Seattle Mystery
Bookshop
N e w s l e t t e r
117 Cherry St. Seattle,WA
98104
(206)
587-5737
e-mail: mailto:staff@seattlemystery.com?=springnewsletter
Bill Farley, Founder /J. B.
Dickey, Owner/ Tammy Domike, Manager
Susan Dennis / Sandy
Goodrick / Karen Duncan
In this
issue:
New Northwest
Releases
Steve Murray trans. of
Mankell
Staff Notes
pring Title Raves
Some Other Summer
Releases
Some Summer Paperback
Reprints
Things of
Interest
Auction Department
Edgar Winners
Upcoming Events
New from the
Northwest
Burl Barer,
Murder in the
Family
(Aug., Pinnacle pbo, 6.50). The true crime account of a 1987 Alaskan case
in which a drifter killed his aunt and cousins. Signing.
Carl Brookins,
Inner
Passages (July, Top tpo,
14.95). Seattle executive Michael Tanner’s recreational sail up the Inside
Passage of Canada turns to horror when his wife is murdered and his boat
sunk. Signing?
Stella
Cameron, Glass Houses
(Aug., Kensington hc, 24.00). NYPD Det. Aiden Flynn is beguiled by a
mysterious e-mail and the British woman who sent it. She asks for help, and they are soon on
a nearly global chase. Seattle area author.
Signing.
Margaret Chittenden,
Dying to See You
(June,
Kensington hc, 20.00). Charlie Plato is trying to keep her country-western
bar afloat and her attraction to her business partner in check—she doesn’t need the distraction of a
20th High School Reunion. Washington author. In pb, Don’t Forget
to Die (June, Kensingtion, 5.99).
Signing.
Carola Dunn,
Rattle His
Bones
(June, St. Martin’s hc, 22.95). The 8th adventure for “meddling crime-solver” Daisy
Dalrymple, set in London in 1924. Eugene, OR, author. Signing.
James Grippando,
Under Cover of
Darkness (July,
HarperCollins hc, 25.00). When
the wife of a prominent Seattle attorney vanishes, the FBI uncovers hidden links
to a cult leader—and a serial killer is at large. Signing?
Sue
Henry,
Beneath the Ashes (Aug., Avon hc, 23.00). 7th in the
Award-winning Alaskan series with sled dog racer Jessie Arnold and State Trooper
Alex Jensen. Fires and sudden
visitors bedevil Jessie as Spring arrives. Signing.
J. A. Jance,
The Devil’s Claw
(July, Morrow hc, 24.00).
Sheriff Brady’s beloved neighbor and handyman dies, leaving an irate
daughter who accuses Joanna of covering up a murder. Family hostilities lead to a twisting
tale of hatred, greed and violence. Seattle author. Signing.
Tucker Malarky,
An
Obvious Enchantment (Aug., Random
House hc, 22.95). Ingrid Holtz travels the globe, trying to find her missing
professor who vanished while tracking the legend of an ancient African King.
She’s soon plunged into a world of mystery, romance, magic and crime, where
clues lurk in the pages of the Koran.
Debut book from a
Portland, OR,
writer.
Signing?
Kris
Nelscott, A Dangerous
Road (July, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). Set in Memphis in 1968. Black PI Smokey Dalton is hired by a
young white woman to find out why Smokey was in her mother’s will; and as racial
tension mounts in Memphis, his boyhood friend Martin Luther King, Jr. is about
to visit. The author lives in Oregon.
Ridley
Pearson, Middle of
Nowhere (June, Hyperion hc, 23.95). During an unofficial police
strike, Seattle cop Lou Boldt tries to keep a lid on things. But a string of
robberies and an attack on a female officer start things spinning out of
control. And in pb, The First
Victim (June, Hyperion, 7.99). Signing.
Megan Mallory Rust,
Coffin Corner
(June, Berkley
pbo, 5.99). Alaskan bush pilot Taylor Morgan wants to know who murdered one of
her fellow pilots.
Signing.
Judith
Smith-Levin, Green Money
(Aug., Ballantine pbo, 6.50). To Starletta Duvall, the murder of a
homeless woman is too close to an elite private school to be a coincidence.
Bainbridge Island author.
Signing?
L.L. Thrasher,
Charlie’s
Web
(Aug., Write Way hc, 23.95). Charlie asks Lizbet to help him find a tiny
seven-year-old who vanished 20 years ago on Halloween. Oregon author. Signing?
Valerie Wilcox,
Sins of Deception
(June, Berkley
pbo, 5.99). Kellie Montgomery’s new sailboat charter business hits a snag when
one of her customers is arrested for murder. Seattle area author.
Signing.
…and now in
paperback:
Catherine
Coulter, The Edge
(Aug., Jove, 7.99).
Stephen E. Miller,
The
Woman in the Yard (Aug., Picador,
13.00). Vancouver, WA, author.
Tammy
recommends.
Sharan Newman,
Cursed in the Blood
(July, Forge,
6.99).
James
Powlik, Sea Change
(Aug., Dell,
6.99).
Greg
Rucka,
Shooting at Midnight (July, Bantam, 5.99). This author is JB and
Tammy’s current obsession.
Of Special
Note:
Henning Mankell is a noted Swedish mystery writer, with eight books in
the Kurt Wallander series. Four of
his books have been translated into English and three of those translations were
done by Seattle’s Steven T. Murray. Steve is half of the power behind the
local Fjord Press. The other half is Tiina Nunnally,
mystery writer and translator of Smilla’s Sense of
Snow.
