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JANUARY 2011
  ROBERT CRAIS discusses and signs THE SENTRY
Putnam, $26.95
JANUARY CRIME CLUB SELECTION
Bring your favorite person along for an evening of snacks, drinks, and conversation with Bob Crais about his latest Joe Pike novel. Believe it or not, THE SENTRY is a love story – but because it's Joe Pike's love story, it's not like anything you've seen before. Pike stops for lunch in Venice and finds a gang shaking down the sandwich shop owner and his niece, Dru Rayne. He offers his help, but they refuse. Pike's fascinated by Dru, and learns that she and her uncle have come to LA as refugees from Katrina, looking to build a new life. But there's more to the story, as Pike learns when he discovers that federal agents are watching them – and that nothing Dru has told him about herself is exactly true.
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KIRK'S TOP NINE OF 2010
Stephen Jay Schwartz, BEAT. Forge, $24.99
Lee Child, WORTH DYING FOR. Delacorte, $28.00
Michael Connelly, THE REVERSAL. Little, Brown, $27.00
Sara Paretsky, BODY WORK. Putnam, $26.95
David Baldacci, HELL'S CORNER. Grand Central Publishing, $27.99
Karin Slaughter, BROKEN. Delacorte, $26.00
William Heffernan, THE DEAD DETECTIVE. Akashic Books, $24.95
Bill Pronzini, THE HIDDEN. Walker & Co, $24.00 Ben Tripp, RISE AGAIN. Gallery, $15.00 (trade paperback original)
SEPTEMBER 2010
  A LAUNCH PARTY for BEAT by STEPHEN JAY SCHWARTZ
Forge hardcover, $24.99; simultaneous trade paperback, $14.99
Stephen Jay Schwartz is our neighbor and friend, so we're celebrating the launch of his second novel with food and drink – join us! LAPD robbery and homicide detective Hayden Glass, introduced in last year's BOULEVARD, returns in this gripping sequel. His sex addiction, barely under control, has found a new outlet: the Internet. Obsessed with a woman he sees online, Glass tracks her to San Francisco and finds a massive sex slave ring, run by the Russian mafia. The FBI enlists Glass' help, but his presence is destructive to himself as well as to the case.
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TEN GOOD READS from KIRK PASICH
One of the virtues, and vices, of owning The Mystery Bookstore is that you have a good excuse for reading more than ever – I mean, after all, pretty much every mystery comes through our doors (or at least to our attention). And, even though there's only so much time in a day, you realize that there are books that warrant making some of that time reading time.
One of the true joys of being in this business (besides getting to know the authors – a true pleasure – is reading a long–awaited book before it's officially published, and perhaps getting a few weeks or a few months to savor it before its release. Of course, there's a problem with that, too – because it just means your wait to read that author's next book is even longer (unless you can get the next advance readers copy even earlier!).
With that rambling aside, and in alphabetical order by author, here are perhaps my 10 favorite reads of the last year or so. If you haven't read these, I enthusiastically recommend them.
 Brett Battles, Shadow of Betrayal (Dell paperback reprint, $7.99). Third in the series about a "cleaner," and more. An original series and character, and a fun suspenseful read.
 Lee Child, 61 Hours (Delacorte, $28.00; signed first edition). You can count them down, but they fly in this, the 14th Jack Reacher novel.
 Harlan Coben, Caught (Dutton, $27.95; signed first edition). Coben returns with another "can't put it down" standalone (with a guest appearance from the Myron Bolitar series). From the opening paragraph through the end, a book with suspense, twists and turns involving a missing girl, an alleged sexual predator, and more.
 Robert Crais, The First Rule (Putnam, $26.95; signed first edition). Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, with Pike the protagonist this time. It helps to have read some of the series (perhaps starting with L.A. Requiem). Pike is touched by events from days long past as he becomes the hunted and the hunter.
 Chris Grabenstein, Rolling Thunder (Pegasus, $25.00). Humor, suspense, a non–traditional duo of police protagonists, a New Jersey resort town, and an amusement park. What more can you ask for other than an entertaining read? Once again, Mr. Grabenstein delivers.
 Gregg Hurwitz, They're Watching (St. Martin's, $24.99; signed first edition). Very clever, very engaging, lots of twists and turns in a story about a screenwriter being watched and receiving instructions. If this one were not on the list, then last year's Trust No One would be.
 Lisa Lutz, The Spellmans Strike Again (Simon & Schuster, $25.00; signed first edition). Another engaging addition to a very original series – with cleverly entertaining footnotes, no less, and a delightfully insane cast of characters. Definitely on the light side in this list.
 Robert Parker, The Professional (Putnam, $26.95). The 34th Spenser novel. A worthy addition with characters anyone familiar with the series enjoys.
 Stephen Jay Schwartz, Boulevard (Forge trade paperback, $14.99). Gritty, tense, realistic, dark. A sex–addicted robbery-homicide detective as the protagonist. A great debut – ok, even if it weren't a debut, "great" is the adjective I'd use.
 Karin Slaughter, Undone (Dell paperback reprint, $7.99). This is not, to me, a stand–alone read. It's the second novel merging her two series – and the character's histories and prior events mean a lot. A dark story (once again), with graphic autopsy scenes (not for the squeamish). Engaging, if deeply flawed, characters (is it possible to have this many tortured souls in one small town? Perhaps in The Twilight Zone).
So, these are my 10 recommendations. And, for all of these folks, I heartily recommend their past works – well, given that this is Mr. Schwartz's first novel, I cannot say that about him. But I do very much look forward to his next novel, as I do the next books from the others on this list who've been responsible for me whiling away many a pleasurable hour.
Gregg Hurwitz, THEY'RE WATCHING
St. Martin's, $24.99
Half the Mystery Bookstore's staff would have made this their July favorite, but that wouldn't have been fair. It's a phenomenal breakout thriller for our friend Gregg Hurwitz. Screenwriter Patrick Davis is dealing with career disasters and a crumbling marriage when he starts getting DVDs in the mail – DVDs filmed inside his own house, showing him and his wife living their everyday lives. It's only a matter of time before the emails start, offering to make the stalking stop if Patrick will follow instructions carefully. Nothing is as it seems in this twisty thriller, and you won't be able to put it down. Come to the event and quiz Gregg on his self-proclaimed Hitchcockian homage!
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 Scott Turow, INNOCENT
Grand Central Publishing, $27.99 (signed first edition)
With INNOCENT, Scott Turow returns to the characters from the book, PRESUMED INNOCENT, that set the standard for the legal thriller genre. It's 20 years later and Rusty Sabitch once again is at the center of a murder trial. With perspectives changing from character to character, Innocent presents the twists and turns, along with courtroom drama and details, that made Presumed Innocent so popular. A page–turner start to finish, this is one of the best courtroom/mystery stories in years.
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