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| Since 1980, where a good crime is had by all! | Today is Sun, Oct 12, 2008 |
Upcoming Book Signings Our Event Signing Policies: If you're attending one of our events for the first time, please read carefully so there will be no misunderstandings...
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C. R. Cardin Tuesday,
October 7, 6:30 p.m.
"Now, in Michael Koryta, all these years later, I've read the heir apparent to those 'masters.' There is grit and determination in Michael's writing; there is heart and character; the threat of violence first simmers, then boils over. The pulse quickens. Envy The Night is everything this kind of novel is meant to be. A more fitting title: Envy The Writer. "It has been a long time since I've enjoyed a 'mystery' novel as much as Envy The Night. This book had me from the first page, and much to my surprise, kept me reading hard and fast until the last. "What separates this book from others? One word: characters. Stories are stories. We all read (and write) a ton of them. But we come to novels to meet fresh faces, and Michael Koryta delivers. "This diabolical mystery novel, laid out in simple but eloquent prose and pitch-perfect dialogue, heralds a changing of the guard. I have seen the future of 'The Best Mystery Writer in America' and its name is Michael Koryta." Highly recommended by Michelle, too! Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Wednesday,
October 8, 6:30 p.m. Who knows when Rankin will tour again, so don't miss this event! Ian's one of the funniest and most eloquent speakers. Highly recommended by Michelle, Terry, and Anne! The series is highly recommended by nearly every MBTB employee! Read a Houston Press interview with Ian Rankin, in which he discusses The Rolling Stones, graphic novels, Houston, and the future of Rebus. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
Woe unto he who crosses Bob Lee Swagger, especially when his daughter's life is at stake. Forced off the road and into a crash that leaves her in a coma, clinging to life, reporter Nikki Swagger had begun to peel back the onion of a Southernfried conspiracy bubbling with all the angst, resentment, and dysfunction that Dixie gangsters can muster. An ancient, violent crime clan, a possibly corrupt law enforcement structure, gunmen of all stripes and shapes, and deranged evangelicals rear their ugly heads and will live to rue the day they targeted the wrong man's daughter. It's what you call your big-time bad career move. All of it is set against the backdrop of excitement and insanity that only a weeklong NASCAR event can bring to the backwoods of a town as seemingly sleepy as Bristol, Tennessee. A master at the top of his game, Hunter provides a host of thrilling new reasons to read as fast as we can. When Swagger picks up peeling where his daughter left off, and his swift sword of justice is let loose, we find a true American hero in his most stunning action to date. And -- in the form of Brother Richard, a self-decreed "Sinnerman" out of the old fire-and-brimstone tradition -- Hunter offers up his most diabolical, engaging villain yet. A triumph of story, character, and style, Night of Thunder is Stephen Hunter at his very best. Stephen Hunter is one of David's favorite thriller writers! For fans of Lee Child, Barry Eisler, and Daniel Silva! Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Friday,
October 10, 6:00 p.m. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Monday,
October 13, 6:30 p.m. It’s the end of 1911, and headstrong heiress Ursula Marlow is about to embark on a trip to Egypt. It’s not long before she is embroiled in the mystery of two deaths; one, the murder of her new friend Katya while they are both in Egypt, and the other, Katya’s sister Arina, who days later dies in a factory fire at one of Ursula’s company’s buildings. After returning home to investigate both murders, Ursula discovers Katya and her sister had been corresponding, and that Arina had already been dead before the fire started. Inspector Harrison is suspiciously telling her to stay out of it, Christopher Dobbs’ business plans are looking devious, and Urusla’s refusal to marry Lord Wrotham is causing tension and possible heartbreak-especially when an old flame shows up unexpectedly. Why are they covering up Katya’s death, and who was responsible for the fire? Why is Alexie, Ursula’s old lover, back in England, and what is his relationship to Katya and Arina? Clare Langley-Hawthorne is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by McKenna, Dean, and Michelle! Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. On
sale Tuesday, October 14th! Kathryn Neville will also drop by Murder By The Book sometime the afternoon of Thursday, November 20th to sign additional store stock of The Fire. For those collectors who would like to get their copies of The Eight, The Magic Circle, and/or A Calculated Risk signed, you may ship or leave copies with us, as long as you purchase The Fire from our store. Details at store. The New York Times best-selling author of The Eight will drop by and sign store stock of the long-awaited sequel (20 years in the making!!!), The Fire (Ballantine; $25.95). Katherine Neville’s groundbreaking novel, The Eight, dazzled audiences more than twenty years ago and set the literary stage for the epic thriller. A quest for a mystical chess service that once belonged to Charlemagne, it spans two centuries and three continents, and intertwines historic and modern plots, archaeological treasure hunts, esoteric riddles, and puzzles encrypted with clues from the ancient past. Now the electrifying global adventure continues, in Neville’s long anticipated sequel: The Fire. 2003, Colorado: Alexandra Solarin is summoned home to her family’s ancestral Rocky Mountain hideaway for her mother’s birthday. Thirty years ago, her parents, Cat Velis and Alexander Solarin, believed that they had scattered the pieces of the Montglane Service around the world, burying with them the secrets of the power that comes with possessing it. But Alexandra arrives to find that her mother is missing and that a series of strategically placed clues, followed swiftly by the unexpected arrival of a mysterious assortment of houseguests, indicates that something sinister is afoot. When she inadvertently discovers from her aunt, the chess grandmaster Lily Rad, that the most powerful piece of Charlemagne’s service has suddenly resurfaced and the Game has begun again, Alexandra is swept into a journey that takes her from Colorado to the Russian wilderness and at last into the heart of her own hometown: Washington D.C. 1822, Albania: Thirty years after the French Revolution, when the chess service was unearthed, all of Europe hovers on the brink of the War of Greek Independence. Ali Pasha, the most powerful ruler in the Ottoman Empire, has angered the sultan and is about to be attacked by Turkish forces. Now he sends the only person he can rely upon -- his young daughter, Haidee -- on a dangerous mission to smuggle a valuable relic out of Albania, through the mountains and over the sea, to the hands of the one man who might be able to save it.