Two of Steve’s translations,
previously published in hardcover in this country, will be issued in trade paper
in August 2000. They are
Faceless Killers (the 1st
Wallender) and Sidetracked (the 5th), 14.95 each.
Also due in August is The Fifth
Woman, the 6th Wallander (hc, 24.95). We will be having Steve in at that time
and will have signed copies of all three available.
Coming this
Fall:
Phillip
Margolin,Wild
Justice.
Sept.
Sharan Newman,
To
Wear the White Cloak. Oct.
———————————————————————
Staff
Notes
A reminder: for those
of you who want signed copies, we sometimes send books to authors for
signatures if they will not be visiting our shop. Because of the additional
shipping cost, we charge $1 extra for copies that are signed in this manner.
(For example, in this newsletter, books by Marcia Muller, Loren Estleman and
Laurence Shames.) Of course,
unsigned copies are also available at the regular price.
Tammy mentions that new
customers may not know that when shipping signed books, we enclose them in mylar
dust-jacket covers. There is no charge for this.
Happy summer reading
to you all. Please come in and
see us if you visit Seattle.
Sometimes we don’t have
a chance to read books before the newsletter goes out. Here are books we would have recommended
in the Spring issue had we had the chance, or time, to read them
then:
JB recommends Steven Saylor’s A Twist at the End as
a terrific blend of history and fiction as what may be the first documented
serial killer case in US history unfolds, in Austin, TX, in 1885. The story
follows a young aspiring writer, Will Porter – who will grow into the man we
know as O. Henry. Moody and atmospheric with vivid details that bring the time
and place alive. For those who
liked The Alienist.
Tammy recommends Douglas E. Winter’s Run. In a
consistently unique voice, gun-runner Burdon Lane tells his story to us - as it
happens, dialogue and all - of a run gone bad in NYC and the treachery of his
people in DC, "Dirty City.” "Winter's first book is a breathtaking blast of
double-crosses and retribution that unravels in stinging layers like a toxic
onion"— and JB agrees.
Signed Copies Available.
Sandy recommends Louise Doughty’s An English Murder,
a psychological suspense novel set in a modern English village. Local
reporter Alison Akenside investigates a grisly murder; most of the book is an
account of the investigation in her voice.
“I found this book compulsively readable, with a dark sense of humor and
some very quirky characters. (My
favorite was Miss Crabbe, who is writing a mystery novel about a snail farmer
who meets an unpleasant end.)”
Bill recommends Robert
B. Parker’s Hugger Mugger.
It’s always rewarding when, after more than 20 years and 26 novels, an
author regains the youthful exuberance of his early writing. This is vintage Spenser, at his
smart-mouth best. Signed Copies Available
Susan recommends Robert Crais’ Demolition Angel
“It's not part of his Elvis series and it is amazing. Interestingly, I
really never warmed up to any of the characters which would normally mean I
wouldn't even have finished it. But, the first chapter of this book is the most
compelling first chapter I've ever read and I got sucked in and was sure glad of
it” — Bill, Tammy and JB agree. Signed copies June
6th.
Karen recommends Murder with Puffins by Donna
Andrews, which does live up to its predecessor, Murder with Peacocks
(now in paperback). Also highly recommended: Welcome to Temptation by
Jennifer Crusie. The one straight arrow in a long line of felons and con
artists goes with her sister to a small town in Ohio to shoot an audition video
for a friend. Barely across the city limits, they run a stop sign and crash into
a Pillar of the Community, and things go downhill from there. “Not my usual fare—really a sex comedy
with a corpse thrown in for good measure—but well written, terrific fun.” A
Few Signed Copies Available.
———————————————————————————
Some Other Summer New Releases
Stephanie Barron,
Jane and the Stillroom
Maid (Aug., Bantam
hc, 22.95). 5th Jane Austen mystery.
M. C.
Beaton, Agatha Raisin and
the Fairies of Fryfam (June, St. Martin’s hc, 19.95). The 10th in this amusing
series finds Agatha moving to a cottage in Norfolk on the advice of a fortune
teller. In pb, AR and the Witch of Wyckhadden (June, St. Martin’s,
5.99). Sandy recommends.
Raymond
Benson, Double Shot
(June, Putnam hc, 23.95).
007’s sanity is targeted by the head of the criminal Union, after he
thwarted their attempt at world domination. In pb, High Time to Kill
(June, Jove, 6.99).
Claudia
Bishop, Marinade for
Murder (Aug., Berkley pbo, 5.99). 8th culinary mystery with the
Quilliam sisters.
Nero
Blanc,
Two Down (July, Berkley tpo, 13.00). Sequel to last year’s popular
The Crossword Murder and, like it, a mixture of mystery and crossword
puzzles.
Michael
Bond,
Monsieur Pamplemousse on Probation (June, A&B tpo, 9.95).
9th in series (the last one was in ’93). The beloved food critic,
and—of course—his ever-faithful hound Pommes Frites,
return.
Simon
Brett,
The Body on the Beach (Aug., Berkley hc, 21.95). In an English
seaside village, recently retired Carole Seddon just wants to live quietly and
walk her dog. When she finds a body
on the beach, she finds a new purpose – as a detective.
Carole
Bugge,
Who Killed Dorian Gray? (July, Berkley pbo, 5.99). Mystery editor
Claire Rawlings finds trouble when she travels to a Woodstock writers’ colony.
