In Reference to Murder

July Book Signing Roundup

It's time for the latest monthly roundup of author events at mystery book stores around the U.S. and Canada. The list is *slightly* shorter than usual, due to the Fourth of July holiday, but if you happen to be traveling and near one of the stores, be sure and catch these opportunities during the month to meet a new or favorite mystery author and buy a book to be signed. Be sure and check the web site links for all the book and event details, noting that schedules are always subject to change.

Note that some of the "big" names with books coming out each month aren't signing at independent stores but mostly at Borders or Barnes and Noble; for those tour dates, you can check out sites like booktour.com.

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Book Carnival
Orange, CA

Author: Robert Crais
Title: Chasing Darkness
Event Time:  Sunday, July 6, 1 p.m.

Author: Patricia Smiley
Title: Cool Cache
Event Time:  Saturday, July 12, 1 p.m.

Author: Denise Hamilton
Title: The Last Embrace
Event Time:  Saturday, July 19, 1 p.m.

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Book 'Em
South Pasadena, CA

Author: Robert Crais
Title:  Chasing Darkness
Event Time:  Saturday, July 5, 2:00 p.m.

Author: Tim Hallina
Title:  The Fourth Watcher
Event Time:  Sunday, July 20, 2:00 p.m.

Author: Denise Hamilton
Title: The Last Embrace
Event Time:  Saturday, July 26, 2:00 p.m.

Author: Christopher Reich
Title: Rules of Deception
Event Time:  Thursday, July 31, 5:00 p.m.

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Book Passage
Corte Madera, CA

Author: Rhys Bowen
Title: A Royal Pain
Event Time: Thursday, July 3rd, 7 p.m.

Author: Thomas H. Cook
Title:  Master of the Delta
Event Time: Sunday, July 6, 7 p.m.

Author: Robert Crais
Title: Chasing Darkness
Event Time: Thusday, July 10, 7 p.m.

Author: Zoe Ferraris
Title: Finding Nouf
Event Time: Saturday, July 12, 7 p.m.

Author: Stella Rimington
Title: Illegal Action
Event Time:  Monday, July 14, 7 p.m.

Author: Steven Saylor
Title:  The Triumph of Caesar
Event Time:  Tuesday, July 15, 6 p.m.

Author: Claire Johnson
Title:  Roux Morgue
Event Time:  Tuesday, July 22, 6 p.m.

Author: Susan Dunlap
Title: Hungry Ghosts: A Darcy Lott Mystery
Event Time:  Thusday, July 24, 6 p.m.

Authors: Simon Wood / Michelle Gagnon
Title: We All Fall Down / Boneyard
Event Time: Tuesday, July 29, 7 p.m.

Author: James Rollins
Title: Last Oracle
Event Time:  Wednesday, July 30, 7 p.m.

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Centuries and Sleuths
Forest Park, IL

Author: Doug M. Cummings
Title: Every Secret Crime
Event Time:  Sunday, July 13, 2008 2:00 p.m.

Authors: David J. Walker / Margot Justes
Title: Saving Paulo / A Hotel in Paris: A Minola Grey Mystery 
Event Time: Sunday, July 20, 2008 2:00 p.m.

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Cheesecake and Crime
Henderson, NV

Author: Francis Hamit
Title: Shenendoah Spy
Event Time:  Sunday, July 6, 2008 2:00 p.m.

Author: Rhys Bowen
Title: Tea Party & Hat Contest for the release of A Royal Pain
Event Time: Tuesday, July 8, 2008 5:00 p.m.

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Clayton Books
Clayton, CA

Authors: Michelle Gagnon, Simon Wood and Rhys Bowen
Title: Mystery Authors Panel and Discussion
Event Time: Thursday, July 17, 7 p.m. (also held Monday, July 14, 7pm at Copperfields, the Montgomery Village store and Wednesday, July 16 at 7 pm at Bay Books, the San Ramon store)

Author: James Rollins
Title:  Last Oracle & Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Event Time: Friday, July 25, 7 p.m.

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Clues Unlimited
Tucson AZ

Author: Brent Ghelfi
Title: Volk’s Shadow
Event Time: Tuesday, July 8th, time TBA

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Foul Play Books
Westerville, OH

Author:  Beverle Graves Myers
Title: The Iron Tongue of Midnight
Event Time: Wednesday, July 9th, 6 p.m.

