The Mystery Bookstore

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.
This title is not yet available at The Mystery Bookstore, but will be in stock in time for the event. Please contact us directly to reserve a copy. You may email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone us on our toll&–free number, (800) 821–9017.

LINDA'S OTHER JANUARY ADULT FAVORITE

T. JEFFERSON PARKER discusses and signs THE BORDER LORDS
Dutton, $26.95
Los Angeles Sheriff's Deputy Charlie Hood makes his fourth appearance in this nonstop thriller. On loan to the ATF, Charlie's searching for one of his own colleagues – ATF agent Sean Ozburn, who went deep undercover into the Baja drug cartels, then disappeared altogether. His only communications with the straight world are a series of increasingly desperate videos sent to his wife – but then drug dealers start turning up dead, which suggests that Sean has decided to take the law into his own hands.
This title is not yet available at The Mystery Bookstore, but will be in stock in time for the event. Please contact us directly to reserve a copy. You may email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone us on our toll&–free number, (800) 821–9017.

November 2010

Hilary Davidson, THE DAMAGE DONE
Forge, $24.99 (signed first edition)
The October Discovery Club selection is truly an outstanding debut mystery. Lily Moore returns to New York after what appears to be the death of her sister, Claudia – except the corpse in the bath is not Lily's sister. Claudia is missing, and Lily must deal with her own ex–fiance, Claudia’s drug–dealer, a strangely nosy neighbor, and a mysterious figure who seems to follow Lily wherever she goes. During her recent visit to The Mystery Bookstore, author Davidson told us about her process: a first draft in the third person, followed by a switch to first – which made Lily and the novel come alive. What could be a harsh depiction of dysfunctional family dynamics, murder and drug addiction gets a sympathetic if somewhat cynical spin from the relationship Lily has with her best (gay) friend, Jesse, and her own wry determination to survive life's blows. Davidson's own background as a travel writer inspired some of Lily's stories. More, please.

Linda's Adult Favorite - October 2010

Reed Farrel Coleman, INNOCENT MONSTER
Tyrus Books, $24.95 (signed first edition)
Seven years after the events of EMPTY EVER AFTER, Moe Prager has retired from the PI business. He takes on a new case only at the request of his estranged daughter, Sarah. The 11–year–old daughter of one of Sarah's best friends has been kidnapped; Sashi Bluntstone is a child prodigy, an artistic genius whose paintings sell for thousands of dollars. Moe's investigation takes him from New York's highest circles to its lowest, forcing him to confront some hard truths about human nature and his own. Shortly before he passed away last month, David Thompson, publisher of Busted Flush and co–owner of Houston's Murder by the Book, emailed me to ask whether I'd read INNOCENT MONSTER yet. "It's Reed's best work to date!" he said, and I have to agree.
Please contact us directly to purchase this title. You may email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone us on our toll–free number, (800) 821-9017.

Linda's Adult Favorite

NORA McFARLAND drops in to sign A BAD DAY'S WORK
Simon & Schuster, $14.99 (trade paperback original)
Lilly Hawkins is having one of those days. The last thing she needs is a murder to solve. A TV news photographer at her hometown television station in California's central valley, she's one of the hardest working "shooters" there. But, as a woman with a very strong (and generally undiplomatic) personality, Lilly often has to go the extra length to get the good assignments. One such assignment gets her mixed up with criminals and cops and the local hoi polloi – and sometimes it's difficult to tell the difference. I like Maggie: she's scarred, compassionate, tough, smart and decidedly independent. She'd probably make a good recruiter for government agencies: she tends to bark before she thinks. And her signature – size 10 feet attached to a 5’4” frame! – is clever. Lilly's an interesting character with lots of potential to grow into those big boots of hers!
Please contact us directly to purchase this title. You may email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone us on our toll–free number, (800) 821-9017.


