In Reference to Murder

Book Signing Roundup

Here's the latest monthly roundup of author booksigning events at mystery book stores around the U.S. and Canada (for dates at chain stores and other venues, check out booktour.com and similar sites).

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Aunt Agatha's
Ann Arbor, MI

Author:  Eric Stone
Title:  Shanghaied
Event Time:  Saturday, July 11 at 3 p.m.

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Big Sleep Books
St. Louis, MO

Author:  Eric Stone
Title:  Shanghaied
Event Time:  Saturday, July 18, 1pm

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Book Carnival
Orange, CA

Author:  David Morrell
Title:  The Shimmer
Event Time:  Sunday, July 19th, 11 a.m.

Author:  Megan Abbott / Theresa Schwegel
Title:  Bury Me Deep / Last Known Address
Event Time:  Sunday, July 19th, 1 p.m.

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Book Passage
Corte Madera, CA

Author:  Rhys Bowen
Title: Royal Flush 
Event Time: Wed, Jul 08, 2009, 7:00 PM  

Author:  Gregg Hurwitz
Title:  Trust No One
Event Time: Thu, Jul 09, 2009, 7:00 PM

Author:  Tim Maleeny
Title: Jump
Event Time:  Mon, Jul 13, 2009, 7:00 PM

Author: John Lescroart 
Title: A Plague of Secrets 
Event Time:  Thu, Jul 16, 2009, 4:30 PM

Author:  Katherine Neville
Title: The Fire 
Event Time:  Thu, Jul 16, 2009, 7:30 PM 

Author: James Rollins 
Title:  The Doomsday Key
Event Time: Fri, Jul 17, 2009, 6:00 PM

Author: Laurie R. King
Title:  The Language of Bees
Event Time:  Fri, Jul 17, 2009, 8:00 PM

Authors:  Josh Bazell / Jason Kersten / Tim Maleeny
Title:  Beat the Reaper /  The Art of Making Money: The Story of a Master Counterfeiter / Jump 
Event Time: Sat, Jul 18, 2009, 6:30 PM

Author: Eric Stone 
Title: Shanghaied  
Event Time:  Fri, Jul 31, 2009, 7:00 PM

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Booked for Murder
Madison, WI

Authors:  Meredith Cole / Stefanie Pintoff
Title:  Posed for Murder / In the Shadow of Gotham
Event Time: 6pm Thursday, July 9

Author: Eric Stone
Title: Shanghaied
Event Time:  6pm Thursday, July 16

Author:  Kenneth Andersen
Title:  To Keep a Secret
Event Time:  2pm Saturday, July 25 

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Centuries and Sleuths
Forest Park, IL

Authors:  Jane Cleland / Rosemary Harris
Title:   Killer Keepsakes / The Big Dirt Nap
Event Time:  Thursday, July 9, 2009 7:00 p.m. 

Authors:  J.A. Konrath / Jeff Strand  / Henry Perez
Title:  Cherry Bomb / Pressure / Killing Red
Event Time:  Sunday, July 12, 2009 2:00 p.m.

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Clues Unlimited
Tucson, AZ

Author:  Eric Stone
Title: Shanghaied 
Event Time: Wednesday, July 1st at 7:00  

Author: Mark P. Sadler  
Title:  Blood on his Hands
Event Time: Saturday, July 11th, time TBA

Author: John Maddox Roberts
Title: The King’s Gambit 
Event Time:  Sunday, July 12th at 2:00

Author: Tony Hays
Title: The Killing Way  
Event Time:  Sunday, July 26th at 2:30

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M is for Mystery
San Mateo, CA

Author:  John Lescroart
Title: A Plague of Secrets 
Event Time:  Thurs., 2nd at 7:00 PM 

Authors:  Juliet Blackwell / Rhys Bowen / Ann Parker
Title:   Secondhand Spirits / Royal Flush / Leaden Skies
Event Time: Tues., 7th at 7:00 PM

Author:  Gregg Hurwitz
Title:  Trust No One
Event Time:  Wed., 8th at 7:00 PM

Author: Joe R. Lansdale
Title:  Vanilla Ride 
Event Time:   Wed., 15th at 7:00 PM

Author: James Rollins
Title: The Doomsday Key
Event Time:  Fri., 17th, drop-by

Author: Mike Befeler
Title: Living with Your Kids is Murder
Event Time:  Sun., 19th at 2:00 PM

Author: Megan Abbott / Theresa Schwegel
Title:  Bury Me Deep / Last Known Address  
Event Time:  Mon., 20th at 7:00 PM

Author: Brett Battles
Title: Shadow of Betrayal
Event Time: Tues., 21st at 7:00 PM

Author: David Morrell
Title: The Shimmer
Event Time:  Sat., 25th at 2:00 PM

Author: Elizabeth Sim
Title:  Extra
Event Time:  Sun., 26th at 2:00 PM

Author: Julie Kramer
Title:  Missing Mark
Event Time:  Mon., 27th at 7:00 PM

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Murder by the Book
Houston, TX

Author:  Ridley Pearson
Title: Killer Summer   
Event Time:  Thursday, July 2, 6:30 p.m. 

Author:  Eric Stone
Title:  Shanghaied
Event Time:  Monday, July 6, 6:30 p.m.

Author: Joe R. Lansdale
Title: Vanilla Ride
Event Time:  Tuesday, July 7, 6:30 p.m.