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M is for Mystery
San Mateo, CA

Author: Rhys Bowen
Title: A Royal Pain
Event Time: Tuesday, July 1st at 7:00 PM

Authors: James Rollins / Denise Hamilton
Title: The Last Oracle  & Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull / The Last Embrace
Event Time:  Wednesday, July 2nd at 7:00 PM

Author: Thomas H. Cook
Title:  Master of the Delta
Event Time: Sunday, July 6th at 1:30 PM

Author: David Wroblewski
Title: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Event Time: Monday, July 7th or Tuesday July 8th (drop-by signing only)

Author: Robert Crais
Title: Chasing Darkness
Event Time: Thursday, July 10th (drop-by signing only)

Author: Stephen L. Carter
Title: Palace Council
Event Time: Thursday, July 10th (drop-by signing only)

Author: Deborah Grabien
Title: Rock and Roll Never Forgets
Event Time: Saturday, July 12th at 2:00 PM

Author: Stella Rimington
Title: Illegal Action
Event Time: Tuesday, July 15th at 7:00 PM

Author: Timothy Hallinan
Title: The Fourth Watcher
Event Time: Thursday, July 17th at 7:00 PM

Author: Christopher Reich
Title: Rules of Deception
Event Time: Thursday, July 17th (drop-by signing only)

Author: Nicole Mary Kelby
Title: Murder at the Bad Girl's Bar and Grill
Event Time: Tuesday, July 22nd at 7:00 PM

Authors: Michelle Gagnon / Simon Wood
Title: Boneyard / We All Fall Down
Event Time:  Wednesday, July 23rd at 7:00 PM

Author: Brent Ghelfi
Title: Volk's Shadow
Event Time: Thursday, July 24th at 7:00 PM

Authors: Marc Lecard / Susan Dunlap
Title: Tiny Little Troubles / Hungry Ghosts
Event Time:  Saturday, July 26th at 2:00 PM

Author: Jeff Abbott
Title: Collision
Event Time: Wednesday, July 30th at 7:00 PM

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Murder by the Book
Portland, OR

Author: Aaron Elkins
Title:  Uneasy Relations
Event Time: Sunday, July 13th, 5 pm

Author: Craig Johnson
Title:  Another Man's Moccasins: A Walt Longmire Mystery
Event Time: Friday, July 18th, 6 pm

Author: Rhys Bowen
Title:  A Royal Pain
Event Time: Sunday, July 27th, 5 pm

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Murder on the Beach
Delray Beach, FL

Author: Barbara Fox
Title: The Dark of Day
Event Time: Thursday, July 10, at 7 pm

Author: N. M. Kelby
Title: Murder at the Bad Girl's Bar and Grill
Event Time: Friday, July 11 at 7 pm

Author: Brad Thor
Title: Last Patriot
Event Time: Thursday, July 17 at 7 pm

Author: Thomas Cavanagh
Title: Prodigal Son
Event Time: Friday, July 18 at 7 pm

Author: Chris Grabenstein
Title: Hell Hole
Event Time: Tuesday, July 29, at 7 pm

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Mysteries to Die For
Thousand Oaks, CA

Author: Craig Johnson
Title: Another Man's Moccasins
Event Time: Wednesday, July 2, 12:30 p.m.

Author:  Rhys Bowen
Title: A Royal Pain
Event Time: Saturday, July 5, 1:00 p.m.

Author:  Robert Crais
Title: Chasing Darkness
Event Time: Wednesday, July 9, 7:00 p.m.

Author:  Michael Haskins
Title: Chasin' the Wind
Event Time: Saturday, July 12, 1:00 p.m.

Author:  Brett Battles
Title: The Deceived
Event Time: Saturday, July 19, 1:00 p.m.

Author:  Brent Ghelfi
Title: Volk's Shadow
Event Time: Wednesday, July 23, 1:00 p.m.

Author:  James Scott Bell
Title: Try Darkness
Event Time: Saturday, July 26, 1:00 p.m.

Author:  Timothy Hallinan
Title: The Fourth Watcher
Event Time: Saturday, July 26, 2:30 p.m.

Author:  Adrienne Barbeau
Title: Vampyhres of Hollywood
Event Time: Tuesday, July 29, 7:00 p.m.         

Author:  Christopher Reich
Title: Rules of Deception
Event Time: Thursday, July 31, 1:00 p.m.

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Mysterious Bookshop
New York, NY

Authors: Harper Collins/Thrillerfest Party (Jonathan Santlofer, Sarah Langan, Tasha Alexander,Tim Hallinan, Andrew Gross, James Rollins, Kathryn Fox, Andrea Kane, Jordan Dane, Steve Martini, Mario Acevedo, William Dietrich, Alafair Burke, Jonathan Hayes, Vicki Petterssen and Sean Chercover)
Event Time:  Friday, July 11th, 5:30-7:30

Author: Joe Sanchez
Title: True Blue
Event Time: Thursday, July 17th, time TBA

Author: Robert Crais
Title:  Chasing Darkness
Event Time: Tuesday, July 22nd, 6:30 p.m.

