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Murder By The Book's E-mail Newsletter (02/27/08)

This is the e-mail newsletter of Houston’s Murder By The Book, one of the nation’s oldest and largest mystery bookstores. To unsubcribe, please scroll to the bottom of this e-mail.

Thank you for buying books recommended in this newsletter from an independent bookstore!
Want to find a BookSense indie near you? Go here.
Or how about another independent mystery bookstore? Go here.

David, who normally answers e-mail, will be out of town until Monday. In the meantime, the lovely Michelle will be responding to e-mail, so never fear. You may also call in orders or queries. Thank you, and have a wonderful weekend!!

Don't miss our two joint events with Alliance Francaise! Scroll down for more information...

What are mystery bookstores recommending?... Find out here, at the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association's Killer Books website. And thank you for supporting indie bookstores!

Brazos Bookstore... Check out this article about nearby Brazos Bookstore (2421 Bissonnet) and the importance of independent bookstores.

Houston bookstores... Murder By The Book (and other local booksellers) are featured in this month's Southern Living!

Don't forget McKenna's favorite new discovery... Julie Kaewert's Alex Plumtree action-filled mysteries set in the London publishing world... it's Dick Francis meets John dunning, with a touch of David Handler.

Unsolicited ($5.99) Plumtree Press has landed a world-class bestselling novel. And its sequel is earmarked to get this old family firm out of the red. But the novel's anonymous author has vanished, leaving the crucial final five chapters undelivered. And the fate of Plumtree Press -- and Alex's life -- hangs in the balance.
Unbound ($7.50)
Unprintable ($5.99)
Untitled ($6.99)
Unsigned ($5.99)
Uncatalogued (out-of-print)

To order or reserve copies, please call or e-mail the store.

2008 Agatha Award nominations!

Malice Domestic has announced the nominees for the 2007 Agatha Awards. The awards will be presented at the Malice Domestic XX convention during the Agatha Awards Banquet on April 26, 2008.

Best Novel
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much (by Donna Andrews)
Her Royal Spyness (by Rhys Bowen)
Hard Row (by Margaret Maron)
A Fatal Grace (by Louise Penny) Louise Penny signs here, March 14th.
Murder With Reservations (by Elaine Viets) Elaine Viets signs here, May 13th.

Best First Novel
A Beautiful Blue Death (by Charles Finch)
A Real Basket Case (by Beth Groundwater)
Silent in The Grave (by Deanna Raybourn)
Prime Time (by Hank Phillipi Ryan)

To order or reserve copies, please call or e-mail the store.

March is Small Press Month!

An annual celebration of the independent spirit of small publishers, Small Press Month is an effort to showcase the diverse, unique, and often most significant voices being published today. This year's slogan is Celebrate Great Writing. This year's quote comes from Walter Mosley, author and long-time supporter of independent publishing: "The life’s blood of contemporary and modern literature is in the custodianship of so-called small publishers. Without them, there is no future for literature."

We'll be featuring displays throughout the store, beginning late next week. Some of our favorite small presses -- because of their high quality and top talent -- include:

Bleak House Books
Midnight Ink
Hard Case Crime
Poisoned Pen Press
Rue Morgue Press
Crum Creek Press
Felony & Mayhem
Busted Flush Press
Creeping Hemlock
...and more!

All stocked at Murder By The Book!
Learn more about Small Press Month here.

Our best-selling paperback of the last two years -- Brilliant (by Marne Davis Kellogg; St. Martin's; $6.99), nearly 1,000 copies sold! -- has just gone out-of-print. However, we bought every remaining copy from the publisher; so, pretty soon, we'll be the only store to stock the book. Brilliant introduces retired jewel thief Kick Keswick and her adventures in high-society Europe.

Highly recommended by nearly every MBTB employee! If you need a copy, just drop us a line.

SIGNING NEXT AT MURDER BY THE BOOK!
Deep breath... there are a bunch coming up...

[About our signing events: The talks are absolutely free! However, if you want to get any books signed, the latest novel must be purchased from Murder By The Book. You can also order signed/inscribed copies, if you can’t make it to the events. Please don't hesitate to call or e-mail if you have any questions at all about how our signing events work. Thanks!]

Historical / mystery novelist
Lillian Stewart Carl
-- this Saturday, March 1, 3:00 p.m.

Lillian Stewart Carl will sign & discuss her new mystery, The Burning Glass (Five Star; $25.95), Book 3 of the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron series: America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends. In The Burning Glass, Alasdair and Jean are making a deliberate effort to put together a relationship. Leaving Edinburgh to the crowds attending the annual Festival, they move into the caretaker's cottage of an old and spooky castle near Rosslyn Chapel. Rosslyn has been made so famous by The Da Vinci Code that only tour groups are admitted. It's a medieval church where the Holy Grail or the treasure of the Knights Templar is rumored to be hidden.

