Seattle Mystery Bookshop
N e w s l e t t e r
117 Cherry St. Seattle,WA 98104
(206) 587-5737
e-mail: staff@seattlemystery.com
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.