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Mysterious Galaxy
San Diego, CA

Author: Robert Crais
Title: Chasing Darkness
Event Time: Monday, July 7, 2008 1:30 p.m.

Author: Thomas H. Cook
Title: Master of the Delta
Event Time: Tuesday, July 8, 2008 7:00 p.m.

Author: Rhys Bowen
Title: A Royal Pain
Event Time: Sunday, July 13, 2008 2:00 p.m.

Author:  Michele Scott
Title: A Vintage Murder
Event Time: Sunday, July 13, 2008 2:01 p.m.

Author: James Scott Bell
Title: Try Darkness
Event Time: Friday, July 18, 2008 7:00 p.m.

Author: Ona Russell
Title: The Natural Selection
Event Time: Saturday, July 19, 2008 2:00 p.m.

Author: Denise Hamilton
Title: The Last Embrace
Event Time: Saturday, July 19, 2008 4:00 p.m.

Author: Simon Wood
Title: We All Fall Down
Event Time: Sunday, July 20, 2008 2:00 p.m.

Author: Michelle Gagnon
Title: Boneyard
Event Time: Sunday, July 20, 2008 2:00 p.m.

Author: Neil Gaima
Title: The Dangerous Alphabet
Event Time: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 7:00 p.m.

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Mystery Bookstore
Los Angeles, CA

Author: Craig Johnson
Title: Another Man's Moccasins
Event Time: Tuesday, July 1 at 6:30 p.m.

Author: Rhys Bowen
Title: A Royal Pain
Event Time: Saturday, July 5 at 3:00 p.m.

Author: Robert Crais
Title: Chasing Darkness
Event Time: Saturday, July 5 at 5:00 p.m.

Author: Thomas Cook
Title:  Master of the Delta
Event Time: Wednesday, July 9 at 7:00 p.m.

Author: Evan Kilgore / Simon Wood
Title: Children of Black Valley / We All Fall Down
Event Time: Saturday, July 12 at 2:00 p.m.

Authors: Michelle Gagnon / Michael Haskins
Title: Boneyard / Chasin' the Wind
Event Time: Saturday, July 19 at 2:00 p.m.

Author: Tim Hallinan
Title: The Fourth Watcher
Event Time:  Saturday, July 19 at 4:00 p.m.

Author: Brent Ghelfi
Title: Volk's Shadow
Event Time: Wednesday, July 23 at 7:00 p.m.

Author: Denise Hamilton
Title: The Last Embrace
Event Time: Saturday, July 26 (time TBA)

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Mystery Lovers Bookshop
Oakmond, PA

Author: Stella Rimington
Title: Illegal Action
Event Time: Saturday, July, 12 at 10 am

Author: N.M. Kelby
Title: The Bad Girls Bar & Grill
Event Time: Saturday, July, 19 at 10 am

Author: Tana French
Title:  The Likeness
Event Time: Friday, July 25 at 7 pm

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Mystery One
Miwaukee, WI

Author: Brad Thor
Title: The Last Patriot
Event Time:  Monday, July 7th at 7PM

Author: Robert Crais
Title: Chasing Darkness
Event Time:  Monday, July 14th at 5PM

Author: Brent Ghelfi
Title: Volk's Shadow
Event Time:  Thursday, July 17th at 7PM

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Once Upon a Crime Books
Minneapolis, MN

Author: Julie Kramer
Title: Stalking Susan
Event Time: Tuesday, July 15, 7 p.m.

Author: Thomas Greanias
Title: The Atlantis Prophecy
Event Time: Wednesda, July 16, 7 p.m.

Author: Victoria Houston
Title: Dead Hot Shot
Event Time: Thursday, July 17, 7 p.m.

Author: Brent Ghelfi
Title: Volk's Shadow
Event Time: Saturday, July 19, 12 noon

Author: Carl Brookins
Title: The Case of the Greedy Lawyers
Event Time: Thursday, July 24, 1 p.m.

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Poisoned Pen
Scottsdale, AZ

Authors:  David Hewson / Denise Hamilton
Title: Garden of Evil /  Last Embrace
Event Time:  Tuesday, July 1, 07:00 pm

Author:  Brent Ghelfi
Title: Volk's Shadow
Event Time: Wednesday, July 2, 06:00 pm (prepublication party held off-site)

Author:  Thomas Cook
Title: Master of the Delta
Event Time: Sunday, July 7, 7 pm

Author:  Rhys Bowen
Title: Her Royal Spyness & A Royal Pain
Event Time: Saturday, July 12, 5 pm

Author:  Stephen J Cannell
Title:  Signs At First Sight
Event Time: Tuesday, July 15, 7 pm

Author:   David Rosenfelt
Title:  Don't Tell a Soul
Event Time: Thursday, July 17, 7 pm