Author:  Brad Thor
Title: The Apostle
Event Time:  Thursday, July 9, 6:30 p.m. 

Author: Rhys Bowen
Title:  Royal Flush
Event Time:  Friday, July 10, 6:00 p.m.

Authors: Colleen Thompson / Christie Craig / T. J. Bennett / Kerrilyn Sparks
Title: TBA
Event Time:  Saturday, July 11, 4:30 p.m.

Author:  David Liss
Title: The Devil's Company
Event Time:  Monday, July 13, 6:30 p.m. 

Author:  David Morrell / James Rollins
Title: The Shimmer / The Doomsday Key 
Event Time:  Tuesday, July 14, 6:30 p.m.

Author: Megan Abbott / Theresa Schwegel
Title:  Bury Me Deep / Last Known Address
Event Time:  Wednesday, July 15, 6:30 p.m.

Author:  Jeff Abbott
Title:  Trust Me
Event Time:  Thursday, July 23, 6:30 p.m.

Author: Daniel Silva
Title:  The Defector
Event Time:  Sunday, July 26, 2:00 p.m.

Author:  Steve Hockensmith
Title:  The Crack in the Lens: A "Holmes on the Range" Mystery
Event Time:  July 28 & 29, two events (TBA)

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Murder on the Beach
Delray Beach, FL

Author: Ian Vasquez
Title:  Lonesome Point
Event Time:  July 11, 2009, Saturday at 6 pm

Author:  Jeff Strand
Title: Pressure 
Event Time:  July 18, 2009, Saturday at 5 pm 

Author:  Deborah Sharp / Karen Kendall
Title:  Mama Rides Shotgun / Take Me Two Times
Event Time:  July 24, 2009, Friday at 7 pm

Author:  Chris Kuzneski
Title:  The Lost Throne
Event Time:  July 26, 2009, Sunday at 6 pm

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Mysteries to Die For
Thousand Oaks, CA
 
Author:  Theresa Schwegel / Megan Abbott
Title:  Last Known Address / Bury Me Deep
Event Time:  Saturday, July 18, at 11 am

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Mysterious Bookshop
New York, NY

Author:  Megan Abbott/ Theresa Schwegel
Title:  Bury Me Deep / Last Known Address
Event Time:  Tuesday, July 7th, 6:30 p.m.

Author:  Kathryn Fox, Glenn Cooper, Hallie Ephron, Lisa Black, Jamie Freveletti, Timothy Hallinan, Jonathan Hayes, Matt Hilton, Steve Martini, James Rollins, Andrew Gross, William Dietrich, Alafair Burke, Peter de Jonge, Sean Chercover, Stanley Trollip (aka Michael Stanley) and Jennifer MacMahon. 
Title:  Thrillerfest!  party
Event Time:  Friday, July 10th, 5:30-7:30pm

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Mysterious Galaxy
San Diego, CA

Author:  Rhys Bowen 
Title: Royal Flush
Event Time:  Sunday, July 12, 2009 2:00 p.m. 

Author: Robert Crais 
Title:  Chasing Darkness
Event Time: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 7:00 p.m.

Author: David Morrell 
Title:  The Shimmer
Event Time:  Friday, July 17, 2009 7:00 p.m.

Author:  Elizabeth Sims 
Title:  The Extra
Event Time:  Saturday, July 18, 2009 2:00 p.m. 

Author:  R.T. Jordan
Title: A Talent for Murder 
Event Time: Saturday, July 18, 2009 2:00 p.m.

Author:  Dorothy Howell 
Title:  Purses and Poison
Event Time:  Saturday, July 18, 2009 2:00 p.m.

Author:  Elizabeth Hand
Title: Generation Loss
Event Time:   Wednesday, July 29, 2009 7:00 p.m.

Author: Brett Battles 
Title:  Shadow of Betrayal  
Event Time:  Thursday, July 30, 2009 7:00 p.m.

Author:  Julie Kramer 
Title: Missing Mark
Event Time:  Thursday, July 30, 2009 7:00 p.m.

Author:  Lisa Gardner
Title:  The Neighbor
Event Time: Friday, July 31, 2009 7:00 p.m. 

Author:  Karin Slaughter
Title: Undone 
Event Time: Friday, July 31, 2009 7:00 p.m. 

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Mystery Loves Company
Oxford, MD

Author: Donna Andrews, Marcia Talley, G. M. Malliet, and Susan Froetschel 
Title:  Various
Event Time:   Saturday, July 25, 1 pm (off-site)

Author: Donna Andrews
Title:  Swan for the Money
Event Time:   Saturday, July 25, 1 pm, launch party

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Mystery Bookstore
Los Angeles, CA

Author: Seth Harwood
Title: Jack Wakes Up
Event Time:  Saturday, July 11 at 2:00 p.m. 

Author:  Attica Locke
Title:  Black Water Rising
Event Time:  Saturday, July 11 at 4:00 p.m.

Author: David Morrell
Title: Shimmer
Event Time:  Saturday, July 18 at 1:00 p.m.

Author: Megan Abbott / Theresa Schwegel
Title: Bury Me Deep / Last Known Address 
Event Time:  Saturday, July 18 at 2:30 p.m. 

Author: Gregg Hurwitz
Title:  Trust No One
Event Time:  Saturday, July 18 at 4:00 p.m.

