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Murder By The Book's E-mail Newsletter (05/16/08)

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.

Important information about tomorrow's Rick Riordan signing...

America's #1-selling young adult novelist Rick Riordan (a 1-million first printing for the latest book!) will sign the fourth Percy Jackson thriller, The Battle of the Labyrinth (Hyperion / DBG; $17.99), TOMORROW, Saturday, May 17, beginning at 3:00 p.m. We're expecting hoards of fans, so please pay attention to the following guidelines for tomorrow's event...

1. First and foremost, please respect our fellow businessowners by not parking in front of other stores still open for business. We understand there will be a parking problem and we apologize for any inconvenience this causes. Please find street parking on our side street (Morningside), the street behind us (South Blvd.), or the street across from us (Wroxton). Thank you!

2. Due to the number of people expected for the event, Rick's 3 p.m. talk will be very abbreviated. No more than 10 or 15 minutes. So, if you want to avoid the initial rush (and don't mind missing the very-short talk), you might want to arrive after 3:30 or so. Rick will be here until everyone's books are signed (probably until around 5 or 5:30), so don't worry about showing up a little late.

3. If you'd like to avoid the event and reserve signed or inscribed copies of any of Rick's books -- paperback or hardback -- please call (713-524-8597) or e-mail the store before noon on Saturday. We'll be happy to get copies signed for you!

We currently have all of the books in the Percy Jackson series, both in hardback & paperback. Call (713-524-8597) or e-mail if you're worried about us running out before you get here:

The Lightning Thief (hardback, $17.95; paperback, $7.99)
Sea of Monsters (hardback, $17.95; paperback, $7.99)
The Titan's Curse (hardback, $17.95; paperback, $7.99)
The Battle of the Labyrinth (hardback, $17.99)

For those of you who don't know who Rick Riordan is (where have you been???), visit his website here.

Those parents who who like to try Rick's adult crime novels (with R-rated content) starring San Antonio private eye Tres Navarre, go here to learn more about this series. Highly recommended by David, Michelle, and Terry!

Other young adult author authors signing soon:

New York Times best-seller Robert B. Parker will sign (along with his new adult novels) his young adult mystery, The Boxer and the Spy (Putnam; $17.99), Friday, June 6, 6:00 p.m.
When a shy high school student's body is found washed up on the shore of a quiet New England beach town -- an apparent suicide -- fifteen-year-old Terry Novak doesn't know what to think. Something just doesn't add up, so he decides to do some investigating of his own with the help of his best friend, Abby. It doesn't take long before they learn that asking questions puts them in grave danger, and surviving is going to be a fight. Fortunately, Terry has been learning a thing or two about fighting, thanks to a retired boxer named George, who teaches the boy to use his head and always keep his feet set beneath him-lessons Terry takes to heart in more ways than one. He will need to.
Highly recommended by David!

#1 New York Times best-seller Ridley Pearson will make his second visit of 2008 to sign (along with his new adult thriller, Killer View) his recent young adult thriller, Steel Trapp (Disney; $16.99), Thursday, July 17, 6:30 p.m.
Fourteen-year-old Steven "Steel" Trapp sets off with his mom and their dog, Cairo, on a two-day Amtrak journey to compete in the National Science Competition in Washington, D.C. Steel is both blessed and cursed with a remarkable photographic memory -- just one look, and whatever he sees is imprinted for keeps. Trying to be a good Samaritan on the train, he unwittingly becomes embroiled in an ingenious international plot of kidnapping that may have links to terrorists. Federal agents (first seen in Pearson's adult thriller Cut and Run) track Steel and his newfound science geek accomplice, Kaileigh Augustine, as they attempt to put together the pieces of a complex puzzle. Using Steel's science contest invention -- and with the help of Cairo -- Steel and Kaileigh lead listeners on an action-packed chase adventure as they attempt to prevent the unimaginable, before it's too late. Highly recommended by David!

Anthony Award winner Chris Grabenstein will sign (along with his new John Ceepak thriller, Hell Hole) his first ghost story for kids (ages 9 & up), The Crossroads (Random House; $16.99), Wednesday, August 20, 6:30 p.m.
Zack, his dad, and new stepmother have just moved back to his father’s hometown, not knowing that their new house has a dark history. Fifty years ago, a crazed killer caused an accident at the nearby crossroads that took 40 innocent lives. He died when his car hit a tree in a fiery crash, and his malevolent spirit has inhabited the tree ever since. During a huge storm, lightning hits the tree, releasing the spirit, who decides his evil spree isn’t over... and Zack is directly in his sights. Award-winning thriller author Chris Grabenstein fills his first book for younger readers with the same humorous and spine-tingling storytelling that has made him a fast favorite with adults. Highly recommended by David!