Author:  Stella Rimington
Title: Illegal Action
Event Time: Friday, July 18, 7 pm

Author:  Ridley Pearson
Title: Killer View
Event Time: Tuesday, July 22, 7 pm

Author:   Daniel Silva
Title: Moscow Rules
Event Time: Saturday, July 26, 6:00 pm

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Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Seattle, WA

Author:  Aaron Elkins
Title: Uneasy Relations
Event Time:  Thursday, July 10, noon

Author: Thomas Cook
Title: Master of the Delta
Event Time: Friday, July 11, noon,

Author:  Yasmine Galenorn
Title: Dragon Wytch
Event Time: Saturday, July 12, noon

Author: Craig Johnson
Title: Another Man's Moccasins
Event Time: Wednesday, July 16, noon

Author: Neil Low
Title: Thick as Thieves
Event Time: Saturday, July 19, noon

Author: J.A. Jance
Title: Damage Control
Event Time: Tuesday, July 22, noon

Author: Robert Crais
Title: Chasing Darkness
Event Time:  Friday, July 25, noon

Author:  Brent Ghelfi / Michelle Gagnon / Simon Wood
Title: Volk's Shadow / Boneyard / We All Fall Down
Event Time: Saturday, July 26, noon

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Uncle Edgar's Mystery Bookstore
Minneapolis, MN

Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Title: Undead and Unworthy
Event Time: July 1, 6 pm

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Vrooman's
Pasadena, CA

Author: James Rollins
Title: The Last Oracle
Event Time:  Tuesday, July 1, 7 p.m.

Author: Robert Crais
Title: Chasing Darkness
Event Time:  Wednesday, July 2, 7 p.m.

Author: Harley Jane Kozak, Sue Ann Jaffarian, Kathryn Lilley, & Patricia Smiley
Title:  Vroman's Bookstore and Sisters in Crime present the Serious Side of Sassy Sleuths
Event Time: Saturday, July 5 12 noon

Author: Rhys Bowen
Title: A Royal Pain
Event Time:  Monday, July 7, 7 p.m.

Author: Stephen L. Carter
Title: Palace Council
Event Time:  Friday, July 11, 7 p.m.

Author: Denise Hamilton
Title: The Last Embrace
Event Time: Thursday, July 24, 7 p.m.

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END

New Mystery & Crime Fiction Novels Coming in July

Here's a partial representative listing of new works in all subgenres, from cozies to thrillers, arranged alphabetically by author (and check out the links at the bottom for more, as they're too numerous to list here):