Blending exquisite prose and captivating history with nonstop suspense, Neville again weaves an unforgettable story of peril, action, and intrigue. Highly recommended by Michelle! Kathryn Neville will sign & discuss The Fire at Brazos Bookstore (2421 Bissonnet), Wednesday, November 19, 7:00 p.m. Please call or e-mail Murder By The Book to order signed or inscribed copies. Kathleen
Delaney
This is part of Houston Public Library's ongoing "An Evening with..." reading series. Murder By The Book will provide book sales for this event. Go here to see all of the authors in HPL's series. Please call or e-mail Murder By The Book to order signed or inscribed copies. Wednesday,
October 15, 6:30 p.m. Why does a Frenchman want to kill Ray? Who’s been shoved out of a helicopter, and why? What’s Ray’s wife, and her new boyfriend, got to do with it? Based (loosely) on the facts of the Bre-X gold scandal of 1997, the largest gold fraud in history, Flight of the Hornbill is a thrill ride through an exotic Asian landscape. As a journalist in Asia, Eric Stone covered the Bre-X scandal and spent time in all of the places that feature in Flight of the Hornbill. Eric Stone is the author of three books in the Ray Sharp series of detective thrillers set in Asia and based on true stories. His previous series books include Grave Imports and The Living Room of the Dead. He is also the author of Wrong Side of the Wall, a true-crime / sports biography. Eric worked for many years as a newspaper and magazine writer and photographer in the U.S. and Asia, covering everything from economics to crime; politics to sex, drugs and rock & roll. He once wrote an advice to the lovelorn column for a bilingual (English-Chinese) fashion magazine. He currently lives in Los Angeles. Visit Eric Stone's website here. Event includes slide-show presentation of Eric's photos from his last trip to Indonesia, featuring many of the locations found in the book. As we learned at Eric's presentation last year, his photography isn't of amateur quality... we're talking professional stuff here. Please tell your friends... anyone interested in Indonesia history or culture will NOT want to miss this event! Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Thursday,
October 16, 6:30 p.m. British crime writer Sophie Hannah will sign & discuss her two mystery novels -- Little Face (Penguin; $14) and Hurting Distance (Soho; $25). Little Face... "As... Agatha Christie gleefully trampled on that sacrosanct rule of the mystery novel to 'play fair with the reader,' the power this novel packs derives from narrators who play fast and loose with what they know.... The solution is a stunner."—Boston Globe "A splendid crime-psychological thriller.... A book so well-plotted and so well-written deserves to have its surprises kept intact."—St. Louis-Post Dispatch Highly recommended by David! Hurting Distance... 2008 Edgar Award winner Tana French on Sophie Hannah: "At first, the world that Sophie Hannah creates looks deceptively normal -- until she begins dissecting it, with surgical precision, to show the dark, tangled layers of evil and deception underneath. Reality sideslips and fractures, nothing can be trusted, the all-pervading atmosphere of threat tightens till you completely forget you're safe in your own living room. I couldn't put this book down until I'd finished the last page, and it kept its cold little fingers wound around my mind for days. It's subtle, merciless and breathtaking. Turn your phone off, turn all your lights on, and enjoy."
Now, as a commander in the Slovak police force, she liaises with colleagues across Europe as they track the mastermind of an international criminal operation involved in, among other crimes, human trafficking. Her investigation takes her from Ukraine to Strasbourg, from Vienna to Nice, in a hunt for a ruthless killer and the beautiful young Russian woman he is determined either to capture or destroy. "A truly fine novel. It's filled with exactitude of place and people, taking us into a world that seethes with dangerous secrets. On that treacherous journey, Michael Genelin makes unfamiliar worlds seem knowable, and does so with great style." -- Pete Hamill, author of North River "A terrific novel by a man who knows crime, knows Europe, and knows how to write. Siren of the Waters is a genuine pleasure." -- Thomas Perry, author of Fidelity Michael Genelin, a graduate of UCLA and the UCLA Law School, has served in the LA District Attorney's Office and the US Department of Justice in Central Europe. He has written for film and has been an adviser to television series. He now lives with his wife and daughter in Paris. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Monday,
October 20, 6:30 p.m. Ethan Saunders, once among General Washington’s most valued spies, now lives in disgrace, haunting the taverns of Philadelphia. An accusation of treason has long since cost him his reputation and his beloved fiancée, Cynthia Pearson, but at his most desperate moment he is recruited for an unlikely task -- finding Cynthia’s missing husband. To help her, Saunders must serve his old enemy, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, who is engaged in a bitter power struggle with political rival Thomas Jefferson over the fragile young nation’s first real financial institution: the Bank of the United States. Meanwhile, Joan Maycott is a young woman married to another Revolutionary War veteran. With the new states unable to support their ex-soldiers, the Maycotts make a desperate gamble: trade the chance of future payment for the hope of a better life on the western Pennsylvania frontier. There, amid hardship and deprivation, they find unlikely friendship and a chance for prosperity with a new method of distilling whiskey. But on an isolated frontier, whiskey is more than a drink; it is currency and power, and the Maycotts’ success attracts the brutal attention of men in Hamilton’s orbit, men who threaten to destroy all Joan holds dear. As their causes intertwine, Joan and Saunders -- both patriots in their own way -- find themselves on opposing sides of a daring scheme that will forever change their lives and their new country. The Whiskey Rebels is a superb rendering of a perilous age and a nation nearly torn apart -- and David Liss’s most powerful novel yet. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
New York Times best-selling thriller writer Alex Kava will discuss her new O'Dell novel, Exposed (Mira; $24.95). In Exposed, O’Dell faces her most confounding and complex case to date. An anonymous letter warning of “a crash” leads her and her boss on a routine race against the clock to disarm a bomb at a suburban address—or so they think. As they arrive at the scene, they find an explosion—but not one caused by dynamite. If the note’s sender (who calls himself God) is telling the truth, then the victims inside have been exposed to a biological agent that will destroy them from the inside out. An international bestselling writer of psychological suspense novels, Kava is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the International Thrillers Writers, and the Sisters in Crime. This is part of Houston Public Library's ongoing "An Evening with..." reading series. Murder By The Book will provide book sales for this event. Go here to see all of the authors in HPL's series. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Thursday,
