In this issue: 

 

Author Appearances

Signed Copies Available

Announcement              

New Northwest Releases         

Chandler & Hammett Special Releases                                                                

SomeOther New Releases              

Some Agatha Christie Releases

Some Fall Paperback Reprints

Sherlockiana                            

Anthology, Reference and Nonfiction

Fall 1999 Auction

Gone, But Not Forgotten           

 

Author Appearances

 

Tues., Aug. 31, noon, jazz drummer Bill Moody signs Bird Lives!

Thurs., Sept. 16, noon Tess Gerritsen signs Gravity.

Tues., Sept. 21, time uncertain, Sara Paretsky signs Hard Time.

Sat., Sept. 25, noon Alaska’s Dana Stabenow signs So Sure of Death.

Mon., Oct. 4, noon, Linda Barnes signs Flashpoint.

Tues., Oct. 5, noon, Martha Grimes signs The Lamorna Wink.

Wed., Oct. 6, noon, Vicki Hendricks signs Iguana Love.

Fri., Oct. 8, noon, Ian Rankin signs Dead Souls.

Wed., Oct. 27, noon, Larry Millett signs Sherlock Holmes and the Rune Stone Mystery.

 

      Signed Copies Available:

 

D. W. Buffa, The Prosecution

James Lee Burke, Heartwood

Loren D. Estleman, Hours of the Virgin

Ann Rule, A Rage to Kill:  Casefiles No. 6

Trevor Scott, Extreme Faction

 

 

 

                       

New Northwest Releases

 

April Christofferson, The Protocol (Oct., Forge hc, 23.95). 2^nd novel by the author of Edgewater. Attorney Jennifer Rockhill’s plans for revenge against Dr. Fielding and his Seattle biotech firm for the death of her husband seem complete when she’s hired by that same company. Signing.

James H. Cobb, West on 66 (Sept., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95).  Noir mystery set in 1958.  Sheriff  Pulaski looks for a cup of coffee and a hot meal at a truck stop, but finds a mysterious woman, a link to an old murder and a chase down Route 66.  Tacoma author.

Catherine Coulter, The Edge (Sept., Putnam hc, 21.95).  Baffled by suspicious circumstances surrounding his sister’s injuries, an FBI agent heads to the Oregon coast to unravel the mysteries.  Signed Copies Available.

Mary Daheim, The Alpine Legacy (Oct., Ballantine pbo, 5.99). 12^th in the series with Emma Lord, newspaper editor in the small town of Alpine, WA.  Signing.

Mary Freeman, Deadly Nightshade (Nov., Berkley pbo, 5.99). While investigating the murder of a city councilman, landscaper Rachel O’Connor unearths trouble.  Oregon author.  Signing?

Skye Kathleen Moody, Habitat (Nov., St. Martin’s hc, 24.95).  Fish and Wildlife Agent Venus Diamond investigates Breedhaven, an elite research center on an island off the coast of Washington. 4th in series. Signing?

Sharan Newman, The Difficult Saint (Oct., Forge hc, 23.95). Catherine LeVandeur goes to Germany to help her sister, who’s been accused of poisoning her new husband and practicing witchcraft.  Signing?

 

 

James Powlik, Sea Change (Sept., Delacorte hc, 24.95). A ghost ship of dead men is found off the coast of British Columbia and it is clear that some deadly, biological killer is heading toward Seattle. A bio-techno-thriller by an oceanographer.

Kathryn Rantala, Missing Pieces (Aug., Ocean View tpo, 10.95). Noir poetry matched with King County crime scene photos from the 1930s and 1940s, by a native Seattleite.

Fr. Brad Reynolds, Deadly Harvest (Oct., Avon pbo, 5.99). Father Mark Townsend travels to Eastern Washington to investigate the report of miracles brought about by an evangelistic preacher. Signing.

Marjorie Reynolds, The Civil Wars of Jonah Moran (Nov., Morrow hc, 24.00).  2^nd novel by the author of The Starlite Drive-In.  Someone sets fire to a halfway house in the small Olympic Peninsula town of Misp.  When the town suspects Jonah, his sister is worried. Signing.

Greg Rucka, Shooting At Midnight (Oct., Bantam hc, 23.95).  PI Bridgett Logan made a promise years ago—and now Bridgett must commit a murder if she is to keep her word. By the author of the series with Atticus Kokiak, who is Bridgett’s friend and lover.  Portland author.  Signed Copies Available.

 

 

Riley St. James, Deception in the Rainshadows (June, Shadowcrest tpo, 12.95). Convicted of killing a wealthy married woman who broke off their affair, Portland mystery author Jonathan Timmers writes to outsiders for help in finding the real killer.

Dana Stabenow, So Sure of Death (Sept, Dutton hc, 23.95). State Trooper Liam Campbell is drawn into the heart of a family scandal of adultery, tribal taboos and forbidden romance.  Signing.

Nicholas van Pelt (aka Richard Hoyt), Stomp ( Aug., Forge hc, 24.95). Forty years ago, in NE Oregon, two high school kids sought justice when the system could not help.  Now, their choice has come back to haunt them.

M. K. Wren, Neely Jones:  The Medusa Pool (Oct., St. Martin’s hc, 24.95).  New series introduces Sheriff-elect Cornelia Jones, the only woman and the only African-American in her Sheriff’s Office. Oregon author.

       …and now in paperback:

Anthony Bruno, Double Espresso (Nov., Forge, 6.99).

Robert Clark, Mr. White’s Confession (Sept., Picador, 12.00).  Edgar Winner for Best Novel.

Laurence Gough, Shutterbug (Sept., McClelland & Stewart, 5.95).  British Columbia author.

Dean Ing, The Skins of Dead Men (Sept., Tor, 6.99).

J.A. Jance, Breach of Duty (Nov., Avon, 6.99).

Tom Micheltree, Katie’s Will (Nov., Worldwide, 4.99). Oregon author.

Steve Oliver, Moody Forever (Nov., St. Martin’s, 5.99).

Greg Rucka, Smoker (Sept., Bantam, 5.99).

