK, and Diamond's own temperament) conspire to derail the romance. One being the discovery of the body of a young Japanese woman in one of Vienna's canals. The only clue to her identity is a musical note tattooed on one of her teeth. Back home in Bath, Paloma hands Diamond his head and heart. Meanwhile, strange things are happening to violist-for-hire Mel Farran, who finds himself scouted by methods closer to the spy world than the concert platform. The chance of joining the once-famous string quartet The Staccati in a residency at Bath Spa University is too tempting for Mel to refuse. Then a body is found in the city canal, and again, she has a musical note tattooed on a tooth. For Diamond, who wouldn't know a Stradivarius from a French horn, the investigation is his most demanding ever. Three mysterious deaths need to be probed while his personal life is in free fall... Fabulous. And watch for the netsuke. The Signed UK: The Tooth Tattoo (LittleBrown $45).

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)

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." 

The New York Times reviews 

  "Even writers who have found their groove like to refresh themselves and their sleuths. Jon Talton started the process when he arranged for his Phoenix sheriff, Mike Peralta, to be voted out of office, making things considerably tougher for his series hero, David Mapstone, the sheriff's deputy [and trained historian, whose own past figures into this case]. 

Mapstone and Peralta have gone into business as private detectives, and their first case sends Mapstone to San Diego to investigate the death of a young woman whose thuggish "brother" isn't happy with the official suicide verdict....[The case] drags Mapstone out of his slump, gives his marriage a boost and gets the new partnership off to a flying start."

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

WEDNESDAY MAY 15 4:15 PM Happy Hour Followed by 

A Skyped Interview with Dan Brown discussing Inferno (Doubleday $30). 

The interview comes to you Live from Lincoln Center (which is why our start time is 4:30 PM, which is 7:30 PM in New York)

Here's the Deal. The publisher has made 12 Signed copies of Inferno available. It's our decision to share them among our mail order customers and those who come to the event.

Mail order customers: please order Inferno by NOON Wednesday in the regular way. Every mail order entered by then will be put into a drawing for signed copies of Inferno. We will swap out your unsigned book for a signed one before we ship all copies.

Those who come to the event: Purchase a copy of Inferno in the regular way. Each in-store purchase will come with a number. At the end of the Skype Interview we will draw for Signed copies. Winners will exchange their unsigned copy for a Signed one.

Even if this goes without saying, I am saying that we will not accept returns of unsigned books from those who did not win. The risk is part of the deal.

We hope you will find this fun and rewarding.

To read a review of Inferno that ran today in the New York Times, which is a treat to read all by itself. Please click here. 

Thank you. Barbara 

THURSDAY MAY 16 7:00 PM

John Lescroart signs The Ophelia Cut (Atria $27) 

Attorney Dimas Hardy returns in his first novel in four years, and his world has changed in the interim. His former partner, Wes Farrell, is now District Attorney for San Francisco; the recession has impacted his law firm and income; Dimas is nearing sixty; and he shares a secret with three of his closest friends that can never be told.

A young woman makes a bad decision and her father ends up a murde r suspect in "The Ophelia Cut," John Lescroart's latest courtroom drama featuring defense attorney Dismas Hardy.

Brittany McGuire meets a man in a coffee shop and realizes he's a loser after one date. Rick Jessup starts harassing her, demanding another chance. She goes to his house to tell him to get lost, then passes out and wakes up in his bed. She realizes she's been drugged and raped.

Twenty-four hours later, Rick is dead and Brittany's father, Moses, becomes the prime suspect. Moses has been sober for quite some time, but he's found completely wasted on alcohol. Also, witnesses saw Moses attack Rick when he learned that Rick was stalking his daughter.

FRIDAY MAY 17 7:00 PM

Michael Harvey signs The Innocence Game (Knopf $25) 

This is a thriller Harvey is specially gifted and prepared to write! He's also well placed to answer questions about stories told via the visual arts.

The story begins in a classroom at Northwestern's renowned journalism school but quickly spirals into the grittiest reaches of Chicago crime. Along with just two other classmates, Ian Joyce is part of the Innocence Seminar, an exclusive class for top-ranking students taught by a woman who goes simply by Z. The seminar investigates wrongful convictions and cold cases.