• Donna Andrews: Cockatiels at Seven (July 8, 2008). In this 9th outing of the humorous Meg Lanslow series, Meg investigates the disappearance of a friend.
• Rhys Bowen: A Royal Pain (July 1, 2008). The second in the Lady Georgie "Royal Spyness" series, with Georgie navigating royal romantic intrique and the discovery of a body in the bookshop.
• Suzanne Brockmann: Into the Fire (July 22, 2008). This is the 13th novel surrounding Troubleshooters Incorporated, the U.S. Navy SEAL Team Sixteen.
• James Lee Burke: Swan Peak (July 8, 2008). Louisiana lawman Dave Robicheaux is back in the 17th novel in the series, this time in the brand new setting of the rugged Montana mountains.
• Robert Crais: Chasing Darkness (July 1, 2008). In the latest Elvis Cole thriller, Elvis was a hero when he cleared an innocent man of a murder charge. But when that innocent man is found dead three years later holding photos of the victim, Elvis is the one on trial.
• Mary Daheim: Vi Agra Falls: A Bed-and-Breakfast Mystery (July 29, 2008) In #24 of this series, innkeeper Judith McMonigle Flynn's worst nightmare comes true when husband Joe's first wife moves back into the neighborhood, bringing along her newest spouse, a former minor-league baseball player.
• Aaron Elkins: Uneasy Relations (July 1, 2008). The 15th in the series with professor of forensics, Gideon Oliver, a.k.a. the Skeleton Detective, this time in Gibraltar, where he tries to solve the mystery of a Neanderthal skeleton and two murders.
• Mary Anna Evans: Findings (July 10, 2008). The 4th Faye Longchamp mystery has Faye conducting archaeological work on her family's property, when a good friend is murdered and Faye's field notes stolen.
• P. L. Gaus: Separate from the World (July 8, 2008). In the 6th novel of this series, Professor Michael Branden receives an unexpected visit from an Amish man who claims his brother, a dwarf like himself, has been murdered.
• Chris Grabenstein: Hell Hole, John Ceepak (July 22, 2008). In this fourth outing of John Ceepak and his rookie sidekick, Danny Boyle, of the Sea Haven, N.J., police force, they look into the apparent suicide of an Iraqi war vet whose body is discovered in a men's room at a Garden State Parkway rest stop.
• Kerry Greenwood: Queen of the Flowers (July 10, 2008). Queen of the Flowers is the fourteenth book in the sereis featuring Phryne Fisher, a wealthy aristocrat who lives in St Kilda, Melbourne in 1928.
• J. A. Konrath: Fuzzy Navel, Jack Daniels (July 8, 2008). In the 5th humorous adventure featuring Chicago Police Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels novel, a group of vigilantes on a murderous spree decide to take down a cop and the people she cares about.
• Ralph McInerny: Ash Wednesday (June 24, 2008).  With parishioners up in arms, Father Dowling has to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a conviction is no proof of guilt in Ash Wednesday, the newest addition to Ralph McInerny’s beloved mystery series.
• Charles O'Brien: Assassins' Rage  (July 17, 2008). In this latest in the acclaimed French Revolution series, Anne Cartier observes a mob storming the Bastille as the city revolts and the kings authority vanishes; when several royal officers are assassinated, Anne's husband, Colonel Paul de Saint-Martin, is called upon to investigate.
• Stella Rimington: Illegal Action (July 1, 2008). This is the third entry in Stella Rimington’s series of espionage thrillers featuring the fiercely intelligent and ambitious MI5 officer, Liz Carlyle.
• Nora Roberts: Tribute (July 8, 2008). The latest from Roberts is a standalone work set in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and features former child star Cilla McGowan who tries to determine whether her movie-star grandmother, the Marilyn Monroe-like Janet Hardy, committed suicide or was murdered.
• Trevor Scott: The Cold Edge (July 19, 2008). In this Jake Adams thriller, Jake is vacationing in Oslo with his Interpol-agent girlfriend Anna, when he's called back into the Network by his old Air Force commander and former CIA officer to retrieve the remains of a former officer killed there almost 20 years ago.
• Daniel Silva: Moscow Rules (July 22, 2008). In the 8th of the Gabriel Allon series, the death of a journalist leads Allon to Russia, where he deals with a former KGB colonel-turned-arms-dealer who's about to deliver Russia’s most sophisticated weapons to al-Qaeda.
• Linda Sole: A Different Kind of Justice (July 17, 2008). In what is billed as the "final Sarah Beaufort mystery," a series of murders grab Sarah Beauforts attention while she's visiting her mother in prohibition-era New York.
• Will Thomas: The Black Hand (July 1, 2008). In this fifth historcial mystery with enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his assistant Thomas Llewelyn, an Italian assassin's body is found floating in a barrel in Victorian London's East End.

For more of the new hardcover, trade paperback, and paperback releases (as well as reissues), check out the following sites from The Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, Books N Bytes, and New Mysteries.

Noir at the Bar, Part Deux

Peter Rozovsky's Detectives Beyond Borders, in cooperation with The Tritone in Philly, is offering its second installment in the Noir at the Bar series, a week from tomorrow (Sunday, July 6th) at 6pm. The guest for this outing is Jonathan McGoran, who writes as D.H. Dublin, who will read from his latest forensic thriller novel, Freezer Burn, which features as protagonist the forensic investigator Madison Cross. As Peter so eloquently puts, "Come for the reading, stay for the music, the mahi-mahi burgers, and the fried Mars bars." What I want to know is, are they better than fried Snickers?

A Farewell to Tape

Galleycat has a picture and piece on the Hachette Book Group audiobooks team throwing a goodbye
party for books on tape after the release of James Patterson's Sail, their final title to be offered on cassettes. Henceforth, they will issue audiobooks only on CDs and as digital downloads. The article went on to point out that while the Association of American Publishers reports that sales of all audiobooks were up 1.7 percent in the month of April, they're still down 13 percent for the first four months of 2008, one of the most sharply declining categories in publishing.

And speaking of downloads, the New York Times recently took at look at e-Books ("The e-Book Test: Do Electronic Versions Deter Piracy?"). Although it's geared towards nonfiction, it has interesting  repercussion for fiction books, as well. Galleycat weighed in on that one, too, noting that when St. Martin's provided new subscribers to its mystery newsletter with PDF downloads of the first two novels in Spencer-Fleming's series on the eve of the publication of her sixth, I Shall Not Want, thousands of readers took the downloads, and that the first week sales for I Shall Not Want were double that of her previous hardcover, last year's All Mortal Flesh.

A couple of media notes: Variety reported that Mandalay Independent Pictures has acquired screen rights to Salvation Boulevard, the upcoming mystery novel by Larry Beinhart (George Ratliff will write the script and direct).