Author: Brett Battles  
Title: Shadow of Betrayal Launch Party
Event Time:  Saturday, July 18 at 5:30 p.m.

Author: Julie Kramer
Title:  Missing Mark
Event Time:   Wednesday, July 29 at 6:30 p.m.

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Once Upon a Crime Books
Minneapolis, MN

Author:  Julie Kramer
Title:  Missing Mark
Event Time:  Tue. Jul 14 - 7:00  

Author:   Judith Koll Healey 
Title:  The Rebel Princess
Event Time:  Thurs. Jul 16 - 7:00

Author:  Andrea Sisco
Title:  A Deadly Habit
Event Time:  Thurs. Jul 30 - 7:00

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Poisoned Pen
Scottsdale, AZ

Author: Ridley Pearson
Title:  Killer Summer
Event Time: July 1, 2009, from 07:00 pm  

Author:  Brad Thor
Title:  The Apostle
Event Time:  July 8, 2009, from 07:00 pm

Author:  Rhys Bowen
Title:  A Royal Flush
Event Time:  July 11, 2009, from 06:00 pm

Author:  Greg Iles
Title: The Devil's Punchbowl
Event Time:  July 13, 2009, from 07:00 pm 

Author:  Joe R. Lansdale
Title:  Vanilla Ride
Event Time:  Julyl 14, 2009, from 07:00 pm

Author: Tim Maleeny
Title:  Jump
Event Time:  July 14, 2009, from 07:00 pm

Author: David Morrell
Title:  The Shimmer
Event Time:  July 15, 2009, from 07:00 pm  

Author:  Megan Abbott / Theresa Schwegel
Title:  Bury Me Deep / Last Known Address
Event Time:  July 16, 2009, from 07:00 pm 

Author:  Priscilla Royal
Title: Chambers of Death
Event Time:  July 17, 2009, from 07:00 pm

Author: David Liss
Title:  Devil's Company
Event Time:  July 18, 2009, from 02:00 pm  

Author: David Silva
Title:  The Defector
Event Time:  July 22, 2009, from 07:00 pm

Author:  Julie Kramer
Title:  Missing Mark
Event Time:  July 28, 2009, from 07:00 pm

Author: Chris Cavender
Title:  A Slice of Murder
Event Time:  July 29, 2009, from 07:00 pm  

Author:  J.A. Jance
Title:  Fire and Ice
Event Time:  July30, 2009, from 07:00 pm

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Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Seattle, WA

Author:  Mike Lawson
Title: House Secrets
Event Time:  Thurs, July 2, noon 

Author:  R. T. Jordan
Title: A Talent for Murder 
Event Time:  Sat, July 11, noon

Author:  Joe R. Lansdale
Title:  Vanilla Ride
Event Time:  Thurs, July 16, noon

Author:  Clyde Ford
Title:   Whiskey Gulf
Event Time:  Sat, July 18, noon 

Author:   J.A. Jance
Title:  Fire and Ice
Event Time:  Tues, July 21, noon

Author:  Julie Kramer
Title:  Missing Mark
Event Time:  Wed, July 22, noon

Author:  David Morrell
Title:  The Shimmer
Event Time:   Thurs, July 23, noon

Author:  Brett Battles
Title: Shadow of Betrayal
Event Time:  Fri, July 24, noon

Author:  Luis Castillo
Title: Echoes of Time
Event Time: Sat, July 25, noon

Author:  Eric Stone
Title:  Shanghaied
Event Time:  Wed, July 29, noon 

Authors:  Lisa Gardner / Karin Slaughter
Title:  The Neighbor /  Undone
Event Time:  Thurs, July 30, noon

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Uncle Edgar's Mystery Bookstore
Minneapolis, MN

Author: Judith Koll Healey
Title:  The Rebel Princess
Event Time: Saturday, July 18, 1-2 pm.

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Vrooman's
Pasadena, CA

Author:  Rhys Bowen
Title: Royal Flush
Event Time:  Tue, July 14, 2009 - 7:00pm

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END

New Mystery & Crime Fiction Novels Coming in July 2009

Here's a representative listing of new crime fiction titles being released in July, including books by Megan Abbott, Donna Andrews, Rhys Bowen, James Lee Burke, Lee Goldberg, Susanna Gregory, Steve Hockensmith, Declan Hughes, J.A. Konrath, Nora Roberts, Theresa Schwegel, Karin Slaughter, Eric Stone, and the very last book by Donald E. Westlake, who died late last year. You can also check out the links at the bottom of this page for many more offerings.

Megan Abbott:  Bury Me Deep (July 7, 2009). Marion Seeley is abandoned in Phoenix by her doctor husband. At the medical clinic where she finds a job, Marion becomes fast friends with Louise, a vivacious nurse, and her roommate, Ginny, a tubercular blonde. Before long, the demure Marion is swept up in the exuberant life of the girls, who supplement their scant income by entertaining the town's most powerful men with wild parties. At one of these events, Marion meets—and falls hard for—the charming Joe Lanigan, a local rogue and politician on the rise, whose ties to all three women bring events to a dangerous collision.