Ferniebank Castle includes a small chapel that's very similar and obviously related to Rosslyn, but is off the beaten path. Or so they think.

Even before Jean meets Alasdair at Ferniebank, she hears that trouble is brewing there and in the nearby village of Stanelaw: a local councillor has disappeared, a precious artifact has been stolen, and the castle's former caretaker has died under circumstances that make Alasdair's police-whiskers twitch. It's a bad time for this sort of thing to be happening, since the owner of a popular New Age travel company has just bought the chapel and its healing well, intending to build a spa there, something that will revive the village economy.

As though Jean and Alasdair's plans aren't thrown enough of a curve when the New Age guru turns out to be his ex-wife, other crimes and then another death occur right on their doorstep. And everything seems to track back to the former Mrs. Cameron. Even though Alasdair is no longer a formal member of other police force, he and Jean must roll up their sleeves and wade in to yet another mystery.

A burning glass is a small lens used to focus the light of the sun and start a fire.

Two events... Book talk & wine tasting!
Peter May
-- Monday, March 3, 6:30 p.m. Here at the store.
-- Tuesday, March 4, 6:30 p.m. At Alliance Francaise.

Scottish author Peter May is visiting the U.S. for a book-signing and wine-tasting tour. His latest book, The Critic (Poisoned Pen Press; $24.95), concerns a famous and influential American wine critic who was murdered while on a trip to the Gaillac region of France. May will introduce readers and wine lovers to the little known region of Gaillac and to the main character in his Enzo Files series, Enzo Macleod.

Enzo Macleod shares much in common with his creator, both are known to wear the Scottish national dress of the kilt, both are tall, well-built, with long hair held in a pony-tail, and both have moved from Scotland to live in the South-West area of France.

But there, says May, the similarity ends. Enzo is a professor of biology at Toulouse university and former forensic scientist. He uses the latest technology to re-open and solve old French “cold cases”. May’s writing is noted for its mix of suspense and humor, summed up by one reviewer who described Enzo as: “a cross between James Bond and Inspector Clouseau”.

The first book in the series, Extraordinary People (Poisoned Pen Press; paperback; $14.95), took the reader on a journey into the arcane world of France’s ruling intellectual elite. And the latest book, The Critic, takes place among the vines which produce France’s economic lifeblood. To understand the processes and pressures of the business of owning a vineyard, May joined Gaillac winemakers at various times of the year, even picking grapes by hand with them. He also enrolled at the Saint Michel Maison du Vin in Gaillac and took an oenology course in order to ensure that he was accurate in his descriptions of wine tasting. You could say he soaked up all there was to know about his subject!

And on December 1st Peter was honored by the Confrerie de la Dive Bouteille, when they inducted him as a “Chevalier” of their order, in recognition of his expertise in the wines of Gaillac.

The event at Murder By The Book (Monday night) will simply be a talk/Q&A/signing for his two Enzo mysteries, Extraordinary People and The Critic.

The event at Alliance Francaise (Tuesday night) will feature a talk on The Critic, the wines of France (mentioned below), and will feature a special appearance by Spec's wine expert Bear Dalton.

The wine tasting will involve 3 wines which are mentioned in the book -- Gaillac’s own disctinctive AOC red braucol grape and white mausac grape; as well as another red, a syrah which is an extraordinarily good Vin de Pays from the region. It will be the first time these wines have ever been available in the USA. All are from the Domaine of Sarrabelle: Saint Andre (red), Gaiilac Sec (white), Syrah (red).

You do NOT need reservations for the event at Alliance Francaise and there is no cost. Just show up and have fun!

FYI: May is probably best known for his China Thrillers series, the third of which, The Killing Room (St. Martin's Minotaur; $24.95), will also be available at the MBTB signing. For his China Thrillers, May gained access behind the scenes in the Shanghai and Beijing homicide squads and forensic science departments, and was made an honorary member of The Chinese Crime Writers Association.

2007 Edgar Award nominee
Bill Crider
-- Saturday, March 8, 4:30 p.m.

2007 Edgar Award nominee Bill Crider will sign & discuss his new Sheriff Dan Rhodes novel, Of All Sad Words (St. Martin's Minotaur; $23.95). Strangers are moving into Blacklin County, and none of them is any stranger than Seepy Benton, a math teacher whom the county judge suspects is a wild-eyed radical. Benton and Max Schwartz, who has opened a music store, are among the students in the Citizens’ Sheriff’s Academy, which seemed like a good idea when Sheriff Dan Rhodes presented it to the county commissioners. However, when a mobile home explodes and a dead body is found, the students become the chief suspects, and the commissioners aren’t happy. To make matters worse, there’s another murder, and one of Rhodes’s old antagonists returns with his partner in crime to cause even more trouble.