T. Davis
Bunn,
The Great Divide (June, Doubleday hc, 22.95). Trying to rebuild
his life after a family-destroying car wreck, Marcus Glenwood has settled into
his grandfather’s
house in North
Carolina, handling the mundane legal matters of the small town. He takes on the
case of the Halls, whose daughter has vanished in China while working for a
sportswear maker.
James Lee
Burke,
Purple Cane Road (Aug., Doubleday hc, 24.95). Dave Robicheaux has
never known what became of the mother who abandoned him. Now, a chance meeting leads him to
search for her trail—and those who may hold the secrets. In pb, Heartwood
(July, Dell, 7.50). Signing.
Dorothy
Cannell, Bridesmaids
Revisited (June, Viking hc, 22.95). Ellie is told that her
grandmother wishes to get in touch--but Sophia has been dead for decades. In pb,
The Trouble With Harriet (June, Penguin,
5.99).
Patricia Carlon,
The
Unquiet Night (June, Soho hc,
22.00). Nine-year-old Ann was on a picnic with her aunt when rain chased them
back to their car. They see a man who suspects that they can connect him to a
fresh murder. As he stalks them in
their small Australian town, everyone is caught up in the psychological
suspense. In pb, The Price of an Orphan (June, Soho, 12.00).
Karen recommends this author.
Paula Carter,
Red
Wine Goes with Murder (July, Berkley
pbo, 5.99). Decorating duo Hillary and Jane head to a prestigious cooking school
in Southern France.
Sarah
Caudwell, The Sibyl in Her Grave
(July, Dell hc,
23.95). Julia’s Aunt Regina, on the advice of a friend, made huge stock profits
in record time. The friend’s psychic counselor, Isabella, is found dead soon
after. Was she a true psychic or
just trading inside information?
Julia is ably assisted in an investigation by her witty crew of fellow
barristers, Selena, Cantrip and Ragwort, and by the indispensable Prof. Hilary
Tamar. After a wait of eleven
years, Caudwell’s fans will find this fourth adventure as delightful and
well-wrought a tale as her first three, although the pleasure is
bittersweet. Sarah Caudwell died on
Jan. 28, of cancer, at age 60. Karen and Sandy
recommend.
Lee
Child, Running Blind
(July, Putnam hc, 18.95). Women
are dying and they have only two things in common: they worked for the military
and they all knew Jack Reacher.
This author is an All Staff Favorite. Signed Copies Available. In pb, Tripwire (July,
Jove, 7.50).
Joyce
Christmas, Dying Well
(June, Ballantine pbo, 6.50). At Dr. Reeve’s 50th birthday,
Lady Margaret is uneasy; both the doctor’s wife and mistress are there and soon
her fears are confirmed…
Tom
Clancy, The Bear and the
Dragon (Aug., Putnam hc, 27.95). Jack Ryan has just been elected
President and is faced with trouble in both Russia and
China.
Harlan Coben,
Darkest
Fear
(June, Delacorte hc, 23.95). Myron’s college sweetheart reappears with
devastating news: her 13-year-old son needs a bone-marrow transplant and the
only donor has vanished.
Max Allan
Collins, The Hindenburg
Murders (June, Berkley pbo, 6.50). 2nd in a series (after
The Titanic Murders) set around historic disasters. In pb,
Majic Man, in the Nate Heller series (Aug., Signet,
5.99).
K. C.
Constantine, Grievance
(June, Mysterious Press hc, 23.95). Rugs Carlucci is the unlucky cop who
gets the case of a philanthropic steel baron who's killed by a sniper in his own
home. The national media descend on the case. Signed Copies Available. In
pb, Blood Mud (June, Mysterious Press, 13.95).
Susan Rogers
Cooper, Don’t Drink the
Water (July, Avon pbo, 5.99). 5th E.J. Pugh is on vacation
on St. John with her 3 sisters when a body washes up by the cistern of the
quaint, beachfront house.
Patricia
Cornwell, The Last
Precinct (July, Putnam hc, 26.95). Kay Scarpetta is asked to examine
the remains of one of the settlers in Jamestown, and opens up a 400-year-old
mystery. In pb, Black Notice (Aug., Berkley, 7.99), also a
Scarpetta.
Philip R.
Craig,
Vineyard Blues (June, Scribner hc, 23.00). An old friend of J.W.
Jackson’s comes to visit. When the
cabin in which the bluesman is staying burns down J.W. investigates. In pb, A Fatal Vineyard Season
(June, Avon, 5.99). Favorite series of
Sandy’s.
Bill Crider,
The
Ghost of a Chance (July, St.
Martin’s hc, 22.95).
10th in the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series, set in Blacklin County,
Texas. Is the jailhouse haunted?
And in pb, Winning Can Be Murder (July, World Wide,
5.99).
Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos, Numa 2 (Aug., Pocket tpo, 16.00). 2nd in this new series.
Dicey
Deere,
The Irish Manor House Murder (July, St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). 2nd adventure with American
Torrey Tunet in Ireland, after her debut in The Irish Cottage Murder, now
in pb (June, St. Martin’s, 5.99).
When a wealthy landowner is attacked while he rides through his estate,
his granddaughter is suspected.
Nora DeLoach,
Mama Pursues Murderous
Shadows (June, Bantam pbo, 5.99).
When Ruby Spikes died at the Tilly Inn, no one was surprised. She’d made lots of enemies over the
years. But as Mama and Simone dig
into it, they uncover a murder that no one knew existed. Tammy recommends this
series.