October 23, 6:30 p.m. Hard-edged, evocative, brilliantly paced, James Swain’s novels of crime and punishment in South Florida delve into a shadowy realm where criminals, victims, and cops share the same truths, the same lies, and sometimes even the same nightmares. Abb Grimes is famous. Just ask the ghoulish tourists who flock to his former home to take photographs. Years ago, Grimes killed eighteen women, some never found. As the head of the Broward County Missing Persons Unit, Jack Carpenter (Midnight Rambler) was intimately involved in the Grimes case. Now, days away from execution, the notorious serial killer reaches out to ex-cop Carpenter with a surprising request. Abb Grimes’ grandson was lured from his home. The cops are convinced the boy’s father–Abb’s troubled son, Jed–is behind the boy’s disappearance, but Jack’s not so sure. With a personal connection to the kidnapped child, Carpenter takes the case, and that’s when the situation goes from terrifying to fatal. There’s another gruesome murder, and once again the evidence points straight to Jed. Have the unspeakable sins of his father taken root within this troubled young man? Carpenter races against time and a police department that wants his help but rejects his aggressive style as he searches through an underworld of predators, assembling the jagged pieces of a depraved puzzle, desperate to put an end to a murderous stalker’s blood-soaked rampage. With unremitting action and skillfully polished prose, bestselling author James Swain has written his most riveting thriller yet, delving even deeper into the fascinating psyche of misbehaving crusader Jack Carpenter. A heroimmersed in the evil that is his prey, Carpenter battles a stunning betrayal -- and a horrendous danger no one saw coming. Both Jack Carpenter books are highly recommended by David! For fans of Michael Connelly and Andrew Vachss! Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Friday,
October 24, two events! This luncheon will also serve as a celebration of Murder By The Book store owner Martha Farrington, who retires in January. Please don't miss this opportunity to pay tribute to a local businesswoman who became a pioneer of the mystery genre! Go here for more information on the luncheon. Did you know...? Carolyn Hart's best-selling Death on Demand series -- set in a mystery bookstore -- in based in part on Carolyn's visits to Murder By The Book in the 1980s. About Ghost at Work... From the best-selling author of the Death on Demand and Henrie O books comes an exciting new mystery series. Bailey Ruth won’t let a little thing like death get in the way of solving crime. Kathleen is in a fix. There is a dead man on her porch and her husband, the local pastor, will fall under suspicion if she doesn’t do something about it. Luckily, Bailey Ruth Raeburn comes to her rescue to help her solve the crime before her life is ruined beyond repair. Bailey Ruth has always been great at solving mysteries. Living in a small town in Ohio, she made it her job to know exactly what was going on at all times. Why should her death change anything? In fact, being dead just gives her more of an opportunity to help her do what she does best. Uncharitable people might call it meddling, but Bailey Ruth likes to think of it as using her unique position as a ghost to help out. And boy, does Kathleen need her help! As a member of Heaven’s Department of Good Intentions, Bailey Ruth goes back to Earth to do just that. And if Bailey Ruth has to be loose in her interpretations of some of the rules to help Kathleen save her family, Wiggins, her fussbudget partner, will make sure it all turns out right in the end. An accomplished master of mystery, Carolyn Hart is the author of sixteen previous Death on Demand novels. Her books have won multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards. She is also the creator of the highly praised Henrie O series. One of the founders of Sisters in Crime, Ms. Hart lives in Oklahoma City. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Saturday,
October 25, 5:00
p.m. Date change. Busted Flush Press -- which is owned by MBTB assistant manager David Thompson -- is reprinting the first three books of Reed's in the Moe Prager series: Walking the Perfect Square ($13), Redemption Street ($13), and The James Deans ($14; due in December, with a new foreword by Michael Connelly). The fourth book in the series, last year's Soul Patch ($14.95), has been nominated for four mystery awards in 2008: the Edgar, Macavity, Barry, and Shamus. This year's fifth Moe Prager novel, Empty Ever After (hardback, $24.95; paperback, $14.95), is David's favorite... but this is one of those series where it really helps if you read them in order! Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. maybe
sometime in November In Chapter Four of the Bible, Cain kills Abel. It is the world’s most famous murder, but the Bible never reveals the weapon Cain used to kill his brother. In 1932, Mitchell Siegel was killed by three gunshots to his chest. While mourning, his son dreamed of a bulletproof man and created the world’s greatest hero: Superman. And like Cain’s murder weapon, the gun used in this unsolved murder has never been found.... Until now. Today in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Cal Harper comes face-to-face with his long-lost father, who’s been shot with a gun that traces back to Mitchell Siegel’s 1932 murder. But before Cal can ask a single question, he and his father are attacked by a ruthless killer tattooed with the ancient markings of Cain. And so begins the chase for the world’s first murder weapon. What does Cain, history’s greatest villain, have to do with Superman, the world’s greatest hero? And what do two murders, committed thousands of years apart, have in common? This is the mystery at the heart of Brad Meltzer’s riveting new novel.
Brad Meltzer speaks: "Every writer has a story they've been waiting their whole life to tell. This is mine. We are a country founded on our own legends and myths, and in this election year, when everyone is pushing hope, it's time to examine just which of our myths are real. So, why did the world get Superman? Because when the father of a young man named Jerry Siegel was murdered, Jerry, in his grief, created a bulletproof man. The book is fiction, but it's based on fact. Most important, The Book of Lies isn't just a thriller about hero and villain -- about Cain and Abel, or about where Superman really comes from. It's a story about us. About parents and children: from Adam to Cain, from Mitchell to Jerry Siegel, from Cal to Lloyd Harper. For me, Superman's story has never been as interesting as Clark Kent 's story -- the idea that all of us, in all our ordinariness, can change the world. The best stories are the ones we believe in. This is one I hope will challenge your beliefs." Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Saturday,
November 1, 4:30 p.m. Nell Fitzgerald is packing to move in with her fiancé when he shows up at her place to call off the wedding, leaving her apartmentless and heartbroken. She seeks solace in the small town quilt shop of her grandmother. But soon after she arrives in Archer Falls, a series of accidents and the murder of the local bad boy send Nell reeling. Could the killer be one of the seemingly harmless quilters that come to her grandmother’s shop? Or could it be the ex-fiance who wants to win her back? Nell has to know the answer before she agrees to marry him – even if it costs her her life. For fans of Earlene Fowler and Jennifer Chiaverini! Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Sunday,
November 2nd Already confirmed for this
year!... If you can't make it to the dinner but want signed/inscribed copies of their new books, please contact the store. Both Connelly & Pelecanos will sign pre-sold stock for Murder By The Book.
George Pelecanos: The Turnaround (Little, Brown; $24.99) On a hot summer afternoon in 1972, three teenagers drove into an unfamiliar neighborhood and six lives were altered forever. Thirty five years later, one survivor of that night reaches out to another, opening a door that could lead to salvation. But another survivor is now out of prison, looking for reparation in any form he can find it. The Turnaround takes us on a journey from the rock-and-soul streets of the '70s to the changing neighborhoods of D.C. today, from the diners and auto garages of the city to the inside of Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital, where wounded men and women have returned to the world in a time of war. It is a novel of fathers and sons, wives and husbands, loss, victory and violent redemption. Highly recommended by David!
