MYSTERY LOVES
COMPANY BOOKSELLERS
www.mysterylovescompany.com
blog: www.mysterysalon.com
FEBRUARY 2008
Come experience the joy of a full-service bookstore
*Monthly newsletter & recommendations *20% off your book clubs' books
*Frequent author signings *Special orders
*Book gift baskets *New and gently used books
*Listen to us Friday mornings on WCEI 96.7fm
In Oxford: 202 S. Morris Street, Oxford, MD 21654, 410-226-0010, Hours: Fri &
Sat 10-6, Sun, Mon, Tues. 10-4
In Baltimore:
1730 Fleet Street, Baltimore MD 21231, 410-276-6708, 800-538-0042,
Hours: Thursdays-Sat 11-5, Sunday 12-5.
Call during inclement weather in case we have trouble getting in to the
store.
ANNOUNCING OUR NEW BLOG www.mysterysalon.com.
We will use it to keep you current on all things mysterious and listen to your
comments about books and the mystery world in general. We'd love to hear from
you. We will be inviting authors to guest blog and hang out with us. Hope you
like it.
NB: IF YOU ARE RECEIVING THIS NEWSLETTER BY MAIL AND WISH TO RECEIVE IT ONLY
BY EMAIL PLEASE LET US KNOW.
SUE ELLEN THOMPSON INTERVIEW... We've just added an interview with Oxford poet Sue Ellen
Thompson and Drake Ferguson to our web site. Sue Ellen writes poetry for the
rest of us. We hope you'll enjoy listening to Sue Ellen and want to purchase
her books, THE LEAVING and THE GOLDEN HOUR.
UPCOMING EVENTS...
OXFORD CELEBRATES 325...Yes, that's right. The town of Oxford (MD) has scheduled a year-round
celebration of the anniversary of the founding of the town in 1683. Many events
are scheduled. We'll keep you posted on our web site and on our new blog.
SPECIAL MLC DISCOUNT TO THE MOUSETRAP. The Mousetrap, a play by Agatha
Christie, debuts at Spotlighters Theater, 817 St. Paul St. in Baltimore and runs through
February 3, 2008.
Performances are Friday & Saturday at 8pm
and Sunday at 2pm, with one
Thursday performance, January 31 at 8pm.
Tickets are available at www.spotlighters.org.
Spotlighters would like to offer a special discount to patrons of Mystery Loves
Company, an additional $3 off each ticket! You can order their tickets online
at www.spotlighters.org
- just click on tickets and use Discount Code - "MT-MLC".
You'll get an additional $3 off of the $18.00 regular ticket or the $15.00
student and senior (over 60) ticket.
Tuesday, March 11, 8:00 a.m.
(BALTIMORE)
Spoons Restaurant, Cross Street.
Have breakfast with Laura Lippman who will be signing her new Tess Monaghan
mystery, ANOTHER THING TO FALL. MLC will be selling books. If you would like to
have a book signed and can't attend, please contact the store in advance of
March 11.
Tuesday, March 11, 6:30 pm
(CHEVY CHASE, MD) Chevy Chase Embassey Suites Hotel, MWA Mid-Atlantic Chapter
meeting. Author Andy Straka will talk about his latest novel RECORD OF WRONGS.
DNA evidence frees a man from prison, but then he is asked to find the real
killer.Tickets, which include dinner and a glass of wine, are $35.00. See the
MWA website formore info http://www.mwa-ma.org/.
MLC will be selling books.
March 31, 7:00 - 8:30 pm.
(PIKESVILLE) Baltimore County Pikesville
Library. Cara Black (MURDER IN THE RUE DE PARADIS) and Libby Fischer Hellman
(EASY INNOCENCE) will lecture and sign their mysteries. MLC will be selling
books.
April 25 - 27 (CRYSTAL
CITY, VA) Malice Domestic
XX. Join Lindsey Davis, Charlaine Harris Daniel Stashower, and Peter Lovesey as
they celebrate twenty years of the traditional mystery. www.malicedomestic.org
May 17, 1:00 -3:00 pm (BALTIMORE)
Elizabeth
Zelvin and Bill Rapp Elizabeth will sign DEATH WILL GET YOU SOBER. Bill signs
his second book A PALE RAIN featuring Chicago PI Bill Haberman
Saturday August 16, 1:00 - 3:00 pm
(OXFORD) Ellen Crosby
signs her third Virginia
wine country book BORDEUX BETRAYAL.
- October 9 - 12 (BALTIMORE)
Bouchercon 2008. It is not too early to sign up for Bouchercon in our own Charm City.