Frank Smith, Stone Dead (Sept., Worldwide, 4.99).  British Columbia author.

 

Some Special Chandler & Hammett Releases

 

Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, (Oct., Pocket tp, 16.00). 1^st pb issue of The Centenary Celebration from ’88, in which contemporary authors write new Marlowe short stories, organized by decade (30s, 40s) and also write about what Chandler and Marlowe meant to them as authors. Crais, Healy, Paretsky, Taibo, Brett, Estleman, Collins and Healy—to name a few.  The book ends with Chandler’s last Marlowe story, The Pencil, published posthumously.  A great collection with the best pastiches.

 

Dashiell Hammett, Nightmare Town (Sept., Knopf hc, 25.00). 20 long-unavailable short stories:  the Continental Op, Sam Spade and the first study for what would become The Thin Man. (No signing tour, we’re sure…)

  Also, Dashiell Hammett: Complete Novels (Oct., Library of America hc, 35.00). All 5 of Hammett’s novels, complete and reissued in a single volume, on acid-free paper in a fine binding.

 

Some Other New Releases

 

Harold Adams, Lead, So I Can Follow (Nov., Walker hc, 22.95). 12^th in the Depression era, Award-winning series set in the Dakotas.  Carl Wilcox and his bride hear a scream and a shot while enjoying a quiet fishing hole.  Also, now available, (tp, 7.95 each) A Way With Widows and No Badge, No Gun.

Susan Wittig Albert, Lavender Lies (Oct., Berkley hc, 21.95).  As China prepares for her wedding, the only cold feet are those of a corpse.  8^th in the series with lawyer-turned-herbalist.  Signed Copies Available.

Bruce Alexander, Death of a Colonial (Sept., Putnam hc, 23.95). After a nobleman is executed, a younger brother, who’s been gone for 7 years, materializes. What is his connection to the suicide of an American? Sir John Fielding investigates.  B Jo recommends.

Sarah Andrews, Bone Hunter (Sept., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95).  5^th with forensic geologist Em Hansen.   At a paleontology conference in Utah, a dinosaur expert is stabbed to death with a dinosaur bone.

Jake Arnott, The Long Firm (Sept., Soho hc, 25.00). In 1960s London, Harry Starks is a funny and feared hood who dreams of becoming a nightclub impresario, like the Crays. His story is told by five narrators to give a vivid portrait of the man and his time.

Nancy Atherton, Aunt Dimity’s Christmas (Oct., Viking hc, 21.95). Lori Shepard’s plans for a perfect holiday are ruined when a mysterious stranger collapses on her driveway. Signed Copies Available.  Karen recommends.

David Baldacci, Saving Faith (Nov., Warner hc, 26.95). DC’s two best influence peddlers have their bribery scheme cracked by a zealous CIA chief. Then the FBI gets wind of it, and all is left to a PI to settle.

Linda Barnes, Flashpoint (Sept., Hyperion hc, 22.45). Carlotta Carlyle returns at last, in her 8^th case.  After burglar-proofing a reclusive woman’s apartment, Carlotta finds the elderly resident dead.  Signing.

Dave Barry, Big Trouble (Sept., Putnam hc, 23.95). Yes, it is THAT Dave Barry, writing a twisting tale of embezzlement, New Jersey hit men and razor-sharp satire.  Signed Copies Available. Tammy and Bill recommend.

M. C. Beaton, A Highland Christmas (Nov., Mysterious Press hc, 19.95). Alone for the holidays, Constable Macbeth tracks a lost cat and stolen holiday decorations.  Illustrated with black and white line drawings, this 16^th adventure is a fine holiday gift for Hamish fans.

M. C. Beaton, Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden (Nov., St. Martin’s hc, 21.95).  9^th adventure for the irrepressible Agatha, who here retreats to a seaside resort to regrow her hair after an unfortunate encounter with a hairdresser.  Sandy recommends this series.

Alan Beechey, Murdering Ministers (Nov., St.. Martin’s hc, 24.95).  2^nd adventure for London children’s book author Olivier Swithin and his Wodehousesque crew. His debut in An Embarrassment of Corpses was a source of wonder and delight.  Sandy recommends.

Carol Lee Benjamin, Lady Vanishes (Sept., Walker hc, 23.95). 4^th in the series with Rachel and her pit bull Dash, who come to the rescue when a therapy dog vanishes from a Greenwich Village care center and the center’s owner dies soon after. Favorite series of Karen’s.

Michelle Blake, The Tentmaker (Sept., Putnam hc, 23.95). Lily Connor accepts the post of interim priest (a “tentmaker”) in Boston.  She begins to doubt the official reason of the last priest’s death and is drawn into the secrets of this wealthy parish. A debut mystery that gives an interesting, insider’s view of the modern Episcopal church and its engagement with contemporary issues. Signed Copies Available.  B Jo recommends.

Barbara Block, Endangered Species (Sept., Kensington hc, 20.00). 6^th Robin Light.

Simon Brett, Mrs. Pargeter’s Point of Honour (Oct., Scribner hc, 22.00).  A reverse heist: the feisty widow must find a way to return stolen art.

Sandra Brown, The Alibi (Sept., Warner hc, 25.95). Charleston’s ambitious prosecutor Hammond Cross has an encounter with a mysterious woman who later turns into the prime suspect in a high-profile murder case.

Edna Buchanan Garden of Evil (Nov, Avon hc, 24.00) 6^th with Miami reporter Britt Montero.

Carole Bugge, Who Killed Blanche DuBois? (Nov., Berkley pbo, 5.99). Editor Claire Rawlings investigates the murder of her star author.

Stephen Cannell, The Devil’s Workshop (Sept., Morrow hc, 25.00). Hollywood moguls, hobos and a beautiful microbiologist race to stop anti-government supremacists who have a new biological weapon, which targets DNA.

Patricia Carlon, The Price of an Orphan (Oct., Soho hc, 22.00). 9 year-old orphan Johnnie, a city child, is placed with the Heaths, a family in Australia’s outback.  Trouble from the start, he claims to have witnessed a murder, then recants it. Karen recommends.