And Smoke and Mirrors Magazine reported that criminal lawyer turned crime writer Chris Nyst (who, as the article says has been "dubbed Australia’s answer to John Grisham") has scripted and will direct a new crime film called Crooked Business to be released in September of this year.

And We're Back Again

Yesterday I posted some recent crime fiction tidbits from European newspapers, so today it's back in the USA (and Canada) with news on this side of the Pond:

From the Toronto North Shore News comes an article on John Connolly (ironic, since he's Irish -- maybe I should have included him with yesterday's posting). The author talks about his latest novel The Reapers. "I really wanted to write about the way men relate to each other," he says. "There's a law in physics that says the thing is changed in the observation; you can't plot the position of something and say its speed, because you have to stop it to take its position. And I think men are a bit like that: when you put them in the company of women, their behaviour changes slightly."

The Post Star of Glen Falls, NY, gave its recommendations for summer mystery reading: Bangkok 8 by John Burdett, Neon Rain by James Lee Burke, Hitler's Peace by Philip Kerr, and Sun Storm by Asa Larson.

The Tampa Bay News Tribune wrote that the Gerber Baby has a new book. As hard as it may be to see now, octagenarian Ann Turner Cook was once the model for the chubby-cheeked commercial icon. She just published her fourth mystery novel, Micanopy in Shadow.

Last December, a new anthology edited by Otto Penzler was released, featuring mystery stories written by members of the legendary literary circle 1920s, the the Algonquin Round Table. The Classic Mysteries Podcast talked about via an online blog link here.

Publishers Weekly printed a web-exclusive interview with Lawrence Block about his latest novel starring Keller, the laconic, stamp-collecting hitman, titled Hit and Run.

The Boston Globe Online reviews British mystery author Morag Joss's latest, The Night Following. (OK, so this is a European subject, too, but there *is* a lot of global cross-polination in crime fiction these days—a very good thing, in my opinion).

And Sarah Weinman, in the Los Angeles Times, reviewed Finding Nouf, the fiction work by San Francisco novelist Zoe Ferraris which developed from a stay in Saudi Arabia for several years after the first Gulf War.

News From Across the Pond

The Irish Independent takes a look at rising crime fiction writers from Ireland (although I would add that some of these authors aren't just "rising," they've already arrived and checked into their 5-star hotels), including Declan Hughes, Tana French, John Connolly, Arlene Hunt, and Andrew Nugent. Arlene Hunt thinks part of the appeal of Irish crime writing is its realism. "People can relate to the characters," Hunt says. "It's not just about escapism; they like to hear the spoken word and the different accents and not just read about glamorous characters gambling in casinos in the south of France." Connolly sees a bright future ahead for Irish crime fiction, saying that, while a lot of modern crime fiction adheres to conventional formats and constructs, this isn't the case with Irish crime writing, where "interesting things are happening. The great hunt in British publishing is to find the Irish Ian Rankin."

The Guardian profiled Lee Child as a British author who "beat the Americans at their own game" (pointing out that a planned Hollywood film adaptation could turn his hard-boiled creation of Jack Reacher into the next Bond or Bourne). As to why Child chose to write an American character who lives in the U.S., he said "America suited the book I wanted to write much more than Britain. British crime stories tend to be very internal, psychological, claustrophobic, very limited in terms of geography. If you think about Ian Rankin, it's a small area of Edinburgh. I wanted to do something that was more wide-ranging in terms of geography, empty spaces, distant horizons."

The UK's Independent talked with author Karin Slaughter, a female crime writer who "doesn't flinch from extreme violence." As the article states, it's the victim's perspective that matters to Slaughter, who vividly remembers the trauma caused by the notorious Atlanta child murders, in which 29 African-American boys were raped and murdered, in her own neighbourhood, when she was nine. "I was living in this middle-class suburb really insulated from the world then suddenly my life changed and we had to check in with our parents and couldn't go down certain roads and there were all these new limitations," she recalls. "It really affected me."

The Manchester Evening News had an article on Eric Allis, who began writing a crime fiction novel with co-author Bruce Kennedy Jones, an investigative journalist, while Allis was in prison serving time for bank theft. A career criminal, Allis turned his life around by educating himself while incarcerated and becoming a journalist himself. The Allis/Joned novel, The Last Straight Face was subsequently published, and the duo are working on a sequel.

And the Inverness Courier featured Scottish crime writer Grace Monroe, who dedicated a debut book to the Law Society of Scotland "without which this book would not have been possible" (a tongue-in-cheek reference to a falling out with the Society which led to a career change). Grace Monroe is actually the work of two authors, Maria Thomson and journalist Linda Watson-Brown who have just published their second thriller. As to the falling out, it was a very public case in which accusations that they were abusing the legal aid system led to the Maria Thomson and her husband losing their home and law business and travelling to the other side of the world to Hawaii to get away from their problems in Scotland. The Thomsons were cleared of any wrong-doing, but not before Scotland's most expensive defamation action and Maria staging her own hunger strike in a bid to clear her name.