Donna Andrews: Swan for the Money (July 21, 2009). Meg Langslow #11. Meg Langslow’s eccentric parents have a new hobby: growing roses and entering them in highly competitive shows. Rose growers are so eccentric that they make Meg’s family seem almost normal, and so competitive that they will do nearly anything to take home the show’s grand prize—making them prime suspects when Meg discovers that someone is attempting to kill the wealthy woman on whose estate the competition is being held.

Anna Blundy: Breaking Faith (July 7, 2009).  Faith Zanetti #6.  Faith Zanetti starts receiving messages that appear to be from her father, Karel Zanetti, a celebrated U.K. journalist who was supposedly killed while covering the troubles in Northern Ireland years earlier.

Rhys Bowen: Royal Flush (July 7, 2009). Lady Georgiana #3. "Georgie," great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and 34th in line to the English throne, makes an ill-advised attempt to start her own business, before discovering, to her embarrassment, that her definition of a female escort is not the same as that of her clientele. Fearing scandal, the authorities send her off to the family castle in Scotland, where a shooting party that includes the prince of Wales is in residence, with a brief from the Home Office to keep her eyes peeled for threats to the Crown. A series of serious accidents suggests that someone is targeting members of the royal family. The violence soon escalates to murder.

Suzanne Brockmann: Hot Pursuit (July 28, 2009).  Troubleshooter # 15.  Alyssa Locke is no stranger to dealing with danger. As team leader of the nation’s number one personal security company, Troubleshooters Inc., this assignment was supposed to be an easy one: teach self-defense techniques to a newly elected assemblywoman and her chief of staff after a political controversy generates a blizzard of hate mail–including death threats–from hotheads and cranks. But as soon as she mobilizes her squad of moonlighting Navy SEALs in New York City, Alyssa begins butting heads with the hard-case cop who thinks that the Troubleshooters are chasing shadows. Until they discover a dead body. And then another.

James Lee Burke: Rain Gods (July 14, 2009). Hackberry Holland #2.  When Hackberry Holland became sheriff of a tiny Texas town near the Mexican border, he'd hoped to leave certain things behind: his checkered reputation, his haunted dreams, and his obsessive memories of the good life with his late wife, Rie. But the discovery of the bodies of nine illegal aliens, machine-gunned to death and buried in a shallow grave behind a church, soon makes it clear that he won't escape so easily.

Chris Collett: Stalked by Shadows (July 1, 2009). Tom Mariner #5.  Lucy Jarrett is terrified. She's convinced that somebody is watching her, following her home from work and lurking in shadows. But when she looks, there's nobody there. The phone calls are real enough, even if the caller never speaks, although they never seem to happen when her husband is at home. She's struggling to make anybody believe her, but with the recent murder of another young woman, DI Tom Mariner must take Lucy's fears seriously. However, that's not all that DI Mariner has to contend with. His team is stretched to the limits when Nina Silvero, the widow of a former police officer, is found brutally murdered in an attack that could hark back to her husband's past misdemeanors. Someone, it seems, is out for revenge.

P. C. Doherty: The Magician's Death (July 7, 2009). Hugh Corbett #14. Sir Hugh Corbett, the keeper of the king’s secret seal, returns in a medieval-style Da Vinci Code appropriately steeped in murder, mystery, and intrigue. Friar Roger Bacon’s unpublished masterpiece, Secretus Secretorum, serves as a tantalizing pawn in an intelligence war spawned by the bitter rivalry between England’s Edward I and France’s Philip IV.

Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza: Alone in the Crowd (July 7, 2009). Inspector Espinosa #7.  An elderly lady approaches the front desk at the Twelfth Precinct in Copacabana and demands to speak with the chief. Tired after a long day, she leaves without further explanation, promising to return. Two hours later, Doña Laureta is dead, and witnesses’ accounts vary as to whether she was pushed or fell in front of the bus that killed her on one of the busiest avenues in the city.
Veteran police chief inspector Espinosa quickly pinpoints a suspect in Hugo Breno, an unassuming bank teller whose solitary existence takes on a sinister cast as he shadows the inspector’s movements across the city. Meanwhile Espinosa discovers an unsettling connection from the past between himself and Breno, and must turn his trademark psychological inquiry inward to determine how murky memories of a murder from long ago might play into Doña Laureta’s untimely passing

Lee Goldberg: Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop (July 7, 2009). Monk #8.  Leland Stottlemeyer is used to obsessive- compulsive genius Adrian Monk getting all the praise and attention. But the police captain is feeling a little hostile after taking a lot of ribbing about his reliance on his star consultant. Is it possible he’s used  the latest round of budget cuts as an excuse to cut Monk loose? But Monk is much too compulsive to stop investigating, even without pay. Soon he’s calling  in tips under assumed names to help solve cases. Then Stottlemeyer is framed for the murder of another cop—and only one detective in San Francisco can save him.

Kerry Greenwood: Murder on a Midsummer Night (July 1, 2009). Phryne Fisher #17.  It’s 1929, and Phryne Fisher, the Australian flapper and private investigator, has a couple of cases on her plate. A man’s suicide might not be as cut-and-dried as it appears, and there’s the matter of an illegitimate child who stands to inherit a vast sum of money, if Phryne can find her.