I know this one's a bit early, but we're such teases... New York Times best-seller Jonathan Stroud -- author of the Bartimaeus Trilogy -- will sign his first young adult novel in three years, at Murder By The Book, sometime in early 2009. If you haven't read the Bartimaeus Trilogy, stop by the store and pick 'em all up. Highly recommended by nearly the entire store staff! Start with The Maulet of Samarkand (Hyperion; $8.99)... Nathaniel is a young magician with only one thing on his mind: revenge. As an apprentice to the great magician Underwood, Nathaniel is gradually being schooled in the traditional art of magic. All is well until he has a life-changing encounter with Simon Lovelace, a rising, star magician. When Simon brutally humiliates Nathaniel in front of everyone he knows, Nathaniel decides to speed up his magical education, teaching himself spells way beyond his years. Eventually, he masters one of the most difficult spells of all: summoning the all-powerful djinni, Bartimeus. But summoning Bartimeus and controlling him are two very different things -- and Nathaniel may be in way over his head.

To order or reserve any of these books (or anything else!), please call or e-mail Murder By The Book.

Recommended by Michelle!

Edgar Award-nominated Texas crime writer Ben Rehder dropped by to sign copies of his sixth (and final???) Blanco County novel, Holy Moly (St. Martin's Minotaur; $24.95). When televangelist Peter Boothe decides to build a megachurch on the banks of the Pedernales River, he thinks his biggest problem will be a few unhappy neighbors. However, when backhoe operator Hollis Farley unearths a rare fossil on the construction site -- a discovery that could lead to plenty of embarrassing Darwinian publicity -- the cover-up begins. Soon, Farley is dead, shot in the back with an arrow, and Game Warden John Marlin is asked to help with the case. What he and the local deputies find is a suspect list of biblical proportions: Could it have been the bitter geology professor? The private fossil collector with a somewhat unusual fetish? The minister’s wife who takes the Commandments rather lightly? Or the geriatric environmentalist with a mean right hook? Nothing is sacred in Rehder’s most laughable satire yet, a twisted tale of greed, corruption, infidelity, and, yes, paleontology.

Signed first editions available!
Part of Holy Moly is set in Houston! Highly recommended by Michelle! For fans of Carl Hiaasen! We also stock the first four in the series in paperback.

To order or reserve a copy of Holy Moly (or anything else!), please call or e-mail Murder By The Book.

Recommended by Wick!

Careless in Red (by Elizabeth George; Harper; $27.95) Scotland Yard's Thomas Lynley is back, in a stunning mystery in which he's caught in the middle of a seemingly perfect crime. Wick's highest recommendation! If you gave up on Elizabeth George at With No One as Witness (George fans need not be reminded what happened in that book), Wick says it's time to try her again... this is one her best! Also see what a Washington Post reviewer thought (warning: the review tells you what happened in that previous, infamous book).

To order or reserve a copy of Careless in Red (or anything else!), please call or e-mail Murder By The Book.

SIGNING NEXT AT MURDER BY THE BOOK!

[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!]

#1 New York Times best-seller
Rick Riordan
-- TOMORROW, Saturday, May 17, 3:00 p.m.
Please read top of newsletter for special rules & procedures for Rick's event.

The New York Times best-selling author will sign & discuss his 4th Percy Jackson novel, Battle of the Labyrinth (Hyperion; $17.99). Signing line numbers required to get books signed!

Percy isn't expecting his freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious acquaintance reappears, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to worse.

In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos's army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop them, Percy and his demigod friends will set out on a quest through the Labyrinth -- a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn. Full of humor and heart-pounding action, this fourth book promises to be their most thrilling adventure yet.

Can't make it to our event? Rick Riordan will also sign at Blue Willow Bookshop (Memorial Dr. @ Dairy Ashford) at 11:00 a.m. Or you can contact Murder By The Book to reserve signed/inscribed copies.

Best-selling crime writer
C. J. Box
-- next Tuesday, May 20, 6:30 p.m.
C. J. Box launches the national book tour for his new Joe Pickett novel at Murder By The Book, the day the book goes onsale!

The New York Times best-selling author of Blue Heaven will sign & discuss his new Joe Pickett novel, Blood Trail (Putnam; $24.95). Box returns with a vengeance in his eighth thriller featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett. Bold, fast-paced, and with the very controversial hook—hunters versus anti-hunting activists—Blood Trail is proof that C. J. Box continues to stake his place as one of our very brightest talents.

Michelle believes this is Box's BEST Joe Pickett to date!!!

It’s elk season in the Rockies, but this year a different kind of hunter is stalking a different kind of prey. When the call comes in on the radio, Joe Pickett can hardly believe his ears: game wardens have found a hunter dead at a camp in the mountains—strung up, gutted, and flayed, as if he were the elk he’d been pursuing. A spent cartridge and a poker chip lie next to his body. Ripples of horror spread through the community, and with a possibly psychotic killer on the loose Governor Rulon is forced to end the hunting season early for the first time in state history. Are the murders the work of a deranged anti-hunting activist or of a lone psychopath with a personal vendetta?