Tim
Dorsey, Hammerhead Ranch
Motel (Aug., Morrow hc, 24.00).
A dancing weather-dog, sex-crazed co-eds, a shotgun-wielding granny, a
killer hurricane and $5 million in drug money on the Gulf Coast. And in pb, Florida Roadkill
(June, HarperCollins, 6.99).
Grace F.
Edwards, Do or Die
(June, Doubleday hc, 22.95). Harlem’s sleuth Mali Anderson returns from a
cruise to find that the singer from her father’s jazz band has been
murdered.
Kate
Ellis,
The Armada Boy (July, St. Martin’s hc, 22.95). Det. Sgt. Wesley Peterson is called in
when an archeologist finds the body of an American veteran in the ruins of an
old chapel. By the author of The Merchant’s House.
Howard
Engel,
There Was an Old Woman (Aug., Overlook hc, 24.95). Benny Cooperman
will look into the death of his janitor’s girlfriend if his noisy toilet will be
fixed.
Loren
D. Estleman, A
Smile on the Face of the Tiger (Aug.,
Mysterious
Press, 24.95, signed
copies 25.95). Book
editor Louise Starr is a ghost from Amos Walker's past. She wants him to find a
paperback writer from the ‘50s who's been missing for decades. In pb, The Hours
of the Virgin (Aug., Warner, 6.99).
Janet
Evanovich, Hot Six
(June, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95).
New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum’s 6th case teams her up with lover and vice-cop
Joe Morelli as they hunt her mentor, the mysterious Ranger, wanted for killing a
drug runner. But is Ranger really
innocent? In pb, High Five (June, St. Martin’s, 6.99). Signing.
Penelope
Evans,
First Fruit (July, Soho hc, 23.00). 14-year-old Kate Carr
considers herself “the luckiest girl in the world.” After all, she is held close
by her father, the consuming center of her universe, and she has a firm grip on
her circle of friends. But events
and a recurring dream begin to unravel the edges of Kate’s reality, and reveal
the deadly truth about both her past and her present. Karen recommends: “Riveting psychological
suspense.” In pb,
Freezing (July, Soho, 12.00).
Monica
Ferris, A Stitch in
Time (July, Berkley pbo, 5.99). 3rd needlecraft mystery
with cross-stitch pattern.
Bill
Fitzhugh, Cross Dressing
(June, Avon hc, 23.00). Dan Steele is a jaundiced adman who needs to hide
from an enraged copywriter. His twin brother is a do-gooder priest who’s just
died. Trading places, Dan finds himself neck-deep in a world of savvy marketing
and mass persuasion: organized religion. Tammy recommends.
Signing.
Judy
Fitzwater, Dying to
Remember (Aug., Ballantine pbo, 6.50). 4th with mystery
novelist Jennifer Marsh, as her high school reunion turns
deadly.
Nicholas
Freeling, Some Day
Tomorrow (Aug., St. Martin’s hc, 22.95). A new psychological thriller from the
much-praised author.
Shelley
Freydont, High Seas
Murder (Aug., Kensington hc, 20.00). 2nd Lindy Haggerty mystery. A
ten-day tropical arts tour turns deadly. Like the author, Lindy is a
professional dancer and choreographer.
John
Gates,
Brigham’s Day (June, Walker hc, 23.95). Based on an historical
event from 1857 in which 120 people on a wagon trail to California were attacked
and slaughtered, attorney Brigham Bybee is assigned to the defense of a young
man accused of the crime. Set in
Kanab, UT, the Morman hierachy seems sure of guilt, but Bybee begins to see a
set-up. Debut novel by an attorney
who grew up in Kanab.
Anne
George, Murder Carries a
Torch (July, Morrow hc, 23.00).
The Southern Sisters return for their 7th comic outing. In pb,
Murder Shoots the Bull (June, Avon, 6.50).
Philip
Goodin, That Sleep of
Death (Aug., Carroll & Graf
tpo, 11.95). Debut mystery, set in the Elizabethan theatrical
community. Young actor Nick Revill
arrives in London to join the Globe Theatre’s acting company. His host’s family seems to be acting out
their own performance of Hamlet, right down to murder.
Chloe
Green,
Going Out in Style (July, Kensington hc, 20.00). Debut of a sassy series set in the fashion
world. Dallas O’Connor is suspected
when a new model dies.
Stephen
Greenleaf, Ellipsis
(July, Scribner hc, 24.00). Someone is sending notes to an author telling
her to stop. The notes don’t say
what she is to cease, but they are threatening. Though he doesn’t like the role, Marsh
Tanner is drawn into acting as bodyguard for the alluring writer. Greenleaf’s
last book, Strawberry Sunday, was an Edgar nominee. Signed Copies Available?
Annie
Griffin, Love and the Single
Corpse (Aug., Berkley pbo, 5.99). 3rd with sister sleuths
Hannah and Kiki.
Kate
Grilley, Death Dances to a
Reggae Beat (June, Berkley pbo, 5.99). Kelly Ryan moves to the
Caribbean to manage a top-rated radio station—and finds
trouble.
Barbara
Hambly, Sold Down the
River (July, Bantam hc, 23.95). Freeman Benjamin January is
approached by the man who used to own him, and asked to pose as a field hand to
find out who’s behind sinister events on the plantation. Karen highly recommends this
series.