Alex Kava, DAMAGED
Doubleday, $24.95 (signed first edition)
The discovery of a fishing cooler full of body parts brings FBI Special Agent Maggie O'Dell to Pensacola, hours before a Category 5 hurricane is supposed to make landfall. It's Maggie’s job to find out how it wound up in the Gulf of Mexico, and why. I had so much fun reading this book that I "tweeted" along the way (you can follow us on Twitter.com – search for @mysterybooks): Kava has an amazing ability to interweave at least three distinct story lines, create credible characters while building the incredible tension not only of the approaching storm, but also the mystery of body parts that disappear and reappear all over town, all the while keeping Maggie's voice, compassion and humor uppermost. Favorite line #1: "Liz had warned her that it wasn't safe to be alone on the beach at night. But Maggie figured that advice didn't apply if you carried a .38 Smith & Wesson stuffed in your waistband." Favorite line #2: "From past experience – an unfortunate piece of trivia to have in one's repertoire – Maggie knew it took about four to five hours to thaw an average–size frozen torso."
Please contact us directly to purchase this title. You may email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone us on our toll–free number, (800) 821-9017.

Barry Eisler, INSIDE OUT
Ballantine, $25.00 (signed first edition)
The sequel to last year's FAULT LINE opens with black–ops agent Ben Treven in a Filipino jail, after a bar fight. His former commander arrives to get him out before he is completely "burned," but at a price: Treven must find a rogue agent who is blackmailing the U.S. government with 92 torture tapes, stolen from the CIA. Treven's old unit isn't the only group looking for the tapes, and finding them means dodging not only CIA hit teams but Blackwater mercenaries and the White House itself. I'm not as well–versed in spy novels as I'd like to be, and this is a fast–paced, exhilarating ride that makes me want to catch up quick!
Please contact us directly to purchase this title. You may email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone us on our toll–free number, (800) 821-9017.

JODI COMPTON discusses and signs HAILEY’S WAR
Shaye Areheart Books, $22.99
LINDA'S ADULT FAVORITE
The author of the Sarah Pribek novels (THE 37th HOUR and SYMPATHY BETWEEN HUMANS) returns with this gripping standalone. Hailey Cain dropped out of West Point for reasons she won't reveal, and didn't go home; now she's working as a bike messenger in San Francisco. An urgent phone call from her best friend from high school, Serena Delgadillo, brings her back to Los Angeles. Serena is the head of an all–female gang in Los Angeles, and wants Hailey to escort the cousin of a murdered gang member back across the border into Mexico. The errand is not only dangerous but deadly, and forces Hailey to confront some big secrets from her own past.
Please contact us directly to purchase this title. You may email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone us on our toll–free number, (800) 821-9017.

Linda's Adult Favorite: LISA LUTZ drops in to sign SPELLMANS STRIKE AGAIN
Simon & Schuster, $25.00

Former wild child Izzy Spellman has finally agreed to take over the family business of Spellman Investigations. First on her list is to target the less–than–honorable competition, slippery ex-cop Rick Harkey – and Izzy is not above treating it as a vendetta. They also have a legitimate client, a missing–persons case at the home of an aging millionaire, where Izzy places an undercover pal as a "butler" Meanwhile, Mom is blackmailing Izzy to date someone other than her current boyfriend. And, of course, little sister Rae has an agenda of her own: her internship researching pro bono legal cases leads her to launch a grassroots campaign to spring an innocent man from jail (ask us about the Free Schmidt t–shirts!). Or, in typical Rae fashion, land her in it. In typical Lutz fashion, the read is a romp!

Linda's Mystery of the Month for Kids:

I've been a huge fan of Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series since the first eye–catching title, I'D TELL YOU I'D LOVE YOU BUT THEN I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU. That series, written for 8–12 year olds, is about a private school for privileged girls that actually trains them to be young spies! With HEIST SOCIETY, Carter reaches for a slightly older crowd (Young Adult, generally 12 or 14 years and up). Katarina was raised to be an art thief, casing the Louvre at age 3, traveling to Austria at age 7 to steal the crown jewels. But when Katarina turns 15, she plans a con of her own: to get into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave behind the family business of stealing art. Things turn sideways on her, however, when a priceless art collection is stolen and Katarina's parents are fingered for the crime. It's up to Kat to recover the collection and prove their innocence. Carter's humor, pacing and plotting have never been better. Fun for teens and adults, too!