As always in Blacklin County, there are plenty of minor annoyances to go along with the major ones. For one thing, there’s a problem with the county’s Web page. The commissioners blame Rhodes, who knows nothing about the Internet but is supposed to be overseeing their online presence. Then there’s the illegal alcohol being sold in a local restaurant. It was produced in a still that Rhodes discovered after the explosion of the mobile home, and he’s sure it has some connection to the murders.

It’s another fun ride with genre veteran Bill Crider, and, once again, it’s up to Sheriff Dan Rhodes to save the day before Blacklin County becomes the crime capital of Texas.

2008 Edgar Award nominee
Reed Farrel Coleman
-- Monday, March 10, 6:30 p.m.

2008 Edgar Award nominee Reed Farrel Coleman will sign & discuss his 5th Moe Prager private eye novel, Empty Ever After (paperback, $14.95; hardback, $24.95; limited edition, $45).

There are no second acts for the dead… or are there? For over twenty years, retired NYPD officer and PI Moe Prager, has been haunted by the secret that would eventually destroy his family. Now, two years after the fallout from the truth, more than secrets are haunting the Prager family. Moe Prager follows a trail of graverobbers from cemetery to cemetery, from ashes to ashes and back again in order to finally solve the enigma of his dead brother-in-law Patrick. He plunges deeper into the dark recesses of his past than ever before, revisiting all of his old cases, in order to uncover the twisted alchemy of vengeance and resurrection. Will Moe, at last, put his past to rest? Will he find the man who belongs in that vacant grave or will it remain empty, empty ever after?

ALSO IN STOCK:
Walking the Perfect Square (Permanent Press, hardback, $26; Busted Flush Press, paperback, $13) The first Moe Prager novel! We still have first printing hardbacks.. stock up on this 2-time Edgar Award nominee! Plus, Busted Flush Press (owned by MBTB employee David Thompson) has reprinted this title in paperback (available in April, after the signing), with a new foreword by Megan Abbott and new afterword by Reed.

Redemption Street (Busted Flush Press; $13) The second Moe Prager novel, with a new foreword by Peter Spiegelman and new afterword by Reed.

The James Deans (Plume; $13) The Shamus-, Anthony, Barry-winning 3rd Moe Prager. Now out-of-print! Order while you can.
Soul Patch (Bleak House, 2nd printing hardback, $24.95; paperback, $14.95) The Edgar Award-nominated 4th Moe Prager.

Two events... book signing & Paris discussion!
Cara Black
-- Tuesday, March 10, 6:00 p.m. Here at the store.
-- Tuesday, March 10, 8:00 p.m. At Alliance Francaise.

Award-winning crime novelist Cara Black will sign & discuss her 8th Aimée Leduc novel, Murder in the Rue de Paradis (Soho; $24). "Once again, Black has crafted a superb tale.... The plot itself is swift and assured, the language elegantly gritty, the characterization deft, and the end a truly satisfying surprise." -- Library Journal, starred review

This event starts at 6:00, instead of 6:30, because at 8:00, we'll have a post-signing wine reception at Alliance Francaise (427 Lovett Boulevard; 713-526-1121), where Cara will give a talk about the different Paris arrondisements in which each of her books is set.

Start with the first in the series, Murder in the Marais (Soho Crime; $13). Manager McKenna Jordan says: "This series, set in Paris, is, without a doubt, my FAVORITE discovery of the year! Aimée Leduc, private eye, is one of the smartest, best-drawn characters I’ve come across in ages, and I can’t wait to read all seven of her adventures, each set in a different section of the City of Light. Perfect for fans of Peter Lovesey (atmospheric, setting-driven, and well-plotted) and Sarah Dunant (heroine Aimée is the closest to Dunant’s Hannah Wolfe that I’ve found… and that’s high praise!)."

Series order, all available at Murder By The Book:
Murder in the Marais (Soho; $13)
Murder in Belleville (Soho; $13)
Murder in the Sentier (Soho; $13)
Murder in the Bastille (Soho; $13)
Murder in Clichy (Soho; $12)
Murder in Montmartre (Soho; $12)
Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis (Soho; $13)
Murder in the Rue de Paradis (Soho; $24)

Two-time Edgar Award winner!
T. Jefferson Parker
-- Wednesday, March 12, 6:30 p.m. Rescheduled from last month... rain delay!