Charlaine
Harris, Shakespeare’s
Trollop (Aug., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). Latest in series with Lily Bard,
cleaning lady and karate expert in small town Arkansas.
Joan
Hess,
A Conventional Corpse (June, St. Martin’s hc, 23.95). 13th with bookseller Claire
Malloy. Farberville hosts a mystery
convention and Claire has to run it. Eccentric authors, including one who brings
her cat, and an unpopular editor prove difficult— then one of the guests dies
and the cat disappears. Sandy says, "Fun!".
Stephen
Hunter, Hot Springs
(June, Simon & Schuster hc, 25.00). New to the State Patrol, Earl
Swagger is enlisted to help clean up the wide-open criminal resort of Hot
Springs, Arkansas, in the Summer of 1946.
Jon A.
Jackson, La Donna
Detroit (June, Atlantic hc, 24.00). Sgt. Mulheisen returns, as the
Detroit Mob seems to be reaching a deceptive peace. Also out in the series, Dead Folk
and Man with an Axe (tps, 12.00). Signing, we
hope.
Iris
Johansen, The Search
(June, Bantam hc, 24.95). ATF agent Sarah Patrick and her rescue dog
Monty are the best. They’ll need to
be when a billionaire pulls strings to get them assigned to the case of a
missing scientist. By the author of The Killing Game (Bantam,
6.99).
Julie
Kaewert, Unsolicited
(Aug., Bantam pb. 5.99). A hardcover in ’94, and now finally in paperback
for the first time, this is the first in the popular bibliomystery
series.
Jamie
Katz,
A Summer for Dying (Aug., Avon pbo, 5.99). Boston lawyer Dan
Kardon gets mixed up with pro-basketball and real estate, in this follow-up to
the Shamus-nominated Dead Low Tide.
Faye
Kellerman, Stalker
(Aug., Morrow hc, 25.00).
Rookie Cindy Decker is used to a cop’s life, but her father is not used
to his daughter being a cop—especially once she is being stalked. In pb,
Jupiter’s Bones (July, Avon, 7.50).
Daniel
Klein,
Kill Me Tender (July, St. Martin’s hc, 22.95). Elvis Presley goes
into action when presidents of his fan clubs begin dying all over Tennessee.
Barry
Maitland, The Malcontenta (Aug.,
Arcade hc, 24.95). 2nd
in the award-winning British series with Sgt. Kathy Kolla and her Scotland Yard
mentor David Brock. When Kathy
investigates a suspicious suicide at a health spa, Brock goes undercover as a
patient. In pb, The Marx
Sisters (July,
Penguin,
6.99). Karen
can’t recommend this author highly enough, and Sandy
agrees.
Michael
McGarrity, The Judas Judge
(July, Dutton hc, 23.95). 5th Santa Fe mystery with Sheriff
Kevin Kerney. Signed Copies Available. In pb, Hermit’s Peak
(Aug., Pocket, 6.99).
Kirk
Mitchell, Spirit Sickness
(July, Bantam hc, 23.95). BIA officer Emmett Parker and the FBI’s Anna
Turnipseed investigate the murder of a Navaho cop and his wife.
Margaret
Moseley, A Little Traveling
Music, Please (July, Berkley pbo, 6.50). Book rep Honey Huckleberry
can’t find her accountant or her savings.
Marcia
Muller, Listen to the
Silence (July, Mysterious Press hc, 23.95, signed copies
$24.95). After the death of her father, McCone finds her adoption papers.
Tracking her biological parents, she finds herself in Idaho's Flathead
reservation. Someone doesn't want the past re-opened. In pb, A Walk Through the Fire
(July, Warner, 6.99).
Katy
Munger, Bad to the Bone
(June, Avon pbo, 5.99). 4th with ex-con and unlicensed PI
Casey Jones.
BarbaraNeely, Blanche Passes Go
(July, Viking
hc, 22.95). Blanche returns home to Farleigh, NC, and to childhood nightmares
and new crimes. Tammy recommends.
Leslie
O’Kane, The School Board
Murders (June, Ballantine pbo, 6.50). 5th Molly Masters,
whose father is a suspect.
Perri
O’Shaughnessy, Move to Strike
(Aug., Dell hc, 23.95). Lake Tahoe lawyer Nina Reilly is losing sleep
over her latest case: her son’s friend, a 16-year-old girl, is accused of
stealing from her uncle, a prominent plastic surgeon, and then killing him with
a samurai sword. And in pb, Acts of Malice (June, Dell, 7.50).
Elizabeth
Peters, He Shall Thunder in
the Sky (May, Morrow hc, 25.00). Newest adventure in the Amelia Peabody
series. Archeologists Amelia and
her husband and children encounter a new set of problems as the excavation
season of 1914-1915 brings WW I to the Middle East. Signed and numbered
copies, while they last.
Thomas
Powers, The
Confirmation (June, Knopf hc, 25.95). In what should be an easy walk
to be confirmed Director of the CIA, Frank Cabot’s world begins to unravel as
he’s forced to confront secrets from his past.
Bill
Pronzini, Crazy Bone
(Aug., Carroll & Graf hc, 23.00, signed copies 24.00).
“Nameless” is suspicious in a case when $50,000 in life insurance is refused –
can someone really be too rich and beautiful to care?
Mario
Puzo,
Omerta (June, Random House hc, 25.95). The final chapter in the
late author’s landmark Mafia trilogy.