Paula Carter, Deathday Party (Oct., Berkley pbo, 5.99).  2^nd with the Southern “Decorating Duo of Detection.”

William Caunitz, Chains of Command (Sept., Dutton hc, 23.95). When a young cop is shot in his girlfriend’s apartment, everyone is quick to believe he’s dirty.  But there are two who think otherwise. Late author’s last book.

Jill Churchill, A Groom with a View (Oct., Avon hc, 22.00). 11^th Jane Jeffry has her catering a big society wedding that turns into a killer of a party.

Margaret Coel, The Lost Bird (Oct., Berkley hc, 21.95). Father John suspects that the bullet that killed his elderly assistant might’ve been meant for him. Signed Copies Available. Karen favorite series.

Max Allan Collins, Majic Man (Sept., Dutton hc, 23.95). It’s 1949 and Nate Heller is called to DC to help retiring Defense Secretary James Forrestal.  Heller’s investigation of death threats links up with some odd reports coming from a little town in New Mexico called Roswell…10^th in a series that is a favorite of JB’s. ( See Gone, But Not Forgotten.)

Susan Rogers Cooper, Not in My Backyard (Nov., Avon pbo, 5.99). 6^th with sometimes sleuth E. J. Pugh, of Black Cat Ridge, TX.

Tom Corcoran, Gumbo Limbo (Sept., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95).  New Alex Rutledge mystery by the author of The Mango Opera.  The Key West crime-scene photographer is awakened by a drunk Navy buddy—who seems to be in serious danger.

Elizabeth M. Cosin, Zen and the City of Angels (Oct., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95).  An easy case of finding a friend’s missing dog turns deadly when Zen finds a faceless corpse.

Michael Crichton, Timeline (Nov., Knopf hc, 26.95).  The publisher must assume you need no further information, since there was no plot description in the catalog.

Barbara D’Amato, Help Me Please (Oct., Forge hc, 23.95). 30 minutes after a 3 year-old is kidnapped, a new site on the web appears – featuring the child.  Chicago cop Polly Kelly must find her before the girl is harmed.

Jeanne M. Dams, The Victim in Victoria Station (Sept., Walker hc, 23.95). 5^th Dorothy Martin.  Aboard a train to London, Dorothy meets a young man who ends up dead before they reach their destination.

Dianne Day, Death Train to Boston (Sept., Doubleday hc, 21.95). 5^th in series.  Fremont vanishes after a train she and Michael are working on blows up.  He’s injured, but where is she?  B Jo recommends.

Edward Dee, Nightbird (Oct., Warner hc, 23.95). 4^th in the gritty NYC cops series with detectives Ryan and Gregory.

James D. Doss, The Night Visitor (Sept., Avon hc, 23.00). 6^th in Shaman series.

Carole Nelson Douglas, Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit (Nov., Forge hc, 24.95). 11^th cat caper with Midnight Louie.

Loren D. Estleman, Thunder City (Nov., Forge hc, 22.95; signed copies, 23.95). To get the funds to invest in the early car industry, Harlan Crownover is forced to deal with the devil:  the Midwest’s most powerful political boss and a visionary mafiosa.  Allies at first, they become mortal enemies.  Latest in the “Detroit Series.” Bill can hardly wait.

Linda Fairstein, Cold Hit (Sept., Scribner hc, 25.00).  ADA Alexandra Cooper gets involved in the murder of wealthy art collector Denise Caxton, whose silk-clad body washes ashore at Manhattan Island’s northern tip.  3^rd in series.

Connie Feddersen, Dead in the Hay (Sept., Kensington pbo, 5.99). 7^th with CPA Amanda Hazard. Just settling into marriage, Amanda’s life gets busy again when her least favorite client is found dead on his ranch.

Monica Ferris, Framed in Lace (Oct., Berkley pbo, 5.99). 2^nd Betsy Devonshire needlecraft mystery.  Clues to a skeleton come from a fragment of fabric.

Judy Fitzwater, Dying for a Clue (Oct., Fawcett pbo, 5.99). 3^rd with aspiring mystery author Jennifer March, amidst the world of authors, agents and publishers.

Katherine V. Forrest, Sleeping Bones (Sept., Berkley hc, 21.95) 7^th in the Lambda-Award-winning series with LA cop Kate Delafield.

Frederick Forsyth, The Phantom of Manhattan (Nov., St. Martin’s hc, 19.95). A continuation of The Phantom of the Opera, set 20 years after the events in Paris.

Dick Francis, Second Wind (Sept., Putnam hc, 24.95). British TV meteorologist Perry Stuart is respected for his theoretical knowledge of hurricanes.  A chance to see one up close leads to threats and danger.

Michael Frayn, Headlong (Sept., Holt hc, 26.00). Witty, satirical story of a philosopher who believes that a boorish neighbor has a lost painting by Bruegel.  He schemes to prove that he is right and to separate it from its owner in a grand con in which he must bet everything he has. Karen says, “wonderful.”

Caroline Garcia-Aguilera, A Miracle in Paradise (Oct., Avon hc, 23.00). 4^th with Miami PI Lupe Solano.

Elizabeth George, In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner (Sept., Bantam hc, 25.95).  Detectives Lynley and Havers investigate two bodies found by Nine Sisters Henge, prehistoric stones in Derbyshire.  Signing?

Ron Goulart, Elementary, My Dear Groucho (Nov., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95).  3^rd in series set in Hollywood in the 1930s. Groucho and his sidekick Frank Denby investigate a murder during the filming of Valley of Fear.

Sue Grafton, O is for Outlaw (Oct., Holt hc, 26.00). Kinsey gets an old, undelivered letter from her ex-husband.

Caroline Graham, A Place of Safety (Sept., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). 6^th Inspector Barnaby mystery.  The English village of Ferne Basset is in a fine uproar when the death of an unpopular resident and a missing girl upset long-kept secrets.  This is a dazzling series.  Bill, B Jo, Karen, and Sandy recommend.

Martha Grimes, The Lamorna Wink (Oct., Viking hc, 22.95) Richard Jury returns in his 16^th case.  Signing.