Two-time Edgar Award winner T. Jefferson Parker will sign & discuss his new thriller, L. A. Outlaws (Dutton; $25.95). Los Angeles is gripped by the exploding celebrity of Allison Murietta, her real identity unknown, a modern-day Jesse James with the compulsion to steal beautiful things, the vanity to invite the media along, and the conscience to donate much of her bounty to charity. Nobody ever gets hurt—until a job ends with ten gangsters lying dead and a half- million dollars worth of glittering diamonds missing.

Rookie Deputy Charlie Hood discovers the bodies, and he prevents an eyewitness—a schoolteacher named Suzanne Jones—from leaving the scene in her Corvette. Drawn to a mysterious charisma that has him off-balance from the beginning, Hood begins an intense affair with Suzanne. As the media frenzy surrounding Allison's exploits swells to a fever pitch and the Southland's most notorious killer sets out after her, a glimmer of recognition blooms in Hood, forcing him to choose between a deeply held sense of honor and a passion that threatens to consume him completely. With a stone-cold killer locked in relentless pursuit, Suzanne and Hood continue their desperate dance around the secrets that brought them together, unsure whether each new dawn may signal the day their lies catch up with them.

Highly recommended by David & Michelle!

Booker Prize winner / 2008 Edgar Award nominee
John Banville (writing as Benjamin Black)
-- Thursday, March 13, 6:30 p.m.

2008 Edgar Award nominee Benjamin Black (Christine Falls) will sign & discuss his new crime novel, The Silver Swan (Henry Holt; $25). Two years have passed since the events of the best-selling Christine Falls, and much has changed for Quirke, the irascible, formerly hard-drinking Dublin pathologist. His beloved Sarah is dead, his surrogate father lies in a convent hospital paralyzed by a devastating stroke, and Phoebe, Quirke’s long-denied daughter, has grown increasingly withdrawn and isolated.

With much to regret from his last inquisitive foray, Quirke ought to know better than to let his curiosity get the best of him. Yet when an almost forgotten acquaintance comes to him about his beautiful young wife's apparent suicide, Quirke's "old itch to cut into the quick of things, to delve into the dark of what was hidden" is roused again. As he begins to probe further into the shadowy circumstances of Deirdre Hunt's death, he discovers many things that might better have remained hidden, as well as grave danger to those he loves.

Haunting, masterfully written, and utterly mesmerizing in its nuance, The Silver Swan fully lives up to the promise of Christine Falls and firmly establishes Benjamin Black (a.k.a. John Banville) among the greatest of crime writers.

Highly recommended by Michelle!

Benjamin Black is the pen name of acclaimed author John Banville, who was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. His novels have won numerous awards, most recently the Man Booker Prize in 2005 for The Sea. He lives in Dublin.

This event is especially open to Brazos Bookstore customers and fans of John Banville's literary novels. In order to get any earlier books signed, you must purchase Christine Falls or The Silver Swan from Murder By The Book or Brazos Bookstore. Receipts required.

Award-winning mystery novelist
Louise Penny
-- Friday, March 14, 6:00 p.m.

Award-winning Canadian mystery novelist Louise Penny will sign & discuss her new Chief Inspector Armand Gamache novel, The Cruelest Month (St. Martin's Minotaur; $23.95).

Welcome to Three Pines, where the cruelest month is about to deliver on its threat. It’s spring in the tiny, forgotten village; buds are on the trees and the first flowers are struggling through the newly thawed earth. But not everything is meant to return to life... When some villagers decide to celebrate Easter with a séance at the Old Hadley House, they are hoping to rid the town of its evil -- until one of their party dies of fright. Was this a natural death, or was the victim somehow helped along? Brilliant, compassionate Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec is called to investigate, in a case that will force him to face his own ghosts as well as those of a seemingly idyllic town where relationships are far more dangerous than they seem.

Highly recommended by Martha & Kathryn!
For fans of tradition, Golden Age-style murder mysteries!
Start with the first in the series, Still Life (St. Martin's Minotaur; $6.99)!

New Orleans mystery novelist
Barbara Colley
-- Saturday, March 15, 4:30 p.m.

New Orleans mystery novelist Barbara Colley will sign & discuss her new Charlotte LaRue mystery, Wash and Die (Kensington; $22). Charlotte LaRue, owner of New Orleans's Maid for a Day cleaning service, is swept into jeopardy when an uninvited guest arrives on her doorstep.