David
Ramus,
On Ice (June, Pocket hc, 23.95) An innocent man being sent to
prison, Ben Hemmings is caught between the crooked FBI agent who framed him and
the mob boss he knows in the slammer.
Ian
Rankin, Death Is Not the
End (June, St. Martin’s hc, 11.95). A hardcover editon of a novella that
appeared earlier as a paperback.
His high-school sweetheart calls Inspector Rebus to help find her missing
son, last seen at a bar owned by mob-linked gangsters. This follows up a sub-plot from Dead
Souls (Aug., St. Martin’s, 6.50).
Kathy
Reichs, Deadly
Decisions (Aug., Scribner hc, 25.00). Tempe Brennan is drawn into a
strange case: teenagers killed hundreds of miles apart and whose deaths are,
somehow, connected to outlaw motorcycle gangs. In pb, Death du Jour
(Aug., Pocket, 6.99).
Barrie
Roberts, Sherlock Holmes and
the Devil’s Grail (June, A&B tpo, 9.95). Holmes and Watson
perceive Moriarty’s henchman Drew behind threats and a
kidnapping.
Gillian
Roberts, Helen Hath No
Fury (July, Ballantine hc, 23 .00). The day after a book club
discusses a fictional heroine’s suicide, Helen falls to her death. Though it’s declared a suicide, Amanda
Pepper isn’t so sure. 10th in the Anthony-Award-winning series set in
Philadelphia. And in pb, Adam
and Evil (June, Ballantine, 6.50).
Les
Roberts, Indian Sign
(Aug., St. Martin’s hc, 23.95).
Latest with Cleveland PI Milan Jacovich. A Native American tribal historian is
murdered and his great-granddaughter is kidnapped.
Beth
Saulnier, Distemper
(June, Warner pbo, 6.50). After the awful events detailed in her first
adventure, Reliable Sources (pb, 6.50), gen-X reporter Alex Bernier would
like to rest. But a serial killer
has begun to stalk the coeds in her Ivy League, upstate New York
town.
Laurence
Shames, The Naked
Detective (June, Villard hc, 22.95; signed copies 23.95). When
trouble arrives in the form of the obligatory blonde, Pete Amsterdam finds it
useless to explain that his PI license is just a tax dodge. Helping her gets him mixed up with an
odd lot: Lefty Ortega and his nympho daughter, the shady people on a Key West
gambling ship, and a lissome yoga teacher. And in pb, Welcome to Paradise
(June, Ballantine, 6.99).
Favorite series of Tammy’s.
April
Smith,
Be the One (July, Knopf hc, 24.00). At last, a new novel by the
author of the staff favorite and Best of the ‘90’s North of Montana. Cassidy Sanderson is a scout for the LA
Dodgers. On a trip to the Dominican Republic, two men change her life: an
18-year-old phenom and a seductive developer. Soon, back in LA, all three are
entangled in blackmail, violence and deception in the high-stakes atmosphere of
major league sports and finance.
Signed Copies we dearly hope.
Peter
Moore
Smith, Raveling (July, Little Brown hc, 23.95). 20 years
ago, Pilot's little sister vanished. Now, he's come back home to care for his
aging mother. His own mental health has been rocky since the unsolved mystery
and now, looking into it, he begins to mistrust reality. Debut
novel.
Sarah Smith,
A
Citizen of the Country (Aug.,
Ballantine hc, 24.95). Concluding book in “the Vanishing Child Trilogy.” In the Flanders region of France, Count
du Monde marries a young heiress and hopes to repair his fortunes. Owner of a famous horror theatre, he
hopes to cast his bride in his first film.
But, as the cast assembles at Monfort castle, disasters befall them. And
in pb, The Knowledge of Water (Aug., Ballantine,
6.99).
Jessica
Speart, Border Prey
(June, Avon pbo, 5.99). US Fish & Wildlife agent Rachel Porter is
tipped that someone is smuggling primates over the Mexico/Texas border.
Leah
Stewart, Body of a Girl
(Aug., Viking hc, 23.95). Olivia Dale is a young Memphis crime
reporter. As summer heats up, she
is drawn into the case of a young murder victim who seemed just like her, only
wilder, and she confronts her own darker instincts. Debut
novel.
Denise Swanson,
Murder of a Small-Town
Honey (July, Signet pbo, 5.99). Debut
of a humorous small-town midwest series with school psychologist Skye Denison.
Doug
Swanson, House of
Corrections (Aug., Putnam hc, 24.95). A late-night call from a friend
leads Dallas PI Jack Flippo into trouble – psycho ex-wives, washed-up reporters
and flaming yachts. 5th in a
favorite series of Bill’s.
Robert K. Tannenbaum,
True Justice
(Aug., Pocket
hc, 24.95). Butch and Marlene
square off over an ugly national murder case involving a 15-year-old girl—then
it gets worse, and personal. And in pb, Act of Revenge (June,
Harper, 7.50).
Carol
Thurston, The Eye of
Horus (Aug., Morrow hc, 24.00).
Hired by the Denver Museum’s Egyptology department to create forensic
displays, medical illustrator Date McKinnon stumbles on an ancient mystery: the mummy of a young girl who had been
injured and has a man’s skull between her knees. An ancient puzzle faced with modern
technologies.
Trevanian, Hot Night in the
City (June, St. Martin’s hc, 24.95). A collection of stories, in several
genres.