As always, Joe Pickett is the governor’s reluctant go-to man, and he’s put on the case to track the murderous hunter, as more bodies and poker chips continue to turn up.

Houston mystery novelist
Karen Hanson Stuyck
-- Thursday, May 22, 5:30 to 7:00 p.m., signing only, no talk!

Houston mystery writer Karen Hanson Stuyck will sign her new novel, A Novel Way to Die (Five Star; $25.95). This event will feature a cocktail meet-and-greet, but NO talk/reading.

When the body of best-selling mystery novelist Katherine March is discovered in her Austin home, the cause of death is presumed to be a heart attack. But an autopsy reveals that the author died of an injected overdose of a potent anti-anxiety drug -- a murder technique straight from Katherine's own novel. Katherine's daughter, Houston criminology professor Molly Patterson, must push aside her long-standing resentment of her secretive, workaholic mother to uncover what really happened.

#1 New York Times best-seller
John Sandford
-- Friday, May 23, 6:00 p.m.

The New York Times best-selling author will sign & discuss his new Lucas Davenport thriller, Phantom Prey (Putnam; $26.95). Signing numbers available with purchase of the new book from Murder By The Book. Details at the store.

"Sandford delivers the kind of riveting action that keeps thriller fans turning the pages." -- Publishers Weekly

Lucas Davenport is still working for Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), where he handles the most difficult -- and most violent -- crimes. This time, however, it’s his well-intentioned, surgeon wife, Weather, who drags him into one of the eeriest and most dangerous cases of his career. It begins when Weather’s friend, Alyssa Austen, returns to her empty home and is overwhelmed by an odd feeling. That feeling proves prophetic when she finds smears of blood in her kitchen… blood that turns out to be that of her daughter, Frances. Despite having no body, no leads, and a highly involved mother, Davenport steps in?while at the same time trying not to step on the toes of the investigator officially assigned to the case. Complete with subordinates and performance reviews, for Davenport is now the boss, he must pay attention and play the “politics” game now… a little bit, at least.

Frances Austen is an heiress who dabbled in Goth subculture, and when multiple Goths are found dead after Frances’s disappearance, Davenport is apparently after a serial killer targeting Goths. A woman known as “Fairy” (the nickname given to a particular pale, delicate Goth type) is the lead suspect. As her nickname suggests, she seems to flutter away every time Davenport gets close.

Pursuing the Fairy isn’t the only thing on Davenport’s plate, of course. He’s also part of a stake-out involving cop killers and drug dealers, which entails spying on a beautiful woman. (Life isn’t always so bad for Davenport.)

Sandford mixes startling plot twists, non-stop action, and witty, gritty dialogue -- classic thriller elements with modern, untraditional characters. In making friends with an enemy and realizing a family friend may not be, Davenport unravels a dark and daunting mystery, revealing the mind games people play, and the games the mind can play on people.

Read a brief interview with Sandford (The Birmingham News).

Sisters in Crime party!
-- Saturday, May 24, 4:30 p.m.

In celebration of the Sisters in Crime Texas Mystery Month, MBTB and The Final Twist (the Houston Chapter of the Sisters in Crime) present a panel discussion (on what comes first when writing a book), cocktail get-together, and book signing. Please come out and meet some of the newest authors on the Texas Gulf Coast mystery scene!

Scheduled to attend include:
Cornelia Amiri / L. B. Cobb / Bill Crider / D. L. Driver / Betty Gordon / Pauline Baird Jones / Weslynn McCallister (a.k.a. Jamie Cortland) / Charlotte & Mark Phillips / Rosemary Poole-Carter / Leann Sweeney / Gayle Wigglesworth... & more to come.

May is Texas Mystery Month! Celebrate it with these other Texas author signing events.

Signing after that:

Craig Johnson, Robert B. Parker, Lee Child, Meg Gardiner, Maggie Sefton, Elaine Viets, Thomas H. Cook, Don Winslow, Deborah Crombie, James Rollins, Jeffery Deaver, Out of the Gutter magazine party, Kathryn Casey, Rhys Bowen, Carolyn Haines, Dean James (writing as Honor Hartman), Mary Saums, Victor Gischler, Anthony Neil Smith, Jonathan Santlofer, Ridley Pearson, Stella Rimington, Brent Ghelfi, Brad Thor, Jeff Abbott, Daniel Silva, Robert Crais, 2008 Edgar Award winner Tana French, Barbara Colley, Diane Fanning, Duane Swierczynski, Chris Grabenstein, David Morrell, Joanna Carl. 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.

Mystery conventions...
 Crimefest -- June 5-8 (Bristol, UK) Jeff Lindsay, 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 Winspear, and 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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