In Buckley's hilarious new novel, Supreme Courtship (Twelve; $24.99), the president of the United States, ticked off at the Senate for rejecting his nominees, decides to get even by nominating America's most popular TV judge to the Supreme Court. Highly recommended by David!
Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Special
Election Night Signing! In the newest devastatingly intense thriller by #1 New York Times best-selling phenomenon Vince Flynn, his deadly and charismatic hero Mitch Rapp wages a war against a new enemy with the help of a fellow soldier as dedicated -- and as lethal -- as they come. Vince Flynn's thrillers, featuring counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp, dominate the imagination of readers everywhere. In them, Flynn captures the secretive world of the fearless men and women, who, bound by duty, risk their lives in a covert war they must hide from even their own political leaders. Now, Rapp and his protégé, Mike Nash, may have met their match. The CIA has detected and intercepted two terrorist cells, but a third is feared to be on the loose. Led by a dangerous mastermind obsessed with becoming the leader of al-Qaeda, this determined and terrifying group is about to descend on America. Rapp needs the best on this assignment, and Nash, who has served his government honorably for sixteen years -- first as an officer in the Marine Corps and then as an operative in an elite counterterrorism team run by Rapp -- is his choice. Together, they have made careers out of meeting violence with extreme violence and have never wavered in the fight against the jihads and their culture of death. Both have fought the war on terrorism in secret without accolades or acknowledgement of their personal sacrifices. Both have been forced to lie to virtually every single person they care about, and both have soldiered on with the knowledge that their hard work and lethal tactics have saved thousands of lives. But the political winds have changed in America, and certain leaders on Capitol Hill are pushing to have men like Rapp and Nash put back on a short leash. And then one spring afternoon in Washington, DC, everything changes. Using his insider knowledge of intelligence agencies and the military, Flynn once again delivers an all-too-real portrayal of a war that is waged every day by a handful of brave, devoted souls. Smart, fast-paced, and jaw-droppingly realistic, Extreme Measures is the political thriller of our time. Murder By The Book will have a TV on hand for those wanting to know early exit-poll results. Whether you're Republican or Democrat, we'd love if you could make it out!
Gayle Wigglesworth spent her adult life as a bank executive, but she always wanted to work in a bookstore or library. So now that she is retired from the business world she spends her time with Claire Gulliver, the heroine of her mystery series, about a librarian-turned-travel-bookstore-owner who, somehow on her travel ventures, becomes embroiled in situations that are not nice; in fact, sometimes these situations are downright terrifying. Gayle loves to travel and find intriguing destinations for the setting for Claire Gullivers adventures. Gayle was raised in Southern California but spent most of her adult life in the San Francisco Bay area before moving to Texas a few years ago. She and her husband enjoy the people and culture in Houston where she is a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. Malice in Mexico: Jack is back! One raining Sunday afternoon Claire’s CIA friend, Jack Rallins, arrives at her book store obviously the worse for wear. Thrilled to find him alive and in front of her, she is still shocked at his condition. She doesn’t waste time questioning him; she is more interested in nursing him back to health. When the doctor suggests Jack might recover faster if he spent some time in a pleasant climate where he can bask in the sunshine, Claire suggests they sub-lease a house in Mexico for a vacation. Jack and Claire soon find themselves in the charming colonial town of San Miguel de Allende, 6,000 feet above sea level in the mountains of Guanajuato, Mexico. Sitting in the delightful patio of the house they leased, frosty Marguerites in their hands, the warm sunshine caressing them, they can’t remember why Jack had at first been reluctant to come. This is perfect! This is just what the doctor ordered. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
"The Frailty of Flesh is not only one of the best procedural thrillers I've read in a long time... but the ending knocked me right out of my seat." -- Crime Scene Scotland "The Frailty of Flesh raises difficult questions and shuns easy answers. Sandra Ruttan writes with passion and honesty about every parent’s worst nightmare and the result is an emotionally wrenching experience." -- Sean Chercover, Shamus, Barry and Anthony Award-Nominated author of Big City, Bad Blood Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Friday,
November 14, 6:00 p.m. David Morrell is the author of First Blood, the award-winning novel in which Rambo was created. He holds a Ph. D. in American literature from the Pennsylvania State University and taught in the English department at the University of Iowa until he gave up his tenure to devote himself to a full-time writing career. “The mild-mannered professor with the bloody-minded visions,” as one reviewer described him, Morrell is the co-founder of the International Thriller Writers organization. His numerous best-selling novels include The Brotherhood of the Rose (the basis for a top-rated NBC miniseries broadcast after the Super Bowl), The Fraternity of the Stone, The Fifth Profession, and Extreme Denial (set in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lives). He is also the author of The Successful Novelist: A Lifetime of Lessons about Writing and Publishing. Morrell has been called “the father of the modern action novel.” He is a three-time recipient of the distinguished Bram Stoker Award, the latest for his novel Creepers. Comic-con International honored him with its prestigious Inkpot Award for his lifetime contributions to popular culture. Visit him at www.davidmorrell.net. The Spy Who Came for Christmas is a genre-breaking holiday story unlike any other—a thriller with intense, edge-of-your-seat action, set against a spy’s perspective on the traditional nativity story. As bestseller Joseph Finder has said about the novel, “Once again, David Morrell proves that he is a titan among thriller writers.”