May Bestsellers

The Independent Mystery Booksellers' Association (IMBA) released the listing of bestselling novels for May. It's so rare to see an anthology on these types of bestseller lists, that it's a pleasure to note the Mystery Writers of America's The Blue Religion, edited by Michael Connelly, is in the Top 10 Hardcovers:

Hardcovers

1   - Elizabeth George, CARELESS IN RED, Harper
2   - Charlaine Harris, FROM DEAD TO WORSE, Ace
3   - John Sandford, PHANTOM PREY, Putnam
4   - Alan Gordon, MONEYLENDER OF TOULOUSE, St. Martin's
4   - CJ Box, BLOOD TRAIL, Putnam
6   - Sharan Newman, THE SHANGHAI TUNNEL, Forge
7   - Michael Connelly, ed., MWA PRESENTS THE BLUE RELIGION, Little Brown
8   - Steven Saylor, TRIUMPH OF CAESAR, St. Martin's 
8   - Harlan Coben, HOLD TIGHT, Dutton -
10 - Tom Rob Smith,  CHILD 44, Grand Central

Softcovers
1 - Jo Dereske, INDEX FOR MURDER, Harper
2 - Elaine Viets, MURDER WITHOUT RESERVATIONS, Signet
3 - Lorna Bartlett, MURDER IS BINDING, Berkley
4 - Donna Leon, SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN, Penguin
5 - Hannah Dennison, A VICKI HILL EXCLUSIVE, Berkley 
5 - Charlaine Harris, ALL TOGETHER DEAD, Ace
7 - Jane K. Cleland, CONSIGNED TO DEATH, St. Martin's
7 - Barbara Cleverly, TUG OF WAR, Delta
9 - Tana French, IN THE WOODS, Penguin 
9 - Margery Allingham, FLOWERS FOR THE JUDGE, Felony & Mayhem
9 - Marc Acito, ATTACK OF THE THEATRE PEOPLE, Broadway
9 - Alan Gordon, THIRTEENTH NIGHT, Mystery Company

More Media Mystery

Crime novelist and screenwriter Lynda La Plante (best known for the award-winning TV series, Prime Suspect starring Helen Mirren), was awarded a United Kingdom CBE Medal as part of the Queen's Birthday Honors List.

The War on Crime radio show featured as guests crime writer Diane Fanning, discussing the case of a mother who murdered her children in Plano TX and now wants to be released from a mental hospital; Kelly Siegler, a Texas prosecutor and Women in Crime Ink Contributor who talked about that same case, and Gil Alba, a law enforcement expert and P.I. who dicussed the tragic Oklahoma child slayings.

The Lifetime Movie Network's recent broadcast of The Capture of the Green River Killer, LMN’s March 2008 TV adaptation of Dave Reichert’s book, was apparently a huge success. The two-part movie smashed through past ratings records, attracting more than 2 million viewers to a network whose normal primetime audience is less than 500,000.

NPR aired a piece on how murder-mystery audiobooks help keep truck drivers awake, as part of its summer series called "Roadside Reviews," in which truckers will offer their recommendations of the best and worst books for listening.

NPR also reported on the new move afoot to try to change the decades-old publishing model of returning unsold books, as spearheaded by a new imprint at Harper Collins.

And "Masterpiece Theater" on PBS is broadcasting a summer lineup of British crime thrillers, starting with  the first of three “Inspector Lewis” films, followed by episodes of "Foyle's War," "The Inspector Lynley Series," and "Sally Lockhart."

The Book Sales Roller Coaster

According to the Association of American Publishers, book sales in March declined 11% to $462.1 million (the bad news), although sales for the year to date rose 1.3% to $1.71 billion (the good news). It probably has to do with the increased gas and food costs, although there's no way of knowing at this point. The AAP also indicated which types of books were selling best:

Stronger categories:

• E-books rose 58.9% (with sales of $4.4 million).
• Children's/YA paperbacks were up 9.1% ($51.3 million).
• Adult paperbacks sales rose 6.2% ($138.5 million).
• El-Hi basal and supplemental K-12 gained 3.9% ($153.3 million).
• Children's/YA hardcovers increased 2.4% ($48.1 million).

