Houston Press editors have picked Murder By The Book as Best Bookstore in Houston (2008)! Find more winners here.

Signing soon at Murder By The Book: Carolyn Hart, Kinky Friedman, David Morrell, Stephen Hunter, Ian Rankin, David Liss, James Swain, Reed Farrel Coleman, and many more! Go here for a complete list.

Reserve your signed copies of the new books by Michael Connelly (The Brass Verdict), George Pelecanos (The Turnaround), and Christopher Buckley (Supreme Courtship)... they'll be available after November 2nd.

Visit Busted Flush Press's new blog here.

Vince Flynn signs his new Mitch Rapp thriller, Election Night, Tuesday, November 4, 7:00 p.m.!

Vince Flynn will sign & discuss his new Mitch Rapp novel, Extreme Measures (Simon & Schuster; $27.95), Tuesday, November 4, 7:00 p.m. The latest pulse-pounding thriller by #1 New York Times-bestselling author Flynn explodes onto the scene with a deadly and charismatic hero, in this work that delivers an all-too-real portrayal of an intelligence war that is waged every day by a handful of brave souls. Signing line numbers available beginning Tuesday, October 21st -- the book's on-sale date -- with purchase of Extreme Measures from Murder By The Book.

Go here for a list of other upcoming Murder By The Book signing events, including visits by Brad Meltzer, Clive & Dirk Cussler, David Morell, and more!

Murder By The Book's McKenna Jordan & David Thompson (along with Crimespree Magazine's Jon Jordan) will host the 2011 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in St. Louis!

McKenna moderates two panels at this year's Bouchercon in Baltimore.

Coming soon from Busted Flush Press...

Just Another Day in Paradise (by A. E. Maxwell; paperback; $13) Back in print, the first Fiddler & Fiora novel! For fans of John D. MacDonald, Randy Wayne White, and Don Winslow! Available in December.

Breaking news... Cornelia Read's twisted Hollywood noir tale, "Hungry Enough" -- found in A Hell of a Woman: An Anthology of Geezer Noir (hardback, $26; paperback, $18) -- has just won the 2008 Shamus Award for Best Private Eye Story! This is only the latest nomination/win for the latest anthology published by Busted Flush Press, owned by Murder By The Book's David Thompson... Daniel Woodrell's "Uncle" has earned Edgar & Anthony nods. Edited by 2008 Edgar Award winner Megan Abbott, A Hell of a Woman is "not only an exceptionally entertaining anthology, it's an invaluable resource that will be cherished by aficionados of the genre." (Chicago Tribune)

Discover the work of Cornelia Read here. Both of her books -- Field of Darkness and The Crazy School -- are stocked at Murder By The Book!

Find copies of A Hell of a Woman at MBTB... we have a limited number of hardbacks and paperbacks signed by several authors. The hardback went into a 2nd printing, and there aren't many first printings available, so order quickly!!

Go here for a complete list of 2008 Shamus Award nominations.

Murder By The Book wins a 2007 James Patterson PageTurner Award!  The 2007 James Patterson Awards are intended to celebrate the people, companies, schools and other institiutions who find original and effective ways to spread the excitement of books and reading. For more information on the awards, please go here.

Available now ! The new Houston-set bridge club mystery by MBTB employee Dean James (writing as Honor Hartman).

An Unkindest Cut (Obsidian; paperback original; $6.99) Emma Diamond, a recent widow with a passion for bridge, takes a retreat with her friends to the Texas Hill Country, which happens to be hosting two battling bridge instructors. These professional contenders are infamous enemies -- and only one will survive the weekend. Includes bridge tips. Signed/inscribed copies available on request.

ALSO AVAILABLE: On the Slam (Signet; paperback original; $6.99) Emma Diamond is a novice bridge player, recent widow, and the kind of person who never leaves her grocery cart sitting in the parking lot. And now, after a vile woman in her new neighborhood in Houston is poisoned during a bridge game, Emma has a new identity: amateur detective.

Coming soon...
Leftover Dead (by Dean, writing as Jimmie Ruth Evans; Berkley Prime Crime; paperback original; $6.99) The fifth Wanda Nell Culpepper mystery.

2008 Edgar Award nominee Reed Farrel Coleman
We stock all of Reed's Moe Prager private eye novels, including signed first editions of THE JAMES DEANS, which is presently out-of-print:

#1: WALKING THE PERFECT SQUARE (hardback first edition, $26; paperback, $13) Go here for a FREE .pdf excerpt of this book.
#2: REDEMPTION STREET (paperback, $13)
#3: THE JAMES DEANS (two choices in paperback: signed first paperback original, $13; unsigned 2nd printing remainder, only $5!) Nominated for 6 awards (including the Edgar), winner of the Shamus, Anthony, and Barry! Check out the cover (to the left) of the upcoming Busted Flush Press reprint of THE JAMES DEANS, with a new foreword by Michael Connelly... available this winter.
#4: SOUL PATCH (hardback, $24; paperback, $14.95) Winner of the 2008 Shamus Award! Nominated for the 2008 Edgar, Barry, and Macavity Awards for Best Novel!
#5: EMPTY EVER AFTER (hardback, $24.95; paperback, $14.95; limited edition, $45)

To order, please call or e-mail Murder By The Book.

Read a FREE .pdf of Texas crime writer Bill Crider's Edgar Award-nominated short story, "Cranked" (from Busted Flush Press's Damn Near Dead: An Anthology of Geezer Noir) here.

Find the book at Murder By The Book!

Murder By The Book has been selected for Frommer's recent shopping guide, Where to Buy the Best of Everything: The Outspoken Guide for World Travelers & Online Shoppers. On sale now, this is a guide to the best shopping in the world!

Meet the staff of Murder By The Book!

Read up on Busted Flush Press, the Edgar Award-nominated publishing venture of MBTB employee David Thompson.

Issue #64 (October / November / December) of our store magazine, The Dead Beat, is now available! Plus, award-winning crime novelist Colin Cotterill has done the cover artwork. Go here for more information.

Murder By the Book is the proud recipient of
Mystery Writers of America's Raven Award and Houston Press's Best Bookstore 2006

Watch our video:
Murder By The Book former manager (and award-winning mystery writer) Dean James talks about the store, how it's laid out and what makes us a special place to visit.
Real Media or Windows Media formats.

Who are we?
MURDER BY THE BOOK is one of the nation's oldest & largest mystery specialty bookstores, established in 1980 by Martha Farrington. The store stocks over 25,000 books -- new & used, hardbacks & paperbacks, first editions, collectibles, gift items, mystery magazines, and more. We host dozens of the hottest mystery and crime authors for book signing events every year (we've had everyone from Dick Francis to P. D. James, Sue Grafton to Robert Crais, Michael Connelly to Patricia Cornwell, James Lee Burke to Daniel Silva).

Where are we?
MURDER BY THE BOOK is located in Houston, Texas, within five minutes of the Texas Medical Center & Rice University, and ten minutes from the Galleria. Off U.S.-59, take the Greenbriar exit; head south on Greenbriar; one light from 59 is Bissonnet St.; turn right on Bissonnet; we're ahead on the right (2342 Bissonnet), between Kirby & Greenbriar. View Map