Billy Boyle James R. Benn

Holmes on the Range Steve Hockensmith\

Mournful Teddy John J.Lamb

Still Life Louise Penny

Thirteenth Tale Diane Setterfield

The Virgin of Small Plains Nancy Pickard

LEFTY AWARD NOMINEES...

The nominees for the Left Coast Crime 2007 Lefty Awards for Best Humorous Mystery are:

No Nest for the Wicket, Donna Andrews  [signed copies available]

Monkey Man, Steve Brewer

47 Rules of Highly Effective Bank Robbers, Troy Cook  [signed copies available]

Go to Helena Handbasket, Donna Moore

Murder Unleashed, Elaine Viets (NAL) [signed copies available]

The winner will be announced at Left Coast Crime in Seattle on February 3, 2007

BOOK CLUB RECOMMENDATIONS...Need a book for your book club. Here are some ideas. We offer 20% off if your club buys them from us.

ACROSS THE BRIDGE OF SIGHES by Jane Turner Rylands, $14.95. From the author of the acclaimed Venetian Stories comes a captivating new collection about Venice from the perspective of its residents. As her characters negotiate the conflict between tradition and a rapidly changing city, Jane Turner Rylands draws readers deep into a society all but unknown to outsiders.

MASON'S RETREAT by Christopher Tilghman ($14.95). This superb novel by the author of In a Father's Place confirms Christopher Tilghman as one of America's finest writers. Set on the Eastern shore of Maryland on the eve of World War II, MASON'S RETREAT concerns the decline of
the once-grand Mason family.

LOVE WALKED IN by Marisa de los Santos ($14.95). This first novel by award-winning poet Marisa de los Santos is bursting with keen insight and beautifully rendered prose. Invoking classic movies to illuminate the mystery and wonder of love in all its permutations LOVE WALKED IN is an uplifting debut that marks the entrance of an enchanting literary voice.

NEW THIS MONTH...

MURDER, ’ORRIBLE MURDER by Amy Myers. ($19.00) Question: what do a French chef, a Victorian chimney sweep and Aphrodite, goddess of love, have in common?  Answer: they are all busy solving murder cases in Murder, ’Orrible Murder! Culinary mystery fans, take note.

BLUE CHEER by Ed Lynskey, ($12.95) Rockville MD author's book about PI Frank Johnson. Johnson has moved to Scarab, West Virginia, drawn by the promise of lazy days and the lure of its tranquil mountains. What he finds instead is a Stinger rocket exploding over his back yard. His ensuing investigation uncovers a cult called the Blue Cheer, a racist group with ugly terrorist plans. As events heat up, blood starts to spill, and for Frank it all gets real personal real quick. With the help of his bounty hunter pal, he sets out to bring the Blue Cheer to justice—any way he can. Ed's first book was DIRT-BROWN DERBY.

THE CASE OF EMILY V by Keith Oatley ($18.00) It was previously published in the U.K. and Canada, and it won the Commonwealth Prize for Best First Novel at the time. If you're a Sherlock Holmes fan, or if you like to delve into the deep psychological motives (with Sigmund Freud, no less), then you should really like this book.

Thomas H. Cook gives us THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING (24.00) a powerful view of a disturbed family who is torn apart by suspicion.

In PERFECT FAKE by Barbara Parker ($25.95) a discovery of a 500 year-old map spars a thrilling chase from Miami to London and the Italian Alps.

THE WATER DEVIL completes the medieval trilogy by Judith M. Riley. ($13.95) In this one Margaret has rescued her husband from captivity in France and retires to the English countryside, when her tranquil life is shattered by he husband's meddling family, a greedy abbot and ancient creature awakened from his sleep.

Another medieval one, this time a mystery, involves Dame Frevisse in THE TRAITOR'S TALE by Margaret Frazier ($24.95). Dame Frevisse must help her cousin Alice bury her husband, the much hated Duke of Sufolk. THE SEMPSTER'S TALE is available in paperback ($7.99)

Sandi Ault debuts with WILD INDIGO in which Jamaica Wild, an agent with the Bureau of Land Management witnesses a Tanoah man stampeded by a heard of buffalo. But she has her doubts it was an accident.

Fancy a mystery set in Africa? Then STALKING IVORY by Suzanne Arruda ($23.95) is what you are searching for. On an assignment to photograph the great herds of elephants in the Mount Marsabit region, Jade del Cameron comes upon the mutilated corpses of four elephants and a man. The authorities think it was poachers, but Jade thinks otherwise.

How about a mystery set below the sea? Lincoln Child presents a major thriller set in a top-secret lab 12,000 feet beneath the Atlantic as a team searches for the greatest archeological discovery ever.