On the first day of class, one of the students introduces a case of his own, a long-ago murder of a young boy. The man convicted for the killing is dead; he was murdered decades ago in jail. But there remains evidence suggesting that the real killer is very much alive, and in their midst. As new evidence surfaces, the three classmates find themselves drawn into a web of deceit, corruption, and murder that will leave each of them fighting for their lives.

From the archived depths of storage warehouses to the dense woods and moldering caves of the local preserve to the shores of Lake Michigan, Harvey has once again penned an irresistible, harrowing mystery that also paints a unflinching portrait of his (and my) home town.

This is Michael's first "stand alone", but fans of his outstanding Michael Kelly series will be happy to know that Kelly makes a nifty and memorable appearance.

Michael Harvey, in addition to writing the Michael Kelly P.I. series, is the co-creator, writer and executive producer of the Prime Time Emmy-nominated television series Cold Case Files™ and a former investigative producer for CBS in Chicago. Michael's work as a documentary producer and journalist has won numerous national and international awards, including multiple Emmys and an Academy Award nomination for the Holocaust documentary Eyewitness.  

MONDAY MAY 20 7:00 PM

Sophie Littlefield signs Garden of Stones (Mira $18) in store now!

TUESDAY MAY 21 7:00 PM

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

In store now!

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 Crimes

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 22: Sara Gran; 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

As we think towards vacation reading and recommendations for books to illuminate your travels, an article today tied to the new Dan Brown thriller reminds me of books about Florence.

To read the UK's Guardian on Inferno by Brown and the expected impact it may have on tourism in this Tuscan city, please click here. It's fabulous.

Two recent mysteries set in this fabled city:

Elkins, Aaron .Dying on the Vine (Berkley $26). Sorry, our Signed copies sold out. 

Art lovers will eat up this new case for the Skeleton Detective, Gideon Oliver, who while wishing to enjoy food and wine in Tuscany and sample the glories of Florentine art, is thrust into murders and  the family history of Pietro Cubbiddu, patriarch of Tuscany's Villa Antica wine empire. Delicious and devious.

Page, Katherine Hall. The Body in the Piazza (Harper $27).

The Reverend Thomas Fairchild agrees to celebrate a milestone anniversary with a trip to Italy with wife, caterer Faith. 

First stop: Rome. Where at their hotel's roof-top terrance Faith meets the delightful Frederick L. Ives. Freddy says he writes guide books and offers not only advice but dinner at a hosteria in the city's old Jewish quarter. (Amazing meal!). They part after dinner after viewing the Pantheon. And the next day observe a figure quarreling with Freddy in the Piazza Farnese who leaves Freddy on the ground, stabbed to death.

The fallout of the murder trails the Fairchilds to Florence where they're enrolled in a new cooking school venture at a gorgeous villa manned by a former NY cooking colleague of Faith. Faith is certain that the only intrigue in store for her will be learning the secret recipe for Nona Rossi's ragu. But a thicker plot already simmering heats up.

The point of this delightful book is not so much the mystery as the paean to Tuscan food and lifestyle, the workings of a cooking school, and the wonders of Florence (including shopping - news to me there's a Ferragamo Museum).

You will find them by clicking here 

Ariel Amsden has been working at The Pen for years, first with her mom Lori, a former PP staffer, and for a couple of years now on her own. Just turned 21, Ariel says, "I'm an Arizona native. I like to read Dark Thrillers, Horror, Sci-Fi and anything with a good Serial Killer." Ariel will be doing most of our social media work in addition to the myriad tasks that make up the day of any bookseller. 

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

I only wish I could be on the ground to see this in person.

The sculpture is 50 ten metre high laser cut steel plates set into the landscape, representing the 50-year anniversary of when Nelson Mandela was captured and arrested, on August 6, 1962 prior to his 27 years of incarceration. When one stands at a particular point the columns come into focus and the image of Nelson Mandela can be seen.

The sculptor is Marco Cianfanelli, of Johannesburg.