Margaret
Truman, Murder at Foggy
Bottom (July, Random House hc, 24.95). Three plane crashes can’t be a
coincidence:Max Pauling, an investigator for the State Department, is soon
embroiled in a case that includes bird watchers, the Russian black market and a
militia group with misunderstood motives.
Ayelet
Waldman, Nursery Crimes
(June, Berkley hc, 21.95). Former public defender Juliet Applebaum is
deep into motherhood, dealing with her daughter’s very competitive Hollywood
preschool. When the principal is
killed in a hit-and-run, she wonders if someone is taking the competition too
seriously.
Valerie Wilson
Wesley, The Devil
Riding (June, Putnam hc, 23.95). Tamara Hayle goes undercover in the
casinos of Atlantic City to track a runaway teen.
Chassie
West,
Killing Kin (July, Avon pbo, 5.99). 3rd with
African-American DC cop Leigh Ann Warren.
Penn
Williamson, Mortal Sins
(June, Warner hc, 23.95). Set in New Orleans, in 1927. Chief Investigator Daman Rourke
is trying to help Hollywood sex goddess Remy Lelourie, who's found next to the
body of her Creole husband. Evidence mounts against her, until more murders rock
the city.
Barbara Jaye
Wilson, Hatful of Homicide
(Aug., Avon pbo, 5.99). 5th with Greenwich Village
milliner Brenda Midnight.
John Morgan
Wilson, The Limits of
Justice (July, Doubleday hc, 22.95). Ben Justice is approached by the
daughter of a late Hollywood star.
She wants Justice to disprove
many of the unsavory
details in a new exposé, but Justice finds her dead before he can even begin the
investigation. Edgar-winning
series.
k.j.a.
Wishnia, The Glass
Factory (June, Dutton hc, 23.95). 3rd with street-smart
Latina cop Filomena Buscarsela, introduced in the Edgar-nominated 23 Shades
of Black.
Valerie
Wolzien, This Old Murder
(July, Ballantine pbo, 6.50). 5th with contractor/sleuth Josie
Pigeon.
Stuart
Woods,
The Run (June, Harper hc, 26.00). Georgia’s Governor Will Lee is thrust
into the national campaign well before he is ready and sinister forces are
against his run.
Qui
Xiaolong, Death of a Red
Heroine (June, Soho hc, 25.00). Like the author, Insp. Chen is a
published poet. As head of
Shanghai’s Special Case Squad, he’s expected to give special care to the cases
that have political shadings. To
solve the latest murder, he must call upon the influence of a former lover, as
the politics of the city – and the country – are changing.
Mark Richard
Zubro,
One Dead Drag Queen (July, St. Martin’s hc, 22.95). Bombs destroy a health clinic, injuring
volunteer Tom Mason; his lover thinks the bombings are part of a murder plot.
And in pb, Drop Dead (July, Griffin, 12.95). Paul Turner
series.
—————————————————————————
Rennie
Airth,
River of Darkness (Aug., Penguin, 6.99). 2000 Edgar Nominee. Karen
recommends.
Russell
Andrews, Gideon
(June, Ballantine, 6.99).
Marion
Babson, The Company of
Cats (July, St Martins, 6.99)
Alice Blanchard,
Darkness Peering
(Aug., Bantam,
6.99).
Gwendoline Butler,
Coffin’s
Game
(July, World Wide, 5.99).
Margaret
Coel,
The Lost Bird (Aug., Berkley, 6.50).
John
Connolly, Every Dead
Thing (July, Pocket, 6.99).
JB highly recommends.
Dianne
Day,
Death Train to Boston (July, Bantam, 5.99).
Peter
Dickinson, Some Deaths Before
Dying (July, Mysterious Press, 13.95).
Stephen
Dobyns, Boy in the
Water (July, St. Martin’s, 6.99).
Vince
Flynn,
Transfer of Power (June, Pocket, 6.99). Susan
recommends.
Caroline
Graham, Faithful Unto
Death (Aug., St. Martin’s, 6.50). Karen
recommends.
Parnell
Hall,
A Clue for the Puzzle Lady (July, Bantam,
5.99).
Rick
Hanson, Extreme Odds
(Aug., Kensington, 5.99).
Greg
Iles,
The Quiet Game (July, Signet, 6.99). Susan and Karen
recommend.
Bill
James,
Lovely Mover (Aug., Norton, 7.95).
John
Katzenbach, Hart’s War
(Aug., Ballantine, 7.50).
Laurie R.
King,
O Jerusalem (June, Bantam, 6.50). Mary Russell. Karen
recommends.
Virginia
Lanier, Ten Little
Bloodhounds (Aug., Avon, 6.50).
Miriam Grace
Monfredo, Must the Maiden
Die (Aug., Berkley, 6.99).
Bill
Moody,
Bird Lives! (June, World Wide, 5.99).
Carol
O’Connell, Shell Game
(Aug., Berkley, 6.99).
Mallory and magicians.
Owen
Parry,
Faded Coat of Blue (Aug., Avon, 6.99). All-staff
raves.
Phyllis
Richman, Murder on the Gravy
Train (July, Avon, 5.99).
John
Ridley, Everybody Smokes in
Hell (Aug., Ballantine, 14.00).
Peter
Robinson, In a Dry Season
(July, Avon, 6.99). 2000 Edgar Nominee.
D. R.
Schanker, A Criminal
Appeal (June, Dell, 5.99). 1999 Edgar
Nominee
James
Tully,
The Crimes of Charlotte Brontë (Aug., Carroll & Graf,
12.95).