Paul Griner, Collectors (Sept., Random House hc, 19.95). Jean is drawn to a stranger who’s lost the last two women in his life to mysterious deaths.  Both are collectors—he gathers binoculars, she looks for antique pens—and a suspenseful and ominous relationship unfolds.

Batya Gur, Murder Duet (Nov., Harper hc, 25.00). After a 5-year hiatus, Israeli cop Michale Ohayon returns to investigate the deaths of the brother and father of a cellist with whom he has become involved.

Jean Hager, Weigh Dead (Nov., Avon pbo, 5.99) 6^th cozy in the Iris House B & B series.

Parnell Hall, A Clue For the Puzzle Lady (Nov., Bantam hc, 23.95).  Debut in new series.  When a teenager is found murdered with a scrap of crossword puzzle in her pocket, Police Chief Harper turns to Cora Felton, the town’s modern day Miss Marple.  (And see Gone, But Not Forgotten for another series by Hall.)

Lauren Haney, A Vile Justice (Oct., Avon pbo, 5.99). 3^rd book in the Ancient Egyptian series with Lt. Bak.

Janet Hannah, The Wish to Kill (Nov., Soho hc, 21.00). Debut mystery.  Biochemist Alex Kertesz discovers the body of an unpopular fellow professor in their lab at the University of Jerusalem.  Being a man of science, he must rationally discover the how and who.

Charlaine Harris, A Fool and His Honey (Sept., St. Martin’s, 22.95).  Aurora Teagarden, newly married, returns in her 6^th Southern adventure.

Fred Harris, Coyote Revenge (Nov., Harper hc, 24.00.) Set in 1930s Oklahoma,

Carolyn Hart, White Elephant Dead (Sept., Avon hc, 23.00). 11^th Annie Darling.  A blackmailer requires 5 prominent citizens to contribute to the annual White Elephant sale or face the publicity of unsavory facts. When volunteers for the sale begin to die, Annie steps in.

Ellen Hart, Hunting the Witch (Sept., St. Martin’s hc, 24.95).  9^th in series with restaurateur Jane Lawless, who reluctantly investigates the death of her lover’s patient.

Tim Hemlin, Dead Man’s Broth (Nov., Ballantine pbo, 5.99). 5^th with Houston chef/sleuth Neil Marshall.

Vicki Hendricks, Iguana Love (Oct., Serpent’s Tale hc, 23.00).  Ramona is a thrill-seeker who finds body-building, scuba diving and husband insufficient. Enzo is one man she can’t dominate, and he leads her into a violent world of sex, danger, heroin and murder.  Finally, a new book from the author of Miami Purity, a staff favorite. Signing.

Reginald Hill, Arms and the Women (Sept., Delacorte hc, 23.95). Someone is after Pascoe’s family, and he and Dalziel look into past cases for a lead. Karen highly recommends: “The best book I’ve read this year.”

Reginald Hill, Singing the Sadness (Sept., St. Martin’s, 24.95).  4^th with black British P. I. Joe Sixsmith.  On a bus trip to Wales, Joe rescues a nude woman from a burning cottage that was supposed to be empty; the owner hires Joe to find out who the mystery woman is— the owner’s wife  secretly hires Joe for the same purpose.

David Housewright, Dearly Departed (Oct., Norton hc, 23.95). 3^rd with St. Paul, MN private eye Holland Taylor.  The 1^st in this series, Penance, won the 1995 Edgar for Best First Novel.

Greg Iles, The Quiet Game (Sept., Dutton hc, 24.95).  Prosecutor Penn Cage returns, with his daughter, to his hometown of Natchez, MS, after his wife’s death.  Trying to help his father out of trouble, he’s soon submerged in a 30 year-old case of racial murder.  Karen highly recommends. A favorite author of Susan’s.

Bill James, Eton Crop (Nov., Norton hc, 22.95). 15^th in the noted Harpur & Iles series.  A drug war explodes in London between rival syndicates.

Robert Janes, Carousel (Nov., Soho tpo, 12.00). 2^nd in the WWII series with St-Cyr of the Sûreté and Kohler of the Gestapo (5^th to be issued by Soho). Now in trade paperback, Mannequin (12.00), 4^th in the series.

Dolores Johnson, Wash, Fold, and Die (Oct., Dell pob, 5.99). 4^th in the Mandy Dyer series. A laundry mark on a dead man’s shirt leads back to Mandy’s shop.

Julie Kaewert, Untitled (Nov., Bantam pbo, 5.99). Alex Plumtree acquires a rare book thought to have been destroyed centuries ago. He’s invited to join a select society of book collectors—then the book disappears.

 Stuart Kaminsky, Vengeance (Sept., Forge hc, 22.95). Debut of a new series by the Edgar Award-winning author of the Inspector Rostnikov series, and the Toby Peters series. Having fled Illinois and memories of his late wife, Lew Fonseca ends up in Sarasota, Florida, doing investigative work for local lawyers.

Carroll Lachnit, Janie’s Law (Oct., Berkley pbo, 6.50). 4^th with lawyer Hannah Barlow.

Joe R. Lansdale, Freezer Burn (Sept., Mysterious Press hc, 23.95). Stand-alone thriller from the twisted pen that produced Bad Chili and Rumble Tumble. Terminal loser Bill runs from the botched robbery of a fireworks stand and, bitten from the neck up by thousands of mosquitoes, joins a cut-rate traveling freak-show.  Amidst the other freaks, a mysterious, frozen man holds sway.

Janet LaPierre, Baby Mine (Sept., Daniel & Daniel tpo, 12.95). 6^th in Port Silva, Northern California coast series.

Jonathan Lethem, Motherless Brooklyn (Sept., Doubleday hc, 23.95). A gritty, uproarious tale of a Brooklyn P. I.  with trouble:  a dead boss, women, and an uncontrollable case of Tourette’s Syndrome.

Laura Lippman, In Big Trouble (Sept., Avon pbo, 6.50). 4^th in the Edgar– and Agatha-Award-winning series with Baltimore PI Tess Monaghan.