As the saying goes, "No good deed goes unpunished." Charlotte LaRue knows she should take a broom and chase Joyce Thibodeaux off her front porch. Once married to Charlotte's tenant Louis Thibodeaux, Joyce is fresh out of detox for her alcoholism and has no place to go. She swears she's clean and sober and will find her own place in a few days. She pulls on Charlotte's heartstrings... and soon she's staying in Charlotte's guest room.

Charlotte survived Hurricane Katrina, but Joyce proves to be an ill wind of a different kind. Soon a valuable gold watch left to Charlotte by her father is missing, and worse, a stranger is watching the house. Charlotte knows she has to show Joyce the door, but she never gets the chance. Instead her beloved parakeet Sweety Boy vanishes, her living room gets trashed, and Joyce ends up in the middle of the mess... stone cold dead.

Now Charlotte is on the list of murder suspects along with Louis, who's been out of town on business... or has he? Finding the answers means doing a little snooping herself. Grabbing her mop she's starting with the hospital where Joyce last stayed: a place with skeletons in its closets and a bucket full of clues that just might lead to a killer.

Signing after that:
 Mark Schweizer, Lisa Lutz, Andrew Gross, Charlie Stella, Randy Wayne White, James O. Born, Nevada Barr, Jim Butcher, Scott Sigler, Bev Vincent, Ace Atkins, Jesse Kellerman, Ridley Pearson, Anne Perry, Jane Cleland, Jordan Dane, Jennifer Chiaverini, Harlan Coben, Susan Wittig Albert, Dan Fesperman, Peter Lovesey, Hannah Dennison, Charlaine Harris, Raymond Benson, Elaine Viets, Ben Rehder, C. J. Box, Craig Johnson, Robert B. Parker, Lee Child, Jeff Abbott, Meg Gardiner, Don Winslow, Victor Gischler, Anthony Neil Smith, Jonathan Santlofer, Tana French. And many more to come!

If you can’t make it to the signing, you can order signed/inscribed copies at the store, or by phone or e-mail.

For a complete list of upcoming signings, along with a description of the books the authors will be signing/discussing, please visit our Signings Page here.

Have you missed any of our events, but still need signed copies? Please e-mail or visit our Signed Books page here.

Thank you for supporting Murder By The Book signing events!
Murder By The Book is proud to have more mystery/suspense/thriller signings than any other store in Texas.

Murder By The Book also offers...

Used books -- Is there anything you're looking for that may be out-of-print, or maybe cheap, used paperbacks, or even first edition collectible books? We have thousands of previously-read paperbacks & hardbacks. Feel free to e-mail want lists!

Order any book! -- Yes, our focus is on mystery, detective, and thriller fiction -- and we offer the best selection in Houston! -- however, we can also special-order any book that's in print and have it in within a week or so (in most cases). Prepayment may be required for non-mystery items. Please inquire at the store for more information.

To all of our wonderful customers, a big, BIG thank you for supporting our store!!

Mystery conventions...
Left Coast Crime -- March 6-9 (Denver, CO) Stephen White, Elaine Viets, Parnell Hall, Joanne Pence, and more!
NoirCon -- April 3-6 (Philadelphia, PA) 2008 Edgar Award nominees Ken Bruen, Megan Abbott, Reed Farrel Coleman, Vicki Hendricks, and more!
Malice Domestic -- April 25-27 (Washington, DC) Lindsey Davis, Charlaine Harris, Peter Lovesey, and more!
Crimefest -- June 5-8 (Bristol, UK) Lee Child, Karin Fossum, Ian Rankin, Natasha Cooper, and more!
St. Hilda's Mystery & Crime Weekend (e-mail for information) -- Aug. 15-17 (Oxford, UK) Kate Ellis, Jane Finnis, Jason Goodwin, Anne Perry, David Roberts, Laura Wilson, Jacqueline Winspearand more!
Bouchercon -- Oct. 9-12 (Baltimore, MD) Laura Lippman, Lawrence Block, John Harvey, Mark Billingham, and more!

Other helpful links...
2008 Edgar Award nominations
Murder By The Book's best-sellers
Busted Flush Press

Thank you for supporting local businesses and your favorite mystery booksellers!

David Thompson, publicity manager
Murder By The Book
Winner of the 2004 Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America!
Nominated for Publishers Weekly's Bookseller of the Year, 2007 & 2008!
 2342 Bissonnet St., Houston, TX 77005
(713) 524-8597 / (888) 4-AGATHA / www.murderbooks.com / order@murderbooks.com
Store hours: Monday-Saturday (10 a.m.-6 p.m.), Sunday (noon-5 p.m.)

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Our address: 2342 Bissonnet
Houston, Texas 77005

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