Minette
Walters, The Breaker
(Aug., Jove, 7.50).
——————————————————————————–
New Hardcovers Coming
This Fall:
Lawrence
Block,
Hit List.
Nov.
Jan
Burke,
Flight.
Sept.
Caleb
Carr,
Killing Time. Sept.
Future-set mystery.
Carolyn Hart,
Sugarplum
Dead.
Nov.
Elmore
Leonard, Pagan Babies.
Sept.
Laura Lippman,
Sugar
House. Sept.
Sharyn McCrumb,
The
PMS Outlaw.
Oct.
Peter Robinson,
Cold Is the
Grave.
Oct.
——————————————————————————–
Andre Schiffrin, The
Business of Books: How the International Conglomerates Took Over Publishing and
Changed the Way We Read (Aug., Verso hc, 23.00). Part memoir,
part history, written by a man whose father co-founded Pantheon and who worked
in publishing from 1956 to the recent past. The title tells the
tale.
Mary H. Manhein, The Bone
Lady: Life as a Forensic Anthropologist (July, Penguin, 11.95).
Head of the Louisiana State University lab, Dr. Manhein chronicles 20 years
dealing with the perplexing mysteries of bones: Civil War skeletons, alleged
witchcraft, and crimes of political intrigue.
Crime Through Time
III, edited by Sharan Newman (June, Berkley pbo, 6.99). Short
works by Bruce Alexander, Peter Lovesey, Margaret Coel, Peter Robinson and
others.
Jeffery Deaver, Manhattan Is My
Beat (June, Bantam, 6.99). New edition of Deaver’s first Rune book.
The delightful Rune, a Holly Golightly character who looks like a street urchin,
is sharp as a tack. The death of one of her video store’s clients leads her
decades into the past. Bill
HIGHLY recommends this series.
NYPD: The Inside Story of New
York’s Legendary Police Department, by Thomas Reppetto
& James Lardner (Aug., Holt hc, 27.50). An insider look at the
biggest, “baddest” police force,
from its founding in 1845 to now.
Rex Stout, An Officer and a
Lady and Other Stories (June, Carroll & Graf, 5.99). Early works
from magazines, 16 tales never before in book form.
They Wrote the
Book, Helen Windrath, ed. (June, Spinster tpo, 12.00).
Essays on writing mysteries by US and UK authors, including Marcia Muller,
Abigail Padgett, Barbara Paul, Ellen Hart and Val
McDermid.
The Spring auction item was
a 1st ed. of Rex Stout’s Too Many Clients. The starting bid was $55. The winning bid was $155.
There are two Summer auction
items: each is a mysterious grab bag of galleys. Galleys, or ARCs (Advance Reading
Copies) are those hardcover-sized paperbacks that the publishers send out in
advance of the book so reviews can be ready. We have a set of 6 Northwest authors'
galleys, and a set of 6 “National” authors' galleys. All are unread and signed by the author.
Dates of them range from ’97 to this year.
AND WE AREN’T GOING TO TELL YOU WHAT THEY ARE – but trust us,
they’re the good stuff. Bids
for each set start at $40, and close on July 1st. Be sure to tell us for which set you are
bidding. To review how the auction works:
¨
Any time before July 1,
you give us your bid. Be sure to
include your name, mailing address, and telephone number.
¨
Bids may be submitted
in person, by phone, by mail or e-mail.
¨
Any bid for less than
the minimum will be disregarded.
One bid per customer.
In case of a tie, the
bid received earliest will win.
Winners of the Edgar
Awards for best book published in 1999 in the following categories
were:
Best Novel—Jan
Burke, Bones
Best First Novel by an
American Author—Eliot Pattison, The Skull Mantra
Best Paperback
Original—Ruth Birmingham (aka Walter Sorrells), Fulton County Blues
Best Critical -
Daniel Stashower, Teller of Tales, a biography of Conan Doyle.
Tues.,
June 6, A Double-Header:
At
noon, Robert Crais signs
Demolition
Angel.
And at
2:30, John Sandford signs
Easy Prey
Sat.,
June 17, noon,
Carola Dunn signs
Rattle His Bones
Wed.,
June 21, noon,
Megan Mallory Rust signs
Coffin
Corner,
Sat.,
June 24, noon,
Valerie Wilcox signs
Sins of Deception
Sat.,
July 1, noon,
Bill Fitzhugh signs
Cross Dressing
Sat.,
July 8, noon,
J. A. Jance signs
The Devil’s Claw
Tues.,
July 11, noon,
Janet Evanovich signs
Hot Six
Wed.,
July 12, noon,
Ridley Pearson signs
Middle of Nowhere
Thurs.,
Aug 3, time
TBA, James Lee Burke signs
Purple Cane Road
When Bill
opened Seattle Mystery Bookshop in 1990, he didn’t really mark a specific day as
Day One. Over the years, he’s
tended to take July 1st as our Anniversary. That means that this July 1st
will be our Tenth Anniversary. In a time when small, independent bookshops are
having a hard time, we’re doing well.
And that is thanks to you.
So, what are we doing
to mark our 10th Anniversary?
Selling books, answering the phone, checking in books, answering e-mails,
wrapping books…the usual.
Most of all, we
want to thank you for your support, which makes it all possible—and Bill, for
starting it all.
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
The
SEATTLE MYSTERY BOOKSHOP NEWS is composed and produced by J. B. Dickey and Sandy
Goodrick. The online version is
brought to you by Susan Dennis.