Mary Logue, Blood Country (Oct., Walker hc, 23.95). Debut in new series. Big-city cop Clare Watkins takes her daughter to small-town Wisconsin after her husband dies in a hit-and-run accident. Unknown to Clare, her daughter saw the driver, and he saw her.  Trouble follows.

Marianne Macdonald, Smoke Screen (Nov., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95).  London bookseller Dido Hoare offers to buy the collection of an eccentric Oxford woman, and finds herself suspected of murder and the theft of a valuable manuscript. 

David Lozell Martin, Pelikan (Nov., Simon & Schuster hc, 23.00).  In New Orleans, a scam artist gets entangled with a group of nuns, a hurricane and an overabundance of clowns while trying to recover a stolen icon.

Julia Wallis Martin, The Bird Yard (Sept., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95).  A new psychological thriller from the author of A Likeness in Stone, an Edgar-Award nominee last year.  Detective Parker investigates the disappearance of young boys who seem fascinated by the aviary attached to an abandoned house. “The next Minette Walters” ?

Adrian Mathews, Vienna Blood (Sept., Harper hc, 24.00). A future-noir thriller set in 2028 Vienna. In looking into the hit-and-run death of a man he met once months earlier, reporter Sharkey stumbles into a conspiratorial network of eugenics. Debut novel.

Archer Mayor, Occam’s Razor (Nov., Mysterious Press hc, 23.95). Vermont police detective Joe Gunther is faced with a man crushed on the train tracks, witnesses who say he was placed there by three men, and an abandoned truck with traces of toxic waste.

Ed McBain, The Last Dance (Nov., Simon & Schuster hc, 25.00).  The fiftieth 87^th Precinct.

Lise McClendon, Nordic Nights (Nov., Walker hc, 23.95). In her 3^rd Wyoming mystery, art dealer Alix Thorssen tries to help her stepfather who is found standing over the dead body of a Norwegian artist.

Mel McKinney, Where There’s Smoke (Oct., St. Martin’s hc, 22.95).  First novel by a retired trial lawyer. An unusual twist on the JFK assassination, involving Pierre Salinger and 1100 cigars.

Annette Meyers, Free Love (Oct., Mysterious Press hc, 23.95). Beginning of a new series set in Greenwich Village during the roaring '20s.  Young and beautiful poet Olivia Brown is determined to experience all of life, including death when she looks into murder of a stranger.

Deanie Francis Mills, Torch (Oct., Signet pbo, 6.99). Tracking a serial arsonist, a reporter realizes that he seems to know everything about her.

Miriam Grace Monfredo, Must the Maiden Die (Sept., Berkley hc, 21.95). 5^th in the Seneca Falls series. In 1861, with whispers of war, Glynis Tryon tries to help a slave girl accused of murder.

Walter Mosley, Walkin’ the Dog (Oct., Little Brown hc, 24.95). It’s nine years since Socrates got out of prison.  A girlfriend, a steady job and a two-legged dog give him hope, but the cops keep fingering him for every crime in the area.  Signed Copies Available.

Henry Mynton, The Pachinko Woman (Nov., Morrow hc, 25.00).  Helim Kim is a Korean woman raised in Tokyo and now living in LA. Her political ties are vast and, now that she’s fallen for a liberal US lawyer, some Asian power has sent an assassin.

Katherine Hall Page, The Body in the Big Apple (Nov., Morrow hc, 22.00). A prequel to the series brings Faith Fairchild to New York City. 10^th installment.

Charles Palliser, The Unburied (Nov., FSG hc, 25.00).  Part bibliomystery, part academic investigation and part historical thriller, by the author of The Quincunx .

Sara Paretsky, Hard Time (Oct., Delacorte hc, 24.95). After stopping to aid a woman lying in the street, V. I. Warshawski finds herself in a deadly game run by Global Entertainment and one of the world’s largest security firms. Signed Copies Available.

Robert B. Parker, Family Honor (Sept., Putnam hc, 22.95). Boston PI Sunny Randall calls upon underground contacts to find a runaway; then the girl refuses to return home.  Signed Copies, we hope.

Owen Parry, Faded Coat of Blue (Oct., Avon hc, 23.00). Englishman Abel Jones gets to the US just as the Civil War erupts; acting as a secret agent for Union General McClellan, he investigates the death of a young officer.

James Patterson, Pop! Goes the Weasel (Oct., Little Brown hc, 26.95). Alex Cross’s fiancée becomes a target when he matches wits with a British diplomat who’s the chief suspect in a series of ghastly murders.

Richard North Patterson, Dark Lady (Aug., Knopf hc, 25.95). In a Midwest city, two prominent men are found dead; one a contractor building a new baseball park, and one a drug dealer’s attorney of choice.

Eliot Pattison, The Skull Mantra (Sept., St. Martin’s hc, 24.95).  The best man to investigate a headless body on a Tibetan mountainside is in jail for offending the Party.  Eager to close the case before a delegation of Westerners arrives, officials release him with an ultimatum:  solve the crime fast or priests in the work prison will suffer.

Joanne Pence, A Cook in Time (Oct., Harper pbo, 5.99).  7^th culinary case for Angie Amalfi, who’s asked to put on a dinner for a group of UFO chasers.  Recipes included.Anne Perry, The Twisted Root (Oct., Ballantine hc, 25.00). 10^th Victorian mystery with William Monk, newly married.

Ian Rankin, Dead Souls (Oct., St. Martin’s hc, 24.95).  Scottish Inspector Rebus has his plate full:  a convicted murderer free on parole, a pedophile living near a playground, and an old sweetheart whose teenage son is missing.  10^th in the award-winning series.  Signing.

Ruth Rendell, Harm Done (Nov., Crown hc, 24.00). Insp. Wexford’s investigation into domestic violence merges with his daughter’s work in a battered women’s shelter.

J. D. Robb, Loyalty in Death (Oct., Berkley pbo, 6.99). New York cop Eve Dallas faces an unknown bomber.

 

 

S. J. Rozan, Stone Quarry (Sept., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). Summoned by an upstate reclusive artist, Bill is asked to recover 6 stolen paintings. He and Lydia are soon hip-deep in rural trouble. 6^th in series.