Susanna Gregory: A Vein of Deceit (July 1, 2009). Matthew Bartholomew #15. Despite a new influx of well-heeled students, Michaelhouse has suffered from an acute lack of funds that has made itself manifest in a lack of decent provisions. It is only when the Brother in charge of the account books dies unexpectedly that an explanation is revealed: large amounts of money had been paid for goods the college never received. Although shocked by this evidence of fraud, Matthew Bartholomew is more concerned with the disappearance of a quantity of pennyroyal from his herbarium. Pennyroyal is known to cause a woman to miscarry, and a pregnant visitor to his sister's household has died from an overdose of the substance. Had she meant to abort her child, or had someone else wanted to ensure that she was unable to provide an heir to her husband's wealthy estates? 

Carolyn Haines: Greedy Bones (July 7, 2009). Sarah Booth Delaney, Southern Belle #9.  Sarah Booth Delaney returns to Zinnia, Miss., and her ancestral home, Dahlia House, after the eruption there of a mysterious illness so scary agents from Atlanta's Centers for Disease Control must be called in. Tinkie Richmond, Sarah's best friend and PI partner, fears her husband, Oscar, is dying after a visit to the nearby cursed Carlisle cotton plantation infected with mutant boll weevils and a strange mold. Sounds like a horror movie, but it's no laughing matter as Sarah Booth sets aside her Hollywood honey, Graf Milieu, to help her former love interest, Sheriff Coleman Peters, solve a perplexing case that will eventually claim victims by such causes as shooting and hanging.

Steve Hockensmith: The Crack in the Lens (July 21, 2009). Holmes on the Range #4.  Otto Big Red Amlingmeyer and his older brother, Gustav (aka Old Red), journey to San Marcos, Texas. The laconic Old Red, whose life took an unexpected turn after his brother introduced him to the deductive methods of Sherlock Holmes, reveals that the love of his life, hooker Gertrude Eichelberger, was murdered in San Marcos five years earlier. The pair's efforts to investigate put them at odds with the local pimps as well as the law. The brothers discover that Gertrude was but the first victim of a serial killer, who modeled his crimes after Jack the Ripper.

Declan Hughes: All the Dead Voices (June 30, 2009). Ed Loy #4.  Anne Fogarty hires Dublin PI Ed Loy to re-examine the facts surrounding her father's unsolved murder in 1991—her mother's boyfriend was found guilty but later released on appeal for the fatal beating. Loy has a second murder to look into after Paul Delaney, a promising footballer on whom Loy was keeping unofficial tabs, is gunned down. The PI learns that Anne's father, a tax inspector, had prepared informal dossiers on three men he believed to be evading taxes and, not coincidentally, members of the IRA. One of the men is a Dublin gangster with ties to the IRA who may have been grooming Paul as a protégé.

Jen Jordan, editor: Uncage Me (July 24, 2009).  The follow-up to 2007's Expletive Deleted. New stories from Scott Phillips, Allan Guthrie, Christa Faust, Victor Gischler, J.A. Konrath, J.D. Rhoades, Declan Burke, Brian Azzarello, Steven Torres, Stewart Macbride, Simon Kernick, Patrick Bagley, Greg Bardsley, Stephen Blackmore, Tim Maleeny, Nick Stone, Martyn Waites, Talia Berliner, Maxim Jakubowski, Gregg Hurwitz, Blake Crouch, and more, with an introduction by best selling author John Connolly.

J.A. Konrath: Cherry Bomb (July 7, 2009). Jack Daniels #6.  The guilt-ridden Chicago cop, who's attending the funeral of a loved one, takes a call from Alexandra Kork, the sadistic psychopath who did in the loved one at the end of 2008's Fuzzy Navel. Barred from the official hunt for Kork because she's personally involved in the case, Daniels soon finds herself on the wrong side of the law with few of the usual resources to call on. Meanwhile, the wily Kork, who's stopped counting her victims (after 50 they blur), strews bodies over a wide area as part of a scheme to lead Daniels to a slow and painful death.

Chris Kuzneski: The Lost Throne (July 23, 2009). Jonathon Payne and David Jones #4.  Reaching from the wonders of ancient Greece to a harrowing quest in modern-day Europe, The Lost Throne features Jonathon Payne and D. J. Jones, former members of a top secret, very special unit of the armed forces. Now as private citizens they still get recruited from time to time for the most delicate —and dangerous—missions. Payne and Jones must race to recover the lost treasure that could rewrite history, before it is destroyed by a group of men who will stop at nothing to conceal the secret.

Deryn Lake: Death and the Black Pyramid (July 1, 2009). John Rawlings #13.  Apothecary John Rawlings has been summoned to Devon by his beautiful but unpredictable mistress. Leaving his daughter Rose in the good care of her grandfather, Rawlings sets off for Exeter. His fellow stagecoach passengers are a motley crew, and include a large and talkative German lady, a dance-master and a bare-knuckle fighter known as the Black Pyramid. Before the journeys end a man has been found brutally murdered, and Rawlings is once again drawn into a complex and dangerous intrigue.