Dana Stabenow returns to her Kate Shugak mysteries with A DEEPER SLEEP ($24.95). A man gets away with murder--or does he?

Charles Todd's latest is A FALSE MIRROR ($23.95) which continues the Scotland Yard Inspector Rutledge series. Rutledge's trench mate is accused of beating the husband of the woman who jilted him. To escape, his friend takes the woman hostage tells Rutledge he must prove his innocence. THE LONG SHADOW is now available in paperback ($6.99)

Sheriff Dan Rhodes is back with MURDER AMONG THE OWLS. ($23.95) In this one the Sheriff must deal with a black cat, a red-hat club and a chain saw attack.

J.A. Jance debuts a new series with ex-television journalist Ali Reynolds in WEB OF EVIL ($25.95)

In THE CAT WHO HAD 60 WISKERS by Lilian Jackson Braun ($24.95), only Koko knows what's happening, he's not telling. THE CAT WHO DROPPED A BOMBSHELL by Lilian Jackson Braun ($7.99) tells the tale of Pickax's sesquicentennial which blows in with a hurricane, a whole family of sick folks. Qwill and Yum-yum have their work set out for them.

A finalist for the Edgar award GOLDILOCKS By Andrew Coburn ($6.99) tells the story of a small town where cops trade their souls to crime bosses.

BRIDE AND DOOM by Deborah Donnelly ($6.99) has baseball bimbos and a heavy secret threatening the safety of wedding planner Carnegie Kincaide.

The latest Hamish MacBeth in paperback by M.C. Beaton is DEATH OF A DREAMER ($6.99) Hamish is on the trail of a killer with a penchant for poison in the Scottish Highlands.

Genealogy is the theme of Patty Sprinkle newest series DEATH ON THE FAMILY TREE ($6.99)

Princeton New Jersey writer Ann Waldron pens the latest of her academic mysteries with THE PRINCETON IMPOSTER ($7.99)  Professor McLeod Dulaney's star student uses an assumed name. No the student who outed him is dead and McLeod must find keep her student from taking the rap.

One of our favorite British authors Stephen Booth appears in paperback with ONE LAST BREATH ($7.50) Detectives Ben Cooper and Diane Fry return to a small town of Derbyshire where a murderer hidden in the underground caverns of the town plots revenge.

Jimmie Ruth Evans third Trailer Park mystery BEST SERVED COLD ($6.99) At the Kountry Kitchen, Wand Neil's long -lost brother Rusty turns up.  Wanda wants to reconcile with him, but then a man is murdered who Rusty had just fought with. Then Rusty himself disappears. Includes recipes.

Finally, want a trip to 18th century Paris? DEATH DU JOUR by Lou Jane Temple has cook Fannie Delarue investigate the murder of her friend and mentor. Includes recipes from Revolutionary Paris.

IF YOU MISSED THESE...

HOMICIDE MY OWN by Anne Argula ($16.00) was nominated for an Original. Quirky characters from the Northwest populate this off-beat story of a man hunt. Out of sorts 40-ish Detective Quinn is on the hot flash trail of a cold case with a Lolita like couple dragging behind them. Then her 20 year-old Swedish partner starts remembering details of the case from long ago, except he couldn't have been there. If you like your mysteries with a tad of the paranormal, this is your book.

HELEN CHAPPELL BOOKS REISSUED...

on the Eastern Shore. Tidewater Press has just published her fourth Hollis Mystery FRIGHT OF GHOSTS (signed copies $9.99). Now Helen's first and second books SLOW DANCING WITH THE ANGEL OF DEATH ($16.95) and DEAD DUCK ($16.95) have now been re-issued by Cambridge Books. These are laugh-out-loud, difficult to describe universally funny, yet very local regional mysteries. Think Topper on the Eastern Shore with ample doses of Gerrison Keilor and over the top humor. We also carry OYSTERBACK TALES ($12.95) Helen's essays on Shore Life and THE CHESAPEAKE BOOK OF THE DEAD ($30.00) Helen's tour of Chesapeake graveyards and the folks they commemorate. Get the whole oeuvre.

CHESSIE II IN PAPERBACK AND SIGNED...

Tidewater Publishers has just issued CHESAPEAKE CRIMES II ($11.95) in a new and improved paperback form, and we have signed editions. This edition contains Agatha nominated stories by Carla Coupe, Harriet Sackler, and Barb Gorfman and the Agatha Award winning story "Driven
To Distraction" by Marcia Talley as well as 11 other stories by local Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime members. You'll want several copies. They make great gifts.