Weaker categories:

• Audiobooks fell 44% ($11 million).
• Adult hardcovers were down 25.9% ($103.1 million).
• Religious books decreased 25.5% ($47.6 million).
• University press paperbacks dropped 14% ($3.7 million).
• Adult mass market declined 10.9% ($67.4 million).
• University press hardcovers fell 5.7% ($5.9 million).
• Professional and Scholarly books were down 4.6% ($46.8 million)

So what's a bookseller to do? During the BEA panel "Evolution of In-Store Events: From in-Store to Online," Book Passage's Karen West said they were having to revamp their web site presence (e.g. elements like author appearances, book clubs and other events). Fellow panelists and booksellers Dave Weich and Charles Stillwagon talked about some of the steps they're taking to harness the power of the Internet to sell books, including blogs (such as one that has authors contribute leading up to their store appearances), as well as outreach on general sites such as MySpace.com and YouTube.com and book/author-focused ones like RedRoom.com and GoodReads.com. As to whether that translates into more sales, it remains to be seen. Need more ideas? Powell's Bookstore even offers a film series. As Karen West added, "Bookstores are about community, and the current social climate is making more events possible," West added. After experiencing a "lack of intimacy in the 1980s and '90s, people are now looking to connect," she said. "Offer them a reason to come."

And maybe make it worth the extra $5 in gas it will take them to get there...

Mystery Melange for a Friday

Author Robert Walker, the author of 40 books (paperback thrillers like Shadows in the White City, Fatal Instinct and Cold Edge), talked with the Charleston Gazette about growing up in Chicago. The son of a WWII vet and a hard-drinking trucker driver, Walker was "one of those guys yelling into a bar, asking if my father was in there." When he became interested in a writing career in the 1980s, he sent a letter to 10 best-selling author and asked them how they did what they did and how could he get books on the best-seller list? "Dick Francis called me from an airport," he laughed. "I didn't learn anything from him, but it was great to talk to him." Horror novelist Dean R. Koontz sent him a six-page letter, gave him advice on what to read for pointers and told him to move back toward reality-based horror fiction (no surprise), although it taught him to pay attention to trends. Still, as he points out, "I love writing, but I wouldn't wish this kind of life on anybody," he said. "The hardest part isn't the writing. The hardest part is keeping a steady income."

The Times Online featured an article on Elizabeth George. She began writing at the age of 7; the family were “quite poor” and not well educated, but her mother gave her an old Remington typewriter. She got herself to university and into the teaching profession, producing three crime novels before she was accepted for publication. Despite her subsequent success, she admits to having been in therapy, mostly due to personal relationship issues. “Happiness is an inside job - it takes a long time to learn that. I was pretty frightened to strike out on my own, but it shouldn't be such a big deal.” She was single for four years before meeting her current partner, a retired firefighter. “Between husbands I discovered that I quite enjoyed my own company.”

The Times Online also offered up a look at Ian Rankin's next novel, the first non-Rebus outing since that protagonist was killed off.  Rankin told the Times that he hopes to be able to use the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August as a launchpad for an Edinburgh-set comedy thriller, which is to be formally published the following month.

James Fallows wrote in a recent Atlantic article about the Hard Case crime fiction series which he says "is justly celebrated."

The Times Union has a Q&A with Julia Spencer-Fleming. In response as to why she, as a lawyer, didn't want to write legal thrillers, she said, "When I started writing, I was trained as a lawyer. My husband at the time was a lawyer. Almost all of our friends were lawyers, and the last thing I wanted to do was spend my fictional hours with more lawyers. It bored me. And when I started my first book, back in 1998 or 1999, there were already a number of really good legal mysteries and legal thrillers. I didn't feel that there was anything new that I could bring to the field."

The Dallas Morning News profiled Elaine Viets who fought back from a massive stroke in 2007. Although she had a career as a career as a print and broadcast journalist, Viets does research for her minimum-wage Dead-End-Job Series, such as worked in a dress shop (until the owner was indicted and it closed), clerking for a year at a bookstore in Hollywood, Fla., to pay the mortgage after her husband fell ill, and working the phones as a telemarketer selling septic-tank cleaner. "I was really awful," she says. An insomniac, she writes between 3 and 6 a.m. on a computer, then sleeps until 11 a.m. and revises her work that afternoon. "I must be part vampire," she says.

In a recent interview, British crime writer Mo Hayder talked about going from a runaway (she wanted to be a punker) to being a bestselling author. Hayder is liberal in view of her past drug use and says it's not drugs that kill people, it's the lifestyle that gets attached to it. "I imagine a lot of the time it's that they're (drug takers) not looking after themselves and they're living on the edge of life and they're marginalised anyway."

And finally, the Ventura County Star writes about Janet Evanovich and her visit to Mysteries to Die For bookstore in Thousand Oaks. "It's one of my favorite places," said Evanovich, who visited the store often to sign books before she became a best-selling author. "As I became more popular, little independent bookstores couldn't accommodate crowds, so I make these sort of clandestine stops. It's more fun. At big signings, I don't get a chance to talk to people."