Mike Lawson: House Secrets (July 8, 2009). Joe DeMarco #4.  Joe DeMarco works as a “fixer” for the Speaker of the House and consistently finds himself investigating cases that pose a threat to the government. This time a not-so-well-respected reporter dies, and while it appears to be an accident, the victim’s dad knows it’s murder. DeMarco learns that the reporter was working on an investigation into the life of Senator Paul Morelli, the man considered to be the front-runner for president. Morelli has more charisma than most politicians, along with a string of good fortune that has followed him from humble beginnings to senator. Will investigating Morelli put DeMarco on a death list, and will he end up disappearing or accused of something scandalous, like some of Morelli’s other political enemies

Steve Martini: Guardian of Lies (July 14, 2009). Paul Madriani #10. Southern California defense attorney Paul Madriani's chance encounter with 26-year-old Katia Solaz, a Costa Rican beauty, leads to a desperate race to avoid not only personal disaster but also a national one. Katia, who's living with creepy Emerson Pike in a dilapidated estate surrounded by an expensive security fence, decides to return home to Costa Rica. In her flight, she just misses running into the legendary assassin known as the Mexecutioner, who sneaks into Pike's house. 

Pat McIntosh: The Stolen Voice (July 1, 2009). Gil and Alys Cunningham #6. Husband-and-wife sleuthing team Gil and Alys Cunningham are as mystified as the local residents on the shores of Loch Voil when Davie Drummond, a young Cathedral singer who vanished more than thirty years ago, reappears, seemingly having aged but a few years. When they begin their investigations, it appears that a number of church song men in the area have recently gone missing, leading the Cunninghams to believe that the past and present disappearances may somehow be related. After a fatal fire, Gil and Alys must sort through Highland suspicion and superstition to piece together the pieces of a puzzle that reaches back decades into the past

Lynda La Plante: Deadly Intent (July 7, 2009). Anna Travis #4. Ruthless drug trafficker Alexander Fitzpatrick is one of the most wanted men in the Western Hemisphere. But for ten years, there's been no sign of him. Is he dead, or just trying to appear that way? When an ex-colleague from the murder squad is found shot in a dank drug den, Anna Travis is pulled into the case. She's grateful for the distraction after her breakup with DCI Langton and soon finds herself involved with someone new. But as the bodies pile up and the mystery deepens, Travis and Langton must put aside their personal history and work together to track down one of the canniest criminals they've ever encountered.

Nora Roberts: Black Hills (July 7, 2009). A summer at his grandparents’ South Dakota ranch is not eleven-year-old Cooper Sullivan’s idea of a good time. But things are a bit more bearable now that he’s discovered the neighbor girl, Lil Chance, and her homemade batting cage. Even horseback riding isn’t as awful as Coop thought it would be. Each year, with Coop’s annual summer visit, their friendship deepens from innocent games to stolen kisses, but there is one shared experience that will forever haunt them: the terrifying discovery of a hiker’s body. Twelve years later, fate has brought them back to the Black Hills when the people and things they hold most dear need them most, and they must work together to unearth a killer of twisted and unnatural instincts who has singled them out as prey.

James Rollins: The Doomsday Key (June 23, 2009). Sigma Force #6. Sigma Force director Painter Crowe gathers the usual crew—Cmdr. Grayson Pierce; Pierce's best friend, Monk Kokkalis; lumbering Joe Kowalski—to discover why an experimental agriculture site in Africa has been attacked and razed, killing everyone, including a U.S. senator's son. The future of mankind may depend, they learn, on the Doomsday key, a strange substance brought to England long ago by ancient Egyptians that holds the promise of a new and powerful medicine. A few of the book's many highlights include genetic manipulation, traitorous beautiful women, illuminated manuscripts, saints, prophecies, curses and miracles.

Pauline Rowson: Dead Man's Wharf (July 1, 2009) Andy Horton #4.  Detective Inspector Horton and Cantelli are called to a nursing home where an elderly resident claims shes been attacked by an intruder. Ready to dismiss it as senile ramblings, Horton then discovers that her room-mate has died, the dead woman's belongings are missing and her son, convicted for armed robbery, has been found dead in his cell. Soon Horton finds he is caught up in a complex investigation that has far-reaching international implications.

Theresa Schwegel: Last Known Address (July 7, 2009). Recently transferred from homicide to sex crimes, Chicago police detective Sloane Pearson is called in to interview the second in a series of victims who were beaten, raped and nearly strangled to death. Pearson knows the only way she'll have a case is if the traumatized woman will talk. But without a crime scene or detailed description of the attacker, Pearson's leads dry up fast. As she retraces the victims' steps, she uncovers a common thread that winds from the dilapidated blocks where the rapes occurred to one of the city's glitzy property development companies.

Daniel Silva: The Defector (July 21, 2009). Gabriel Allon #9.  Six months after the dramatic conclusion of Moscow Rules, Gabriel Allon has returned to the tan hills of Umbria to resume his honeymoon with his new wife, Chiara, and restore a seventeenth-century altarpiece for the Vatican. But his idyllic world is once again thrown into turmoil with shocking news from London. The defector and former Russian intelligence officer Grigori Bulganov, who saved Gabriel’s life in Moscow, has vanished without a trace. The events afterward will take Allon from a quiet mews in London, to the shores of Lake Como, to the glittering streets of Geneva and Zurich, and, finally, to a heart-stopping climax in the snowbound birch forests of Russia. Faced with the prospect of losing the one thing he holds most dear, Gabriel will be tested in ways he never imagined possible. And his life will never be the same.

Chris Simms: Hell's Fire (July 14, 2009). Jon Spicer #4.  The deliberate torching of a church creates outrages across Manchester, and when a charred corpse and satanic symbols are found in the smoking ruins, detective Jon Spicer and the city’s Major Incident Team are called in. Spicer quickly finds himself drawn into the depths of a horrifying religious underworld he didn’t know existed. Soon, fresh killings bring the realization that those responsible for the burnings are prepared to commit even more brutal crimes in their twisted homage to God. As emotions and paranoia flare throughout Manchester, Spicer fears for those closest to him as he struggles to halt the continuing atrocities.