OXFORD’S BEST SELLER LIST.

As you know, I do a weekly radio show (three minutes long) on WCEI in Easton. In it I give the national and local best seller  lists. This is list for the top best sellers of 2006 for the Oxford store:

1. RECIPES AND RECOLLECTIONS: THE OXFORD COOKBOOK

2. NO NEST FOR THE WICKET, by Donna Andrews

3. FRIGHT OF GHOSTS, by Helen Chappell

4. MURDER WITH PEACOCKS, by Donna Andrews

5. NANCY DREW’S GUIDE TO LIFE

6. MERLOT MURDERS, by Ellen Crosby

7. VINTAGE MURDER, by Bill Shepard

8. BETTER OFF WED, by Laura Durham

9. MURDER ON THE DANUBE, by Bill Shepard

10. SING IT TO HER BONES, by Marcia Talley

BALTIMORE’S 2006 BEST SELLER LIST…

The top 2006 list for Baltimore’s store is impossible to compile, but near the top of the list are the following:

NO GOOD DEEDS, by Laura Lippman

IN A STRANGE CITY, by Laura Lippman

MURDER WITH PEACOCKS, by Donna Andrews

TYPHOON LOVER, by Sujata Massey

THROUGH THE DARKNESS, by Marcia Talley

CHESAPEAKE CRIMES II

And finally we did a signing in Rockville this fall with Noreen Wald (Nora Charles). Noreen gave a talk with a signing afterwards. Well...Noreen found her audience. We sold over 300 of her books. If you haven’t read them, you should. They’ll make you smile. They are:

DEATH WITH AN OCEAN VIEW

WHO KILLED SWAMI SCHWARTZ

DEATH IS A BARGAIN

HURRICANE HOMICIDE

So the grand prize for 2006 goes to Noreen Wald (Nora Charles). You go girl!

OXFORD AND TALBOT COUNTY BOOKS AND ITEMS.

Some of our best holiday sellers have been the items we sell for Oxford Non-Profit organizations. We do the selling, they get the money.

RECIPES AND RECOLLECTIONS: THE OXFORD COOKBOOK, (c2006) by the residents of Oxford. Sold to benefit the Volunteer Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary. ($15.00). Tasty recipes and memories of days spent in Oxford including Wild Rockfish w/Crab & Sherry Dijon Cream, Muskrat (like Chicken) [sure!], Forrest's Stuffed Ham, Oyster Puffs, Winter Breakfast Pudding, and Maryland Crab Soup. Don't you wish you were here, now?

And to benefit the Oxford Museum:

OXFORD TREASURES: Then and Now by Douglas Hanks, Jr. Wonderful old photographs and history of our fair town. ($20.00)

OXF (OXFORD) oval bumper stickers ($3.25)

OXFORD NOTE CARDS ($5.00)

PORT OF OXFORD ($2.00) Fascinating pamphlet of drawings and text of Oxford's history written by Jane Foster Tucker. Especially good about the early life of the town laid out by the town commissioners in 1683.

THE MUSEUM COLLECTION COOKBOOK, by the Oxford Museum ($10.00) A Treasury of Oxford's Most Cherished Recipes including several versions of Crab Dip, Crab Stuffed Mushrooms, Crab Cakes, and Pastor Carol's Spicy Walnut Raisin Pie. Can't beat that Maryland Eastern Shore cooking!

ARCADIA PUBLISHING LOCAL HISTORY BOOKS...

We now carry a full array of local pictorial history books by Arcadia Publishing. All are $19.99 and are very beautifully produced. They plan to publish one on St.Michaels and Oxford soon.

TALBOT COUNT

CHESAPEAKE BAY STEAMERS

HARD SHELL CRAB DERBY

FELLS POINT

HIGHLANDTOWN

BALTIMORE'S PATTERSON PARK

BALTIMORE IN WORLD WAR II

BALTIMORE ARCHITECTURE

BALTIMORE'S HISTORIC PARKS AND GARDENS

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Check out the recent newsletters from Killer Books.

Thank you for all your support for our Baltimore-Fells Point store and our new store on Maryland's Eastern Shore in Oxford. Thank you to all who invited us to sell books at new and interesting venues: Grawler’s Funeral Home for the Dying to Write Conference, a plot of ground in Virginia for an Extreme Crochet Game, and Boordy’s Vineyard, We have made so many new friends this year. We know you have choices on where your purchase your books from, and as a small independent bookstore, we really appreciate your business. If there is anything we can do for you in the coming year, just ask. Don't forget our online store is always open @ mysterylovescompany.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM KATHY, TOM, DOTTY, BRENDA, and NICK and NORA [mew!]