Seattle Mystery Bookshop

John Straley, The Big Both Ways Tour

A hot day for an Alaskan here in Seattle.  Wonderful day at Seattle Mystery Books meeting old friends and making a few new ones. 

In the good news/bad news department: the first edition hard back copies of The Big Both Ways are almost gone from the stores and the publisher has gone back to press for a second printing.  Most of the stores where I'm doing events have their supply and that's about it for the first editions.  But I'm sure the folks here at SMB will have the best info on how to get copies and how to get a hold of me if needs be. 

Off to Bellingham tonight and on the water tomorrow.  Having a wonderful time on this first part of The Big Both Way's tour.  I promise, it won't be such a long wait for the next one. 

John Straley

Sitka, AK

Charlaine Harris in Seattle

This is the first time I've visited Seattle when it's actually been raining. I find it appropriately atmospheric to come to the shop in the rain, with the skies gray and low. YES! Classic Seattle! The drive up from Portland was very Twin Peaksian. Any space crammed with books and with people who love and know them is a wonderful space, and this shop is no exception. Have a great browse, and buy lots of books. If at least some of them are mine, that's even better.

Charlaine Harris

Deadly Errors

There's no better group than the gang at Seattle Mystery for supporting local authors.  Thanks, guys, from all of us!

Allen Wyler

Ancient Rain in Seattle

Walked down this morning pulling battered yellow travel bag down First Street under waterfront clouds and freeway noise to sign copies of Ancient Rain at the Seattle  Mystery Book Shop.  A block off the grit of Pioneer Square--my first time here--an oasis of hard-boiled pulp and crime fiction of all sorts, a tenacious independent in a world of the chain market and sanitized.   This is the place to get the real thing.  Special thanks to Bill and Fran and Marie.

Domenic Stansberry

A Literary Mystery

Who is stealing my identity? And why? Twice now I've had someone impersonating me trying to con book stores out of money. I suppose it's poetic justice--I have written two novels about identity theft and fraud--but I'm here to tell ya' that there's nothing poetic nor just about poetic justice.

So I was hoping that I could solve the mystery by visiting the Seattle Mystery Bookshop, where we put our heads together to solve the crime. Fran told me about another bookstore scam in which people ordered a book that couldn't be returned using a bad credit card simply to drive sales of the book. Since I'm the only author who's been targeted twice in this new scam, and I stand to gain the most publicity, we all concluded that I am the prime suspect.

Great. Like I don't have enough to think about. Any information anyone has to clear my name would be greatly appreciated.

Marc Acito

Miss Zukas visits Seattle

What a good day to visit the bookstore! Rainy and cozy, and visits with readers who I've had the privilege of meeting before. And Lithuanians, too!  INDEX TO MURDER is my first outing with the eleventh Miss Zukas mystery and this is my favorite mystery bookstore on earth. Thanks, y'all!  jo

2008 Edgar Award Winners

2008 Edgars

The 2008 Edgar Awards (for book published in 2007) were announced last night in NYC.

Here are the winners:

Best Novel: John Hart, Down River (St. Martin’s, $24.95). Gretchen recommends.

Best First Novel: Tana French, In the Woods (Viking, $24.95).

Best Paperback Original: Megan Abbott, Queenpin (Simon & Schuster, $13). Janine recommends.

Best Short Story: Susan Straight, “The Golden Gopher”, Los Angeles Noir (Akashic, $15.95)

Best Critical/Biography: Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley, Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters (Penguin, $37.95).

Best Fact Crime: Vincent Bugliosi, Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (Norton, $49.95). JB does not recommend.

Our congratulations to the winners and to all of the nominees!

Our April 2008 Bestsellers

April 2008 Bestsellers

Hardcovers

1 – Amanda Quick, The Third Circle, Putnam

2 – Michael Gruber, The Forgery of Venus, Morrow

3 – Nevada Barr, Winter Study, Putnam

4 – Lisa Lutz, The Curse of the Spellmans, Simon & Schuster

5 – Randy Wayne White, Black Widow, Putnam

6 – tie

Pari Noskin Taichert, The Socorro Blast, Univ. of New Mexico Press

William Dietrich, The Rosetta Key, Harper

Harlan Coben, Hold Tight, Dutton

9 – tie

Kate Mosse, Sepulcher, Putnam

Ridley Pearson, Steel Trapp, Disney

Trade Paperbacks

1 – Susan Hill, The Various Haunts of Men, Overlook

2 – Lisa Lutz, The Spellman Files, Simon & Schuster

3 – Michael Gruber, The Book of Air and Shadows, Harper

4 – Andreas Camilleri, Paper Moon, Penguin

5 – tie

Nicola Griffith, Always, Riverhead

Charlie Newton, Calumet City, Touchstone

Marc Acito, How I Paid for College, Broadway

8 – Robert Fate, Baby Shark’s High Plains Redemption, CCP

9 – tie

Joshilyn Jackson, Between, Georgia, Warner

Lowen Clausen, River, Silo

John Straley, The Big Both Ways, Alaska Northwest Books

Candace Robb, Vigil of Spies, Century

Thomas Perry, Silence, Harcourt

Helene Tursten, The Glass Devil, Soho

Benjamin Black, Christine Falls, Picador

Mass Market Paperbacks

1 -- tie

Gregg Olsen, Cold Dark Place, Kensington

Lee Child, Bad Luck and Trouble, Bantam

3– Caitlin Kittredge, Night Life, St Martin’s

4 – tie

Cleo Coyle, French Pressed, Berkley

Jo Dereske, Index to Murder, Avon

6 –Denise Swanson, Murder of a Chocolate-Covered Cherry, Signet

7 – tie

John J. Lamb, Mournful Teddy, Berkley

Greg Bear, Quantico, Vanguard

Jane Haddam, Glass Houses, St. Martin’s

John Connolly, Unquiet, Pocket