“Master storyteller David Morrell gives us an amazing holiday classic that thrills us with heart-pounding suspense while tugging at our emotions.” -- Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of The Bone Garden
ATTENTION, HOUSTON-AREA WRITERS: David Morrell will also speak at the local chapter of Mystery Writers of America on Saturday, November 15th. Please go here for more information. MBTB will provide book sales for this event, too. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Saturday,
November 22, 4:30 p.m. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
What Would Kinky Do?: Friedman offers up a collection of both his essays from his column in Texas Monthly as well as new essays on the current state of the nation. From immigration to why Willie Nelson would have been on his gubernatorial staff, nobody cuts to the heart of the matter like Friedman. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Two
events on Saturday, December 6
"My vote for the fastest, funniest, and sexiest mystery series ever to hit Washington, DC." -- Janet Evanovich Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
NOTE: In order to get anything signed, you must have a signing line number. You get a number when you purchase Arctic Drift from Murder By The Book, starting the book's on-sale date, Tuesday, November 25th. There will be limits imposed on the number of earlier books brought with you. We'll have more information on this soon. Thank you! As with all Clive Cussler's dazzling Dirk Pitt novels, critics said Treasure of Khan "amazes, informs and entertains" (Publishers Weekly), "the action zipping along until a final powerhouse showdown" (Entertainment Weekly). "What's not to like? " proclaimed the Los Angeles Times—and hundreds of thousands of readers agreed. In his new novel, however—the twentieth Dirk Pitt adventure— Cussler may have topped even himself. A potential breakthrough discovery to reverse global warming . . . a series of unexplained sudden deaths in British Columbia . . . a rash of international incidents between the United States and one of its closest allies that threatens to erupt into an actual shooting war . . . NUMA director Dirk Pitt and his children, Dirk. Jr. and Summer, have reason to believe there's a connection here somewhere, but they also know they have very little time to find it before events escalate out of control. Their only real clue might just be a mysterious silvery mineral traced to a long-ago expedition in search of the fabled Northwest Passage. But no one survived from that doomed mission, captain and crew perished to a man—and if Pitt and his colleague Al Giordino aren't careful, the very same fate may await them. Filled with the breathtaking suspense and audacious imagination that have become his hallmarks, this is a tour de force— further proof that when it comes to adventure writing, nobody beats Clive Cussler. Author of the wildly popular seafaring adventure series starring man's men Dirk Pitt and Kurt Austin, former ace advertising exec Clive Cussler is also a sea searcher in real life and has discovered some of history's most famous shipwrecks. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. And coming in 2009...
Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. Saturday,
January 10, 5:00 p.m. For four years, Hard Case Crime has been dedicated to reviving the vigor and excitement, the suspense and thrills — the sheer entertainment — of the golden age of paperback crime novels, both by bringing back into print the best work of the pulp era and by introducing readers to new work by some of today's most powerful writers and artists. Determined detectives and dangerous women...fortune hunters and vengeance seekers...ingenious criminals and men on the run for their lives...Hard Case Crime novels offer everything you want from a great story, all in handsome and affordable mass-market editions. Charles Ardai will sign & discuss his new HCC paperback original, Fifty-to-One (Hard Case Crime; paperback original; $7.99). CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF HARD CASE CRIME! Okay, not really. But what if, instead of having been founded 50 books ago, Hard Case Crime had been founded 50 years ago, by a rascal out to make a quick buck off the popularity of pulp fiction? Such a fellow might make a few enemies—especially after publishing a supposed non-fiction account of a heist at a Mob-run nightclub, actually penned by an 18-year-old showgirl. With both the cops and the crooks after them, our heroes are about to learn that reading and writing pulp novels is a lot more fun than living them. Highly recommended by David! With cameo appearances by Mickey Spillane, Lawrence Block, and Donald Westlake, this crime novel is both a tribute to the classic pulp novel, as well as a dynamite actioner in its own right. And extra cool: This edition features a full-color insert section containing images of the first 50 Hard Case Crime covers! "High-speed action and nonstop thrills highlight the 50th novel from Hard Case Crime... Ardai sets an impressive standard for the new wave of pulp crime fiction... Breathless action and entertaining characters make this a page-turner from start to finish." -- Publishers Weekly
Ex-television journalist Ali Reynolds just wants a break from excitement. In the midst of a remodel, the last thing she expects is a murder investigation that will stop the construction on her home. But when the savagely murdered body of stay-at-home mom Morgan Forester is found, Ali's contractor Bryan is the prime suspect. Bryan swears he has nothing to do with his wife's murder -- but as the investigation progresses Ali seems to be the only resident of Sedona who believes him. Determined to prove Bryan's innocence, Ali unknowingly lands herself directly in the path of a calculating killer. In a world filled with encrypted computer traps and life-threatening lies, will Ali be able to decode the actions of a ruthless man determined to destroy women -- before he uses his wicked website to find her? Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
ALSO AVAILABLE,
THE ENTIRE SERIES: Thursday,
January 22, 6:30 p.m. Jane Whitefield—Perry's most popular character—returns from retirement to the world of the runner, guiding fugitives out of danger. After a nine-year absence, the fiercely resourceful Native American guide Jane Whitefield is back. For more than a decade, Jane pursued her unusual profession: "I'm a guide... I show people how to go from places where somebody is trying to kill them to other places where nobody is." Then she promised her husband she would never work again, and settled in to live a happy, quiet life as Jane McKinnon, the wife of a surgeon in Amherst, New York. But when a bomb goes off in the middle of a hospital fundraiser, Jane finds herself face to face with the cause of the explosion: a young pregnant girl who has been tracked across the country by a team of hired hunters. That night, regardless of what she wants or the vow she's made to her husband, Jane must come back to transform one more victim into a runner. And her quest for safety sets in motion a mission that will be a rescue operation—or a chance for revenge. Runner is Thomas Perry at the top of his form. Highly recommended by Michelle! Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
What is Heroes of the Valley about? It’s the tale of young Halli Sveinsson, who’d very much like to be the hero in question. Certainly he’s got a hero’s heart (brave, reckless, resolute); unfortunately he’s also short and squat, with little stumpy legs and a face like a toad peering out in a rainstorm. Still, this doesn’t stop him trying to emulate the tales of the great heroes of old, much to the annoyance of his parents, his brother and sister, and everyone else in his small Scandinavian village. Up on the hills are the burial cairns of his ancestors: beyond them legend says sinister creatures named Trows lurk beneath the ground. Halli would like to test this, but society is nice and peaceful; the days of strife are over and swords have been melted down. Bored and frustrated, Halli rebels against the claustrophobic restrictions of his day-to-day life. When his pranks lead to sudden violence, Halli must set out on a true quest of his own, but he soon finds that life is more complicated than the stories he adores. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