"Charmed to Death " is being run by Ruth Jordan and her team from Crimespree
Magazine. You can reach her at ruth@crimespreemag.com about registering and any of
your
concerns. The Hotel is the Sheraton
Baltimore City
Center. Remember there
are two Sheratons. Rates are $175.00 for a single and $195.00 for a double. The
hotel is located at 101 West
Fayette Street Baltimore, Maryland 21201. Registration for the convention
is $150.00. We have forms at our Baltimore
store or we can send you one. MLC will be in the dealers' room and we plan to
be fully staffed at the Fells Point store for your shopping convenience. See
you there.
AND THE NOMINEES ARE...
DILYS NOMINATIONS The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association have
short-listed the following books for the Dilys Nomination, the award given to
the book they most enjoyed selling during 2007. The winner will be announced
during Left Coast Crime in Denver, March
6-9..Other award nominees to be announced at Left Coast
are listed below.
Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
Thunder Bay
by William Kent Kruger
The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz -Now in trade paperback
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
The Blade Itself by Marcus Sakey - Now in trade paperback
THE EDGAR NOMINEES (Winners to be announced at Edgar Banquet in NYC May 1, 2008)
FOR BEST NOVEL
Christine Falls by Benjamin Black (Henry Holt and Company) -Now in trade
paperbacks
Priest by Ken Bruen (St. Martin's Minotaur)
- Now in trade paperback
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael
Chabon (HarperCollins)
Soul Patch by Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House Books)
Down River by John Hart (St. Martin's
Minotaur)
FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL
Missing Witness by Gordon Campbell (HarperCollins - William Morrow)
In the Woods by Tana French (Penguin Group - Viking)
Snitch Jacket by Christopher Goffard (The Rookery Press)
Head Games by Craig McDonald (Bleak House Books)
Pyres by Derek Nikitas (St. Martin's
Minotaur)
FOR BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINIAL
Queenpin by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
Blood of Paradise by David Corbett (Random
House - Mortalis)
Cruel Poetry by Vicki Hendricks (Serpent's Tail)
Robbie's Wife by Russell Hill (Hard Case Crime)
Who is Conrad Hirst? by Kevin Wignall (Simon & Schuster)
FOR BEST CRITICAL NON-FICTION
The Triumph of the Thriller: How Cops, Crooks and Cannibals Captured Popular
Fiction by Patrick Anderson (Random House) (Signed copies available)
A Counter-History of Crime Fiction: Supernatural, Gothic, Sensational by
Maurizio Ascari (Palgrave Macmillan)
Deviance in Contemporary Crime Fiction by Christiana Gregoriou (Palgrave
Macmillan)
Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower
and Charles Foley (The Penguin Press) (Signed copies available)
Chester
Gould: A Daughter's Biography of the Creator of Dick Tracy by Jean Gould
O'Connell (McFarland & Company)
FOR BEST SHORT STORY
"The Catch" - Still Waters by Mark Ammons (Level Best Books)
"Blue Note" - Chicago
Blues by Stuart M. Kaminsky (Bleak House Books)
"Hardly Knew Her" - Dead Man's Hand by Laura Lippman (Harcourt
Trade Publishers)
"The Golden Gopher" - Los
Angeles Noir by Susan Straight (Akashic Books)
"Uncle" - A Hell of a Woman by Daniel Woodrell (Busted Flush
Press)
RAVEN AWARDS 2008 ANNOUNCED...
The Mystery Writers of America have announced that the recipients of the
2008 Raven Awards are Kate's Mystery Books in North
Cambridge MA and The Center for
the Book at The Library of Congress.The will be awarded during the Edgars
Banquet May 1, 2008
in New York City.
Read all the nominees @ www.mysterywriters.org
LEFT COAST CRIME NOMINEES...
The Lefty (given for most humorous mystery of 2007):
Donna Andrews, THE PENGUIN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Don Bruns, STUFF TO DIE FOR
Jeff Cohen, SOME LIKE IT HOT BUTTERED
Jess Lourey, KNEE HIGH BY THE FOURTH OF JULY
Elaine Viets, MURDER WITH RESERVATIONS
The Rocky (given for "the best mystery set in the Left Coast Crime
geographical region" in 2007):
C.J. Box, FREE FIRE
Bill Cameron, LOST DOG
Margaret Coel, THE GIRL WITH THE BRAIDED HAIR
Tim Maleeny, STEALING THE DRAGON
Twist Phelan, FALSE FORTUNE
The Arty (best cover art for a mystery published in 2007):
Megan Abbott, QUEENPIN
Laura Benedict, ISABELLA MOON
Rhys Bowen, HER ROYAL SPYNESS
Ken Issacson, SILENT COUNSEL
Tim Maleeny, STEALING THE DRAGON
WHAT'S NEW IN FEBRUARY...