Lisa See, The Interior (Oct., Harper hc, 25.00). Chinese cop Liu Hulan and attorney David Stark investigate a factory owned by an American conglomerate but sited in China’s vast interior.

Jane Shapiro, The Dangerous Husband (Sept., Little Brown hc, 22.95). To a new bride, her husband’s proclivity toward horrific accidents grows from being bad luck to being dangerous.  In this satire of every marriage, she begins to wonder if she should kill him first…

Barry Siegel, Actual Innocence (Oct., Ballantine hc, 24.95). Lawyer Greg Monarch returns from The Perfect Witness to help his former lover Sarah Trant, who has been convicted of murder and sentenced to death.

Shelly Singer, Royal Flush (Oct., Daniel & Daniel tpo, 12.95). P.I. Jake Samson now works for Rosie Vicente, and they go undercover into an East Bay gang to help a young warrior named Royal escape. 6^th in this series.

Carol Smith, The Neighbors (Nov., Warner hc, 23.95). Fleeing an abusive relationship, Kate faces a grim Christmas.  The neighbors in her London apartment are an odd, but tight and friendly lot—until one of them is murdered.

Troy Soos, Hanging Curve (Sept., Kensington hc, 22.00). Mickey Rawlings gets a chance to do what few major league players of the time could:  play against the often superior athletes in the Negro League.  But racial trouble follows, and murder.

Karen Sturges, Death of a Baritone (Nov., Bantam pbo, 5.99). Debut.  Phoebe Mullins is working in a Hamptons Summer opera colony when a singer is murdered.

Thomas Swan, The Final Faberge (Sept., Newmarket hc, 23.95). Scotland Yard’s Jack Oxby faces killers hunting a priceless Faberge egg commissioned by Rasputin.

Lou Jane Temple, The Cornbread Killer (Nov., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95).  Kansas City chef Heaven Lee tackles soul food and murder when a jazz festival comes to town.

Peter Tremayne, The Subtle Serpent (Oct., Signet pbo, 5.99). 4^th in the medieval Irish series with Sister Fidelma.

Margaret Truman, Murder at the Library of Congress (Nov., Random House hc, 25.00). A possible second diary by Columbus leads Annabel Smith into more intrigue.

Scott Turow, Personal Injuries (Sept., FSG hc, 27.00). Robbie Feaver is a lawyer caught with a bribe account.  FBI agent Evon Miller has secrets of her own.  Their stories converge in a world of greed and failings.

Andrew Vachss, Everybody Pays (Sept., Vintage tpo, 13.00). The “neo-noir master’s” second volume of short fiction.

Janwillem van de Wetering, The Amsterdam Cops: Collected Stories (Sept., Soho hc, 22.00). Complete collection of all 13 Grijpstra and de Gier short stories. Five of the stories have never been collected in book form before and three of those have never been published in the US.

Donald E. Westlake, A Good Story and Other Stories (Five Star hc, 21.95).  A new collection of  18 stories, reprinted from magazines; selected by Westlake.

 

 

   

 

Various Things of Interest

Doug Cushman, Aunt Eater’s Mystery Halloween (Oct., Harper pbo, 3.95). A seasonal mystery for very young mystery fans.

Edward Gorey, The Headless Bust (Oct., Harcourt hc, 15.00). The cast of  The Haunted Tea-Cozy return for “A Melancholy Meditation on the False Millennium.”

Kick Ass:  Selectied Columns of Carl Hiaasen (Nov., Univ. of Florida Press hc, 24.95).  For the many fans of Carl Hiaasen, here are some of his newspaper columns.

 

 

Anthology, Reference and Nonfiction

The Book on the Bookshelf, by Henry Petroski (Sept., Knopf hc, 26.00). Historian traces the history of the book, book buying, and book collecting.

New York Noir:  Crime Photos from The Daily News, by William Hannigan (Oct., Rizzoli hc, 29.95). 130 actual photos, 40 years of crime, documented from the archives of The Daily News.

The Noir Style, by Alain Silver & James Ursini (Nov., Overlook hc, 50.00). A 10”x11” photographic record of the classic noir style, with shots from movies from 1941 through 1958.

Pure Pulp, edited by Ed Gorman and Bill Pronzini. (Nov., Carroll & Graf tpo, 12.95).  Classic short pulp fiction from the masters:  Bloch, McBain, Goodis, Hughes, John D., Brackett and Brown.

A Taste of Murder, by Jo Grossman and Robert Weibezahl (Sept., Delacorte tpo, 14.95). 150 recipes from famous mystery authors, such as Hillerman, Grafton, Braun, Maron, McCrumb, and Parker.

 

Sherlockiana

Quinn Fawcett, The Flying Scotsman (Oct., Forge hc, 23.95). 3^rd Mycroft Holmes mystery features a wedding and an attempted assassination aboard the famous train.

Michael Hardwick, The Revenge of the Hound (Oct., Pocket tp, 14.00). Reissue.

More Holmes for the Holidays, ed. by Greenberg et. al.,(Oct., Berkley hc, 21.95). New Holmes short stories by today’s authors, including Perry, Estleman, Lovesey, Wheat and Greenwood.

Larry Millett, Sherlock Holmes and the Rune Stone Mystery (Oct., Viking hc, 23.95). Holmes travels to Minnesota to authenticate an ancient stone. And in pb, Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murders (Oct., Penguin, 5.99).Signing.

Sherlock Holmes in Japan, by Keith E. Webb (Available now, Nextchurch Resources, tpo, 10.00).  An historical overview of the popularity of Holmes in Japan and a look at the source of Japanese references in the Canon. Signed Copies Available.

Wayne Worchester, The Monster of Marylebone: The Journals of Dr. Watson (Nov., Signet pbo, 5.99).  Dr. Watson tells all..

 

Some Fall Paperback Reprints

Susan Wittig Albert, Chile Death (Oct., Berkley, 6.50).

Bruce Alexander, Jack, Knave and Fool (Oct., Berkley, 6.50).