Highly recommended by David! An American fugitive hides out in Cape Town—one of the world’s most beautiful and violent cities—in this riveting debut thriller that asks: Can you ever outrun your past? Reluctant bank robber Jack Burn is on the run after a heist in the United States that left $3 million missing and one cop dead. Hiding out in Cape Town, South Africa, he is desperate to build a new life for his pregnant wife and young son. But on a tranquil evening in their new suburban neighborhood they are the victims of a random gangland assault that changes everything. Benny Mongrel, an ex-con night watchman guarding a building site next to Burn’s home, is another man desperate to escape his past. After years in the ghetto gangs of Cape Town he knows who went into Burn’s house. And what the American did to them. He also knows his only chance to save his own brown skin is to forget what he saw. Burn’s actions on that night trap them both in a cat-and-mouse game with Rudi "Gatsby" Barnard—a corrupt Afrikaner cop who loves killing almost as much as he loves Jesus Christ—and Disaster Zondi, a fastidious Zulu detective who wishes to settle an old score. Once Gatsby smells those missing American millions, the four men are drawn into a web of murder and vengeance that builds to an unforgettable conclusion. Roger Smith is an accomplished screenwriter, director, and producer. He is at work on a second stand-alone thriller set in and around Cape Town, where he currently lives. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies. sometime
in Febuary Rescheduled
from September. Now, with the Russian noose tightening around Berlin and the remnants of the Nazi government fleeing north to Flensburg, the Loerber brothers are unexpectedly reunited. As Himmler and Speer vie to become the next Führer, deluded into believing they can strike a bargain with Eisenhower and escape their criminal fates, the Loerbers must employ all their talents -- and whatever magic they possess -- to rescue themselves and one another. Deftly written and darkly funny, Germania is an astounding adventure tale -- with subplots involving a hidden cache of Nazi gold, Hitler's miracle U-boats, and Speer's secret plan to live out his days hunting walrus in Greenland -- and a remarkably imaginative novel from a gifted new writing talent. Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
Bob Morris's Zack Chasteen novels are highly recommended by David, especially for fans of Randy Wayne White and John D. MacDonald! Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
Alan Banks is in London with his new girlfriend Sophia when news of the kids’ ghastly discovery reaches the police in Eastvale, so the case falls to Annie Cabbot. And she’s mystified. Why would Mark Hardcastle, a successful set and costume designer with a well-reviewed production of Othello currently playing at the recently restored Eastvale Theatre, be in such despair that he would take his own life? Or did he? When events take a turn for the worse, Banks is called back, much to his annoyance, and he soon finds himself plunged into a shadow-world where nothing is what it seems. The deeper Banks probes, the more he discovers that no one is safe, for the evil that has been unleashed extends to his friends and family, too, and strikes at the heart of all his relationships. Now his own words about the victim’s latest production, Othello, come back to haunt him: “jealousy, betrayal, envy, ambition, greed, lust, revenge—all the colours of darkness.” Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
Please call or e-mail to order signed or inscribed copies.
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When
attending one of MURDER BY THE BOOK's signing events, please keep
the following in mind: 
"Reading
James Crumley and John D. MacDonald set the writing hook in me:
I wanted to write mysteries and thrillers. I wanted to be a storyteller.
The
U.K.'s #1-selling crime novelist will sign & discuss his latest
(and last??) Inspector John Rebus novel, Exit Music
(Little, Brown; $24.99). It's late in the fall in Edinburgh
and late in the career of Detective Inspector John Rebus. As he
is simply trying to tie up some loose ends before his retirement,
a new case lands on his desk: a dissident Russian poet has been
murdered in what looks like a mugging gone wrong. Rebus discovers
that an elite delegation of Russian businessmen is in town, looking
to expand its interests. And as Rebus's investigation gains ground,
someone brutally assaults a local gangster with whom he has a long
history. Has Rebus overstepped his bounds for the last time? Only
a few days shy of the end to his long, controversial career, will
Rebus even make it that far? 
Thursday,
October 9, 6:30 p.m.
The
author of The War Against Miss Winter
(Harper; paperback original; $13.95) will sign & discuss
the second Rosie Winter mystery, The Winter of Her Discontent
(Harper; paperback original; $13.95). It's tough shooting
for stardom when there's a war on. But Rosie's got enough pluck
for two: she's willing to stumble around in a Broadway dance chorus
that she has no right to be a part of, in a musical that's got "flop"
written all over it. And all the while, she's worrying about her
missing-in-action soldier boyfriend, who hasn't written in months.
Lately, she's also been keeping bad company with her mob-muscle
pal, Al, who's dabbling in a host of shady money-making enterprises
in this time of shortages and rationing. But despite his illicit
line of work, Al's no killer. When the cops finger him for his girlfriend's
murder, Rosie and Jayne, her close compatriot/fellow castmate, set
out to clear big Al's name, and plunge into an intricate backstage
drama featuring a bevy of suspiciously well-dressed wannabe starlets.
But the plot could soon be taking another lethal turn, bringing
a final curtain down on Rosie, Jayne, and all their good intentions.
The
author of Consequences of Sin will sign & discuss her
new Ursula Marlowe mystery, The Serpent and the Scorpion
(Penguin; paperback original; $14). The second mystery
featuring the strong, outspoken, intelligent and sassy Ursula Marlow
is a thrilling story of scandal, betrayal. 
We
will have a limited number of signed & dated first editions
of The Fire available for the book's on-sale date, Tuesday,
October 14th. 
Haidee’s
journey from Albania to Morocco to Rome to Greece, and into the
very heart of the Game, will result in revelations about the powerful
chess set and its history that will lead at last to the spot where
the service was first created more than one thousand years before:
Baghdad.
Poisoned
Press author Kathleen Delaney will read from her
latest novel, And Murder for Dessert
(Poisoned Pen Press; $24.95), followed by a Q & A and
signing. Kathleen Delaney is a recently retired real estate broker.
The Mother of five children, grandmother of eight, she has also
bred and shown national winning Arabian and Half Arabia horses.
She has recently left California for South Carolina where she writes
her Ellen McKenzie/Dan Dunham wine mysteries.
Crime
writer Eric Stone will sign & discuss his 3rd
Ray Sharp novel, Flight of the Hornbill
(Bleak House; hardback, $24.95; paperback, $14.95; Evidence Collection
limited edition, $45). Gold, a lot of it, has been discovered
in the oil rich tropics of Sumatra. Or has it? From
an American suburb incongruously set into a jungle clearing, to
the sleazy bars of Jakarta; from a neighborhood floating on a river,
to the dense, steaming rainforest of Sumatra; corporate investigator
Ray Sharp’s job is to ferret out the truth.
Crime
writers Sophie Hannah and Michael Genelin
will sign their new books...
Michael
Genelin will sign & discuss his debut crime novel,
Siren of the Waters (Soho Crime;
$24). Jana Matinova entered the Czechoslovak police force
as a young woman, married an actor, and became a mother. The regime
destroyed her husband, their love for one another, and her daughter's
respect for her. But she has never stopped being a seeker of justice.
The Edgar Award-winning author of A Conspiracy of Paper
will sign & discuss his new historical crime novel, The
Whiskey Rebels (Random House; $26).