FLAW IN THE BLOOD ($24.00) by Stephanie Barron. This one I have been waiting
to tell you about since I read a review copy ages ago. A man and a female
doctor are hounded by the security forces of Queen Victoria in the suspenseful historical
mystery with a real shocker of an ending. Barron (aka Francine Matthews) is the
author of the best-selling mysteries featuring Jane Austen as the sleuth. Her
research on this one is fascinating and will send you to books or the computer
to see how much is "real" and how much is "embellished."
Since there are hundreds of books on Victoria
and her Consort it is not difficult to track some down, but the details in
Barron's book has been, shall we say, "hidden in plain view." The
main characters are very well-drawn and engaging, and I'd like to see a sequel,
if the characters dare show their faces in England.. You've noticed I didn't
want to give too much away. Discover the fun for yourself. A delight from start
to finish.
LADY KILLER ($25.95) By Lisa Scottoline. A young woman searches for her high
schoOl rival.DADDY'S GIRL is new in pb ($7.99).
MISTRESS IN THE ART OF DEATH ($15.00) by Ariana Franklin. Now in paperback,
this historical thriller features a medieval version of a female medical
examiner. The sequel THE SERPENT'S TALE ($25.95) comes out in hardback this
month also.
THE SPELLMAN FILES by Liza Lutz ($14.00) This is on a lot of folks' best of
the best list and features a 28-year-old P.I. and her dysfunctional family.
AN INCOMPLETE REVENGE ($24.00) by JacquelineWinspear. Due to a slump in
business in London, Maise Dobbs, private eye, is
happy to have a case in a small town in Kent. Billy Beale, her employee,
and his family are helping out with the hops harvest near the town. The
fortunes of the Beale family and her own personal relationships entwine. But
soon she suspects a very dark secret about the town. Mysterious fires and a
murder occurs and a member of the gypsy community helping with the harvest is
accused. As always, Maisie's relationships with her father, her former employer
and fellow employees during the Great War figure prominently in the story.
MOONLIGHT DOWNS ($24.00) by Adrian Hyland.
Emily, a half-aboriginal Australian woman, returns to the bush. Almost
immediately one of her old friends is murdered. Emily thinks she knows the
murderer is not the rogue aboriginal the police suspect, and does her own
sleuthing.
OF ALL SAD WORDS by Bill Crider. Deep in Texas is Sheriff Dan Rhodes.
DEATH OF A GENTLE LADY ($23.95) by M.C. Beaton. Hamish MacBeth
disagrees with Chief Detective Blair assertion that a "gentle" old
lady's family did her in and starts his own investigation into her true
character.
AUNT DIMITY: VAMPIRE HUNTER ($22.95) by Nancy Atherton. Aunt Dimity, a ghost
and sleuth, returns with another romp in the British countryside.
SONG YET SUNG ($25.95) by James McBride. Intrigue and adventure during the
time of slavery in pre-Civil War Maryland on
the Eastern Shore.
THE BLACK DOVE ($23.95) by Steve Hockensmith. When the cowboy detectives
from HOLMES ON THE RANGE and ON THE WRONG TRACK hit the big city (San Francisco), "the
big city hits them back."
SLIP OF THE KNIFE ($24.95) by Denise Mina. The queen of Tartan Noir returns
in the continuing story of reporter Paddy Meehan.
THE NIGHT FOLLOWING ($22.00) by Morag Joss. A terrifying psychological
thriller as a killer comes out of the darkness into the light.
DEAD BEFORE DYING ($7.99) by Deon Meyer. Third of his South Africa thrillers has the Cape Town detective on the
trail of clever
murderers.
DEAD HUNT ($7.99) by Beverly Connor. FBI profiler Diane Fallon agrees to
meet in prison with a woman Diane helped put there to get further info about
her crimes. Then the woman is killed and Diane is the suspect.
GHOST OF A CHANCE ($6.99) by Kate Marsh. In this debut mystery, Karma Marx,
an exorcist who specializes in cleaning houses of their ghosts, finds the
present case to be troublesome.
SUMMER OF THE BIG BACHI ($6.99) by Naomi Hirahara. Sixty-nine-year old
gardener Mas Arai, introduced in the Edgar award-winning first book is now
living in Pasadena.
The Bachi, or symbol of retribution, is making Mas confront his past.
THISTLE AND TWIGG ($6.99) by Mary Saums. Widows Jane Thistle and Phoebe
Twigg find a body in the woods near their Southern town and decide to
investigate in this first of a mystery series.
TACKED TO DEATH ($6.99) by Michele Scott. A death at a polo match engages
horse trainer Michaela Bancroft in sleuthing.
That's about it for this month. Stay in touch and let us know how we can
help you. Remember: We've been in business for 16 years and We..Know..Books.
Happy Valentine's Day from Kathy, Tom, Dotty, Brenda, and Nick and
Nora.