David Baldacci, The Simple Truth (Oct., Warner, 7.99).

Carol Lee Benjamin, A Hell of a Dog (Sept., Dell, 5.99).

Gail Bowen, Verdict in Blood (Oct., McClelland & Stewart, 7.95).

Lawrence Block, Everybody Dies (Nov., Avon, 6.99). 14^th Scudder.

Patricia Carlon, Crime of Silence (Oct., Soho, 12.00).

Tom Corcoran, The Mango Opera (Sept., St. Martin’s, 5.99). JB & Tammy recommend this debut.

Jill Churchill, The Merchant of Menace (Oct., Avon, 6.50).

Elizabeth Cosin, Zen and the Art of Murder (Oct., St. Martin’s, 5.99).

Nora DeLoach, Mama Rocks the Cradle (Nov., Bantam, 5.99). Tammy recommends this series.

Carole Nelson Douglas, Cat in an Indigo Mood (Oct., Forge, 6.99).

Loren D. Estleman, The Witchfinder (Sept., Warner, 6.50). Amos Walker.

Bill Fitzhugh, The Organ Grinders (Sept., Avon, 6.50).

Dick Francis, Field of Thirteen (Oct., Jove, 6.99).

Kinky Friedman, Blast from the Past (Oct., Ballantine, 11.95).

Jonathan Gash, Prey Dancing (Nov., Penguin, 5.99).

Martha Grimes, The Stargazey (Oct., Onyx, 6.99).

Charlaine Harris, Shakespeare’s Christmas (Nov., Dell, 5.99).

Reginald Hill, On Beulah Height (Sept., Dell, 6.50).

Craig Holden, Four Corners of the Night (Oct., Dell, 7.50).  JB says Best Book of ’99?

Maureen Jennings, Under the Dragon’s Tail (Oct., Harper, 5.99).

Joseph Kanon, The Prodigal Spy (Nov., Dell, 7.50).  

Jonathan Kellerman, Billy Straight (Oct., Ballantine, 7.99).

Joe R. Lansdale, Rumble Tumble (Sept., Warner, 6.50).

Lia Matera, Havana Twist (Nov., Pocket, 6.99). Willa Jansson.

Archer Mayor, The Disposable Man (Nov., Warner, 6.50).

Ed McBain, The Big Bad City (Nov., Pocket, 6.99). 87^th Precinct.

Walter Mosley,  Blue Light (Oct., Warner, 6.99).

Darian North, Violation (Oct., Signet, 6.99).

Katherine Hall Page, The Body in the Bookcase (Nov., Avon, 6.50).

Robert B. Parker, Trouble in Paradise (Oct., Jove, 6.99).

James Patterson, When the Wind Blows (Sept., Warner, 7.99).

Iain Pears, The Last Judgement (Oct., Berkley, 6.50).  Sandy and Karen recommend this series.

George Pelecanos, The Big Blowdown (Sept., St. Martin’s, 14.95).

Sharon Kay Penman, Cruel As the Grave (Nov., Ballantine, 12.00).

Ian Rankin, The Hanging Garden (Sept., St. Martin‘s, 5.99).

John Ridley, Love Is a Racket (Oct., Ballantine, 6.99).

Peter Robinson, A Dedicated Man (Nov., Avon, 6.99). Reissue of the 2^nd Banks, long out of print.

Tom Savage, The Inheritance (Oct., Signet, 6.99).

Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake), Backflash (Sept., Mysterious Press, 12.00).  On JB’s List of 1998 Best.

Lou Jane Temple, Bread on Arrival (Nov., St. Martin’s, 5.99).

Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, An American Killing (Nov., Fawcett, 6.99).

Kathy Hogan Trocheck, Midnight Clear (Nov., Harper, 5.99).

Randy Wayne White, The Mangrove Coast (Nov., Berkley, 6.50).

 

 

 

1999 FALL AUCTION

 

This issue’s item is a neat little book that has been around – literally – for years.  It is Al Capone: The Biography of a Self-Made Man by Fred D. Pasley.  It is a 6^th printing of a hardcover from 1930 in very nice shape (may we all look so good at 61), with fading to the dj’s spine.  What is neat about this is that tucked into the back of the book are newspaper articles and photos from the 30s, including the famous one of Al and son being greeted by the Cubs’ catcher.

      This is a sealed-bid auction.  One bid per person.  Bids may be submitted by phone, in person, by e-mail or by regular mail.  Bidding begins at $30, and ends on Sept 20^th.

      No one bid on our last item, Steve Martini’s first book, The Simeon Chamber – a great surprise to us considering its scarcity – so it will remain in our glass case, available to whatever lucky person didn’t see our Summer newsletter.

 

 

  

Gone But Not Forgotten

 

Recently a customer who had just discovered Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series came into the store.  He wanted to read the series in order, and he had a long list of books he needed to complete his collection.  We had them all, and he left with a large bag of books, and many hours of reading pleasure ahead.  And we were very happy—because as well as being booksellers, we are also readers and fans of good mysteries, and we don’t like to deliver the bad news that another favorite author is now out of print.  Since we stock the backlist of mystery authors as long as possible, and have a large inventory of used books to fill any gaps, we can postpone the bad news longer than most.  But here are some authors and books we would like to see readily available in fresh new printings:

 

   Margaret Scherf wrote over twenty mysteries between 1940 and 1979, including four series and several stand-alones.  One series features Dr. Grace Severance, a retired forensic pathologist whose adventures relieve the tedium she feels in company with her younger, stuffier family members.  In Banker’s Bones (1968), she is staying in a small Arizona desert town with her niece when a missing banker from California is reported to be in the area.  Grace’s medical skills and logical deductions are called upon, and her wry wit makes for an enjoyable read.

  Elizabeth Daly was Agatha Christie’s favorite American mystery author.  She began writing at age 62, then wrote 16 mysteries between 1940 and 1954, all with the bibliophile sleuth Henry Gamadge. Quiet, understated but with nice puzzles, these books provide a window on a world gone, but interesting to visit.  In Death and Letters (1950) Gamadge receives a mysterious message encoded in a crossword puzzle that leads him to a wealthy widow being held captive by her avaricious relatives.