Karin Slaughter: Undone (July 14, 2009). Grant County #7. Dr. Sara Linton, who lost her husband in 2007's Beyond Reach, has left rural Grant County for a new life in an underfunded Atlanta hospital. Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents Faith Mitchell and Will Trent, last seen in 2008's Fractured, happen to be in the hospital's ER when a woman known only as Anna arrives. Anna was hit by a car after escaping from an unknown captor, whose underground torture chamber Will soon uncovers near the accident site, along with the body of a second woman he believes was held in the same bunker. When another woman is snatched, Faith and Will realize they're chasing a sadistic serial killer. As the GBI agents try to connect the victims, Sara becomes more involved in the investigation, even as it dredges up painful memories from her past.

Eric Stone: Shanghaied (July 7, 2009). Ray Sharp #4. A group of monks hire PI Ray Sharp to look into the operations of BC, a multinational bank headquartered in Shanghai to which their financial adviser has moved their account, because BC is rumored to engage in sweetheart loans and creative accounting. After starting a due diligence investigation to assess the safety of the monks' millions, Sharp learns that BC hasn't enough cash to honor clients' checks—and it's been laundering money for Chinese criminals. The trail leads him to Homer Bellevue, a wheelchair-bound veteran of the Grenada invasion, who has bodyguards straight out of a bad Bond film, twin sisters named Floss and Betty. Ray's Chinese-Mexican pal, Wen Lei Yue, lends support.

Donald E. Westlake: Get Real (July 17, 2009). John Dortmunder #15.  A reality-show company aptly titled Get Real recruits the delightfully understated John Dortmunder and his merry men for a heist in this very last Dortmunder novel, a worthy final word from Westlake (1933–2008). 

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, San Diego's Mystery Books, Powells Books, the Bloodstained Bookshelf, and Fantastic Fiction.

Twitterature

It seems that every day brings an amazing and often creative use of Twitter, be it protestors tweeting from Iran during the recent crackdown or the "Tweet Mystery of Death," which became Twitter’s first live murder mystery in 140-character bursts.

One of the latest efforts has resulted in a print book from two 19-year-old college freshmen who sold Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books, Now Presented in Twenty Tweets or Less to Penguin.  It was pitched as "a humorous retelling" of literary classics in 140-characters or less.

One wonders what's next? Of course, with all the time some folks are spending on Twitter, perhaps Twitters Anonymous is the next big thing.

Forgotten Authors

In case you haven't been following what has become a weekly event anchored over at Patti Abbott's blog, Friday's Forgotten Books takes a look at novels and authors deserving of a closer look but whose names and titles may have slipped off the radar for awhile. I've been happy to contribute an offering myself months ago, and keep hoping to find a little extra time to work in more recommendations.

In the meantime, check out Sally Owen's blog. Sally works for the Mysterious Bookshop in New York City and a couple of times a month lately she's been posting her own lists of "Neglected Authors," most recently Lillian O'Donnell (one of the first women to write police novels featuring female cops) and E.X. Ferrars (once described as the "writer who may be the closest of all to Agatha Christie in style, plotting and general milieu.") The bookstore being a commercial venture, Owen provides a brief bio of each author and then lists several available titles they have by that author in stock (and the condition).

Thanks to Patti, Sally, and all the others who manage and contribute to these lists each week!

Update on Conferences

The annual Deadly Ink Conference in Parsippany, NJ, kicks off this Saturday with Guest of Honor Lincoln Child, Toastmaster Jeff Cohen, and a whole host of top mystery and crime fiction authors. Panels include "Writing the Bad Guys," "Dialogue: He Said, She Said," and "Humor in Mysteries."

Harrogate is still a month away, but Crimetime took a look at programs they're particularly looking forward to, including "New Blood" moderated by Val McDermid, "Music to Murder By," and "Emerald Noir," about what else? Irish crime fiction.

An announcement was made recently that the somewhat controversial Dubai Literary Festival (due to their practice of banning certain books) is planning on their second event next year in March, having already lined up Mark Billingham and Alexander McCall Smith.

To Market, to Market

Marketing news, tips (and general panic, at least from writers) from around the blogospheres:

• Chip MacGregor, of the MacGregory Literary Agency, answered questions from writers he's received over the past few months. One word of advice: "The growth of the worldwide web offers you the chance to market your self and your book without having to rely on the old notions of "platform" -- you don't have to have a syndicated radio show, host a television talk show, or have a huge speaking schedule. Relying on social media can help you build a platform by creating a big network of online friends."

• Literary agent Rachelle Gradner made the case for why you should help sell your own book. Bottom line? "If your book doesn't go on to have strong sales to consumers, your publishing career could be over. Just that quick." Publishers no longer have the luxury of waiting for an author to find an audience.

• Follow the Reader wonders, "Do Twitter and Blogs Really Drive Book Sales?"  The post went on to point out that at a recent #followreader discussion on Twitter, many participants said they'd purchased up to ten books in the last few months on the strength of recommendations on the social networking site.