David Liss’s bestselling historical thrillers, including A
Conspiracy of Paper and The Coffee Trader, have been called remarkable
and rousing: the perfect combination of scrupulous research and
breathless excitement. Now Liss delivers his best novel yet in an
entirely new setting–America in the years after the Revolution,
an unstable nation where desperate schemers vie for wealth, power,
and a chance to shape a country’s destiny.
We
are sorry to announce that this event has been cancelled.
Award-winning
crime writer James Swain will sign & discuss
his second Jack Carpenter thriller, The Night Stalker
(Ballantine; $25). 
One
of Murder By The Book's most beloved mystery authors, Carolyn
Hart, will sign & discuss the first in a new paranormal
mystery series, Ghost at Work
(Morrow; $24.95), at two Murder By The Book events -- a
Two-time
Edgar Award nominee Reed Farrel Coleman will sign
& discuss his new novel as Tony Spinosa, The
Fourth Victim (Bleak House; hardback, $24.95;
paperback, $14.95; Evidence Collection limited edition, $45).
The second book from "Tony Spinosa" (after Hose Monkey)
features Joe Serpe and Bob Healy as they investigate the deaths
of several oil delivery truck drivers around Long Island. One of
the victims had been a cop with both Joe and Bob and although he
wasn’t beloved they feel honor bound to get to the bottom
of his death and the deaths of the other drivers.
New
York Times best-selling thriller
writer Brad Meltzer will sign & discuss his
new novel, The Book of Lies (Grand
Central; $25.99). 
Meltzer
is the author of Identity Crisis, one of DC Comics’
bestselling comic series, which has netted almost 40,000 combined
book copies, and well over 800,000 individual issues. He is also
the author of the bestselling comic Justice League of America
and is the first author to ever reach the #1 spot on both the New
York Times and the Diamond comic book bestseller lists simultaneously.
Clare O'Donohue will sign
& discuss her first quilting mystery, The Lover's
Knot (Plume; paperback original; $13).
O’Donohue is a freelance television writer/producer. She produced
television’s most popular quilting show, Simply Quilts,
on HGTV, and she is currently producing and writing for a variety
of television crime shows, including Forensic Files. The
Lover’s Knot is her first novel.
Murder
By The Book is proud to provide book sales (with 
Michael
Connelly: The Brass Verdict (Little, Brown; $26.99)
Connelly's most popular heroes team up for the first time! Things
are finally looking up for defense attorney Mickey Haller (The
Lincoln Lawyer). After two years of wrong turns, Haller is
back in the courtroom. When Hollywood lawyer Jerry Vincent is murdered,
Haller inherits his biggest case yet: the defense of Walter Elliott,
a prominent studio executive accused of murdering his wife and her
lover. But as Haller prepares for the case that could launch him
into the big time, he learns that Vincent's killer may be coming
for him next. Enter Harry Bosch (The Overlook). Determined
to find Vincent's killer, he is not opposed to using Haller as bait.
But as danger mounts and the stakes rise, these two loners realize
their only choice is to work together. Highly recommended by
David! 
Christopher
Buckley: Christopher
Buckley, "the quintessential political novelist of his time"
according to Fortune magazine, is the winner of the distinguished
ninth annual Thurber Prize for American Humor. Tom Wolfe has described
him as "one of the funniest writers in the English language."
Buckley is the author of eleven books, many of them national bestsellers,
including Thank You For Smoking, God Is My Broker,
No Way To Treat A First Lady, and Florence of Arabia.
Judy
Schachner: The author of the
best-selling children's series, Skippyjon Jones. Move over,
Eloise and Olivia. Make room for Skippyjon Jones, a Siamese kittenboy
who can't resign himself to being an ordinary cat. Having a time-out
in his room, he resorts to his imagination. Taking on the superhero
persona of the great Spanish sword fighter Skippito, he has the
adventure of his life, and readers are invited along. Zany, wild,
and over-the-top, this utterly original book truly begs to be read
aloud.
John
Zogby: Prominent pollster Zogby will discuss his
book, The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation
of the American Dream, an illuminating, fact-filled look at
the changing nature of the American Dream and how this is influencing
everything -- from the politicians people vote for to the goods
and services they buy. According to Zogby, whom The Washington
Post calls "the maverick predictor," the conventional
wisdom about the United States -- that we’re isolated from
the world, politically fragmented, and inclined toward material
pleasure -- isn’t just flawed; it may be 180 degrees from
the truth. In this far-reaching and illuminating look at contemporary
American life, Zogby reveals nothing less than The Way We’ll
Be. Drawing on thousands of in-depth surveys conducted especially
for the book, Zogby points out where we’re headed -- politically,
culturally, and spiritually. 
Vince
Flynn will sign & discuss his new Mitch Rapp novel,
Extreme Measures (Simon &
Schuster; $27.95). Signing line
numbers available beginning Tuesday, October 20th -- the book's
on-sale date -- with purchase of Extreme Measures from Murder By
The Book.
Saturday,
November 8, 4:30 p.m.
sometime
Nov. 8-13
Crime
writer Sandra Ruttan (What Burns Within)
will sign & discuss her second novel featuring constables Nolan,
Tain, and Hart, The Frailty of Flesh
(Leisure; paperback original; $7.99). The police got the
call: A four-year-old boy had been found beaten to death in the
park. But almost as soon as Hart and Tain arrived at the scene,
the case took a strange turn. They found the victim’s brother
hiding in the woods nearby. He said he saw the whole thing and claims
his older sister is the killer. And she’s missing… When
the boy’s father is notified that his son is dead, his first
response is to hire a high-powered attorney, who seems determined
to create every legal roadblock he can for Hart and Tain. So now
the search is on for the missing girl. But the clock is ticking,
and the case is about to get even stranger. The
personal and professional collide as Nolan, Hart and Tain face their
toughest challenges yet.
New
York Times best-selling thriller novelist David Morrell
(First Blood; Creepers) will sign & discuss
his new novel, The Spy Who Came for Christmas
(Perseus; hardback; $15.95), and the hardback edition of
Captain America: The Chosen (Marvel;
$24.99).
It’s
Christmas Eve in Santa Fe. But among the revelers on snow-blanketed
Canyon Road, a decidedly unholy scene is taking place. A desperate
undercover agent, Paul Kagan, feverishly seeks refuge for himself
and the squirming bundle he holds tightly against his chest, a baby
who has the power to change the world.