          --Sandy Goodrick

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While there are any number of authors and/or books to nominate, these come to mind since their newer books appear in this newsletter:

   Max Allan Collins.  I’d love to be able to stock the early Nate Heller books:  the “Nitty Trilogy” (the first three Hellers), Stolen Away (the Lindberg kidnapping), and Neon Mirage (Bugsy Seigel and Las Vegas).  History and mystery – real and fictional characters – and plausable solutions.

   Richard Hoyt’s John Denson books.  Seattle PI Denson was perhaps the first of the “soft boiled” PIs.  Witty and sharp.

   Loren D. Estleman’s Amos Walker books.  These Detroit PI  novels are THE FINEST Chandleresque PI novels being currently written. The first 10 are out of print.

        --J. B. Dickey

I could write a book about all of my favorite mysteries that are out-of-print, but my book would go O.P. in an instant itself, so I’ll scratch that idea.  And fortunately many O.P. titles are available in used copies or British import editions at Seattle Mystery Bookshop (we even have a section of out-of-print classics at $2 apiece, featuring good stuff by Douglas Clark, and others, which we cunningly stockpiled years ago).  So I’ll confine my list to a few of my favorites which we seldom see in any form.

  1. Five books by Parnell Hall, written under the pseudonym of J. P. Hailey.  They feature attorney Steve Winslow, and generally involve genuinely funny comic courtroom scenes.

  2. The Sergeant Cribb 19^th century English police novels by the very versatile Peter Lovesey.  The best, Swing, Swing Together, is a riff on Jerome K. Jeromes’s classic novel, Three Men in a Boat.

  3. The Ben Perkins private eye novels by Rob Kantner.  Ben’s day job is maintenance supervisor at a large apartment complex outside Detroit.  (In one of Loren Estleman’s Amos Walker novels, Amos is too busy to take on another case, so he refers the client to Ben Perkins.)

  4. The Murder of Miranda, by Margaret Millar.  This is a very humorous mystery by the respected author of many more serious works.

  5. Blood on the Dining Room Floor, by Gertrude Stein.  Having read this, I’m not sure whether it’s humorous or not, but it’s certainly different.  Actually, I’ll stick with Margaret Millar, thanks.

  6. Three books by Kenneth Hopkins featuring 83-year-old Dr. Blow and his side-kick Prof. Manciple. The professor has to do all the leg work, as he’s a mere 81 years old.  Body Blow, Dead Against My Principles, She Died Because…  Delightful British humour.

   We rarely see these, but hey, part of the fun of the used book business is that you never know what will turn up next, so check with us.  If they’re not here right now, we’ll be glad to put your name in our Want File, and let you know when we find them.  Meanwhile we have lots of good mysteries readily available—but that’s another story.

   --Bill Farley

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  Gar Anthony Haywood writes two series: Aaron Gunner, and the hilarious Loudermilk books. Both volumes of the Loudermilk’s adventures in their Airstream are readily available, as are his last two Gunners, It’s Not a Pretty Sight and When Last Seen Alive, both in paperback at $5.99 each.

   His first three Gunners have been out of print for a while now. The first, Fear of the Dark (published 4 years before Walter Mosley’s first book) was the winner of the St. Martin’s/ PWA Best  First Private Eye Novel Contest, and the Best First Novel for the 1987 Shamus. The second, Not Long For This World, and the third, You Can Die Trying do show up in used paperback.  Jump in wherever you can with this contemporary L.A. PI who can be viewed as Easy Rawlins’ wise-acre little bro.

  --Tammy Domike

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1. Caroline Graham (Insp. Barnaby series) and Reginald Hill (Dalziel and Pascoe novels)  are two of the finest novelists now writing in English—but are the excellent beginnings of these superb series still in print?  Not in the U. S. of A.

   The Good News:  New novels by both authors are still being published here (see New Releases), and we are often able to stock used or British editions of the out-of- Print titles.  A reliable U. S. supply would be soooo much more gratifying…

2. Donald E. Westlake’s Dortmunder series:  The Hot Rock, Bank Shot, Good   Behavior—titles from some of the funniest crime capers ever written.  Westlake’s hapless crook John Dortmunder and his bizarre crew travel a road strewn with irony and insanity, without the degrees of sleaze and violence that characterize darker humorists.

   The Good News:  Trust Me on This and Baby, Would I Lie?, Westlake’s more cynically humorous takes on tabloid journalism, are still available!

3. Michael Malone, Time’s Witness:  Rich Southern mystery by an accomplished mainstream novelist.

     The Good News:  Uncivil Seasons, the sequel, is still in print.

4.  Ellis Peters’ non-series mysteries include The Will and the Deed, Holiday with Violence, and Most Loving Mere Folly, excellent works rich with suspense and psychological insight.

     The Good News:  All of her medieval series about Brother Cadfael are in print, as are many of the George Felse police procedurals. 

     --Karen Duncan

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Outside the Rules, by Dylan Jones (1995).

    If you can find this book and you can stand grisly, drop everything and start on page one.  It makes Silence of the Lambs seem like a bit of a cozy. Tom Meridith was left alive after watching a serial killer torture and kill his girlfriend.  His memories and his life have stopped and the killer hasn’t.  In comes forensic psychiatrist Natalie Vine to help him recover and remember in hopes of finding this killer.  There are scenes in this book that I will never forget.  Some research on the author turns up that he is a physician in Wales and has written one novel before this one and one after.  The first one is out of print, too.  Bummer!

       --Susan Dennis

 

 

Mail and phone orders for these or any other books are welcome.  We often have signed copies of Northwest authors, and other authors who visit the shop.  Prices subject to change without notice.  Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry St., Seattle, WA 98104.  Phone:  (206) 587-5737.

Email:  staff@seattlemystery.com

 NEW WEBSITE:  seattlemystery.com

 

The SEATTLE MYSTERY BOOKSHOP NEWS is composed and produced by Sandy Goodrick, and brought to you online by Susan Dennis.

 

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