It's Murder, Mate

Stephen Knight, professor and author of Mystery: Thematic History of Australian Crime Fiction, recently wrote an essay for Australia's The Age publication about Australian crime fiction, adding that "Australian writers have come a long way since they turned to crime and things keep getting better."

Is just so happens that the Australian Book Industry Awards handed out last night included two crime fiction titles (A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn, The Build Up by Phillip Gwynne) and one true crime work (Tall Man: The Death of Doomadgee by Chloe Hooper) in their short lists, although none turned out to be the winner in their respective categories.

As part of the now-defunct but very fine Carnival of the Criminal Minds, sponsored by Barbera Fister, the very first entry featured the Karen Chisholm's blog Australian Crime Fiction, and it's worth mentioning again as a fine resource for murder downunder, along with its companion bibliography site.

For more on the finest of Aussie crime fiction, you can also check out the web site for the annual Ned Kelly Awards.

Are Conferences Worth the Effort?

Literary Agent Jenny Bent recently posted her opinion of writers' conferences, including how to make the most of pitches. Authors like Debra Webb wonder if such conferences are worth the effort to begin with, and Barbara D'Amato even ponders the question if mystery conferences are in decline. If after all is said and done, you decide to go anyway, then consider the thoughts of Katharine A. Russell on what you should do when you return from an event to keep the ball rolling and use your experiences to jump-start your career.

Of course, summer is the peak period for writers' conferences, as you can see from this blog's Upcoming Conferences listing, and fortunately most of them are soldiering on during the recession. Up next, this weekend:  the International Festival of the Roman Noir, and Deadly Ink.

Media Murder

MOVIES

• Michael Lynne and Bob Shaye (formerly of New Line Cinema) are planning a film version of the Tony-winning 1989 Broadway musical City of Angels, which alternates between the story of a mystery writer who hopes to break into the movies and the suave 1940s detective he created.

• Phillip Noyce will direct the indie police thriller Mixed Blood, starring Samuel L. Jackson.

• Screenwriter Peter Morgan (of Frost/Nixon fame) will join James Bond alumni Neal Purvis and Robert Wade to create the script for the next 007 installment.

• Bruce A. Evans will direct Diver for Intrepid Pictures, a thriller written by Diane Ademu-John and concerning a disturbed ex-cop recruited into the secret Diver project in New Orleans where the cop and others enter the minds of the recently dead to experience their final thoughts and perceptions in order to solve the most heinous crimes.

• Liam Neeson is in talks to star in the upcoming film adaptation of The A-Team.

TV

• Britain's longest-running crime drama, Taggart, now in its 26th year (putting Law and Order to shame), will finally be made available in the U.S. on DVD, albeit episodes from the 19th season in a a three-volume set from Acorn Media.

• ABC and FOX have announced their Fall premieres, including Castle on ABC, Monday, September 21, at 10pm, and on Fox, Bones, Thursday, Sept. 17 at 8pm followed by Fringe at 9pm; House, Monday September 21st at 8pm (at 2-hour episode); and Lie to Me Monday, Sept. 28 at 9pm.

• Mexican TV audiences can now enjoy the gritty crime drama Mujeres Asesinas (Killer Women) which premiered June 17th on Cablevision. The 13-part series is an adaptation of the acclaimed series in Argentina based on a book by Marisa Grinstein and featuring true crimes.

• Variety's runup to the Emmy Awards includes online interviews with stars like Simon Baker of The Mentalist, who says what he likes about his character on the show is "his balance of comedy and tragedy. That gives you more of a range of things to play, which is often a challenge on TV."

• The TV Squad has a preview of the new show The Forgotten which follows a team of investigators trying to figure out the identity of people who have been murdered.

• The LA Times has a review of Killer Hair on Lifetime, the new show based on two novels from Ellen Byerrum's Crimes of Fashionseries.

WEB/RADIO

• The CBC show Between the Covers featured Howard Engel's mystery The Memory Book with PI Benny Cooperman (hat tip to Elizabeth Foxwell).

IMBA Bestsellers

Here are the bestselling crime fiction titles for May from the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association:

HARDCOVER

1 – Charlaine Harris, Dead and Gone, Ace
2 – Lee Child, Gone Tomorrow, Delacorte
3 – Michael Connelly, The Scarecrow, Little Brown
4 – Laurie R. King, The Language of Bees, Bantam
5 – Elmore Leonard, Road Dogs, Harper
6 – (tie) George Pelecanos, The Way Home, Little Brown
6 – Andrew Grant, Even, St. Martin’s
6 – Alan Bradley, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Delecorte
6 – Greg Rucka, Walking Dead, Bantam
10 – Elaine Viets, Killer Cuts, Obsidian

SOFTCOVER

1 – Leann Sweeney, The Cat, the Quilt and the Corpse, Obsidian
2 – (tie) Elaine Viets, Clubbed to Death, Obsidian
2 – Elizabeth George, Careless in Red, Harper
4 – Julia Spencer-Fleming, I Shall Not Want, St. Martin’s
5 – Mary Ann Shaffer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel, Dial
6 – (tie) C.J. Box, Blood Trail, Berkley
6 – tom Rob Smith, Child 44, Grand Central
8 – Curt Colbert, ed, Seattle Noir, Akashic
9 – (tie) Seth Harwood, Jack Wakes Up, Three Rivers
9 – Katherine Hall Page, The Body in the Gallery, Avon