His pursuers are his former colleagues—members of the Russian
mafia who will stop at nothing to reclaim the child that Kagan has
risked his life and blown his cover to steal from them. Now he is
a spy on the run who must ensure the baby’s survival, even
if it costs him his own life. Just a short distance away, Kagan
will find an unexpected pair of allies—a mother and her young
son huddle together after an episode of domestic violence leaves
them alone, their phone lines cut and with no means of transportation.
Kagan quickly realizes that he must enlist their help to survive.
With the exquisitely honed skills of his profession and the good
faith of a weary woman and a disillusioned boy, he takes on forces
that will stop at nothing to get to them. In the course of a wild
and violent night, the unlikely trio learns lessons of generosity,
courage, and selflessness, discovering within themselves the luminous
strength of the Christmas spirit. Few thriller writers are as praised
as David Morrell, who has been called “the father of the modern
action novel.” Now he delivers a masterwork of suspense, one
of his most emotional and gripping stories.
Captain
America: The Chosen:
Marvel brings you a groundbreaking
new vision of Captain America as you've never seen him, in this
six-issue Marvel Knights mini-series written by David Morrell,
in the vein of Spider-Man: Reign and Silver Surfer:
Requiem. Steeped in the life-or-death tension of insurrectionist
combat, is the young Marine Corporal James Newsom really fighting
side by side with Captain America, or is it all in his mind? And
is Cap actually... dying? Collects Captain America: The Chosen
#1-6. Highly recommended by David & McKenna!
Mystery
writer Eve Sandstrom (a.k.a. Joanna Carl)
will sign & discuss her new Chocoholic mystery, The
Chocolate Snowman Murders (Obsidian; $19.95).
Lee McKinney Woodward and her husband Joe have become involved with
the curse of living in America -- a committee. They're both on the
board for the Warner Pier Winter Arts Festival. Problems grow to
include more than the usual hurt feelings personality conflicts,
when Lee's assigned to pick up the art show judge, and he shows
up drunk. She dumps him -- then becomes a suspect when he's found
dead. How do a holier-than-thou choir director, an artist who wields
a welding torch, a small-town grande dame, a timid publicity chair,
and a threatening snowman fit into the puzzle?
New
York Times best-selling humorist / crime writer Kinky
Friedman will sign & discuss both his new essay collection,
What Would Kinky Do?: How
to Unscrew a Screwed-Up World (St. Martin's; $23.95),
and his new 2009 calendar (on which we'll have more information
soon)... these will both great holiday gifts!
Saturday,
December 6, 2:30 p.m.
New
York Times best-sellers Clive Cussler & Dirk Cussler
will sign & discuss their new Dirk Pitt novel, Arctic
Drift (Putnam; $27.95).
As
Ardai, he owns one of today's hottest publishing companies, 
New
York Times best-selling crime writer J. A. Jance
will sign & discuss her new Ali Reynolds novel, Cruel
Intent (Touchstone; $25.95). On a
dating site, singleatheart.com, bored housewives can find romance
with married men looking for sex without strings. But these "married
singles" are flirting with more than just their vows. At the
heart of this seemingly innocent service, a vengeful computer hacker
is playing games with people's lives... and deaths.
Anthony
Award-winning mystery writer (and Murder By The Book employee!)
Dean James will sign & discuss his fifth "Trailer
Park" mystery, Leftover Dead
(Berkley Prime Crime; paperback original; $7.99). Waitress
Wanda Nell Culpepper is barely hitched to her new husband, Jack,
before the couple starts digging into an unsolved murder from thirty-one
years ago. But a new death puts this cold case on the front burner.
The
New York Times best-selling author of The Butcher's
Boy and Vanishing Act will sign & discuss his
sixth Jane Whitefield thriller, Runner
(Harcourt; $26), his first in ten years! 
The
New York Times best-selling author of the Bartimaeus Trilogy
will sign & discuss his new young adult thriller, Heroes
of the Valley (Hyperion; $17.99).
New
Orleans crime writer Greg Herren will sign &
discuss his new Chanse MacLeod novel, Murder in the
Rue Ursulines (Alyson; trade paperback original;
$14.95). As New Orleans continues to rebuild in the wake
of Hurricane Katrina, Chanse MacLeod becomes involved in a high
profile case involving a golden couple of Hollywood who have committed
themselves to helping New Orleans recover.
Debut
crime novelist Roger Smith will sign & discuss
his first book, Mixed Blood (Henry
Holt; $25). 
Debut
Texas mystery writer Brendan McNally
will sign & discuss his debut historical novel, Germania
(Simon & Schuster; $26). In their youth, Manni and
Franzi, together with their brothers, Ziggy and Sebastian, captured
Germany's collective imagination as the Flying Magical Loerber Brothers
-- one of the most popular vaudeville acts of the old Weimar days.
The ensuing years have, however, found the Jewish brothers estranged
and ensconced in various occupations as the war is drawing near
its end and a German surrender is imminent. Manni is traveling through
the Ruhr Valley with Albert Speer, who is intent on subverting Hitler's
apocalyptic plan to destroy the German industrial heartland before
the Allies arrive; Franzi has become inextricably attached to Heinrich
Himmler's entourage as astrologer and masseur; and Ziggy and Sebastian
have each been employed in pursuits that threaten to compromise
irrevocably their own safety and ideologies. 
The
Edgar Award-nominated author of Bahamarama will sign &
discuss his fourth Zack Chasteen thriller, A Deadly
Silver Sea (St. Martin's Minotaur; $24.95).
The Royal Star, the most exclusive cruise ship in the world,
has just set sail from Miami on its inaugural voyage. For the hundred
or so notable and well-heeled passengers, including Zack Chasteen,
and his wife, Barbara, the itinerary is a secret and the week ahead
promises to be an ultra-indulgent tropical sojourn. 
Award-winning
Canadian crime writer Peter Robinson will sign
& discuss his new Alan Banks novel, All the Colors
of Darkness (Morrow; $24.95). It’s
the half-term school holiday, and the first warm day of the year
has drawn a few children to the River Swain for a swim. When one
boy chases another off the path that runs alongside Hipswell Woods,
a glimpse of orange through the trees tempts them deeper into the
shadows. Their high spirits vanish in an instant when they find
a man hanging by his neck from a branch. 
We're
also working on Paul Levine (who has a new non-Solomon
& Lord book), Charlaine Harris, Tim
Dorsey, Deanna Raybourn, and more. Please
stay tuned for more details.