Seattle Mystery Bookshop

Untangling Three Careers

And so it begins:  Starting with this book (CANYONS OF NIGHT) I shall begin the task of untangling my three names.  No, in answer to the obvious question, I never intended to end up with three names and three careers.  How I got here is another story.  But now that I have thoroughly complicated things by running two trilogies through all three of my names (Amanda Quick, Jayne Ann Krentz and Jayne Castle) I have decided that the time has come to STOP THE CONFUSION! 

Actually, the lesson here, I think, is that readers have definite preferences when it comes to fictional landscapes.  Some folks prefer historical settings, others would rather read contemporaries and then there are those who want only dust bunnies.  (Ahem.  Those would be my Castle books).  So, going forward there will be no need to read all three of my names to finish a trilogy.  Woo-hoo!

Thanks, SEATTLE MYSTERY BOOKSHOP for a great launch to my new Rainshadow series with the release of CANYONS OF NIGHT!

--Jayne Ann Krentz (Amanda Quick, Jayne Castle)

Do You Cheat?

Hi, Fran here.

Look, we're all friends, right? So let me ask you a personal question. You don't have to answer, that's okay. But I'm going to ask anyway. Ready?

Do you read the end of a book before you've finished it? In other words, do you skip ahead and cheat?

Okay, I'll be the first to say so. I mean, I'm out of the other closet so why not come out about this one too. Sometimes I read the end of a book before I've gotten there by going all the way through.

There. I said it. Now I don't do this all the time; in fact I rarely do it, but once in a while, yeah. I skip to the end. Let me tell you when and why.

Once in a while, not so much lately, but once in a while I'll be reading a book and. . .it's just not working for me. I reach that point when I know I'm never going to finish it, I'm never going to recommend it to anyone, it just doesn't grab me. They happen. Not every book is for everyone. So I skip to the end to see if it turns out the way I think it will. If there's some huge surprise there, I'll go back and fill in, but generally I'm done.

On the other hand, when I read Joshilyn Jackson's Between, Georgia she put one of my favorite characters in deep peril. I absolutely wanted to skip to the end, just to peek, to make sure everything was going to work out right. If you've read it, you know what I'm talking about, and if you haven't, when you read it, you will. It's huge. But I found myself muttering, "I trust her, I trust her, she's a good author and I trust her!" and I powered on through without the peek. It was rewarding, but I wouldn't fault anyone who did look ahead, just to see.

But then, when I read Daniel Polansky's Low Town I did skip to the end briefly, because I figured out who did it and I wanted to be sure I was right. But that was sheer laziness on my part and was kinda silly because I knew I was going to read the book all the way through. I just wanted that pat-on-the-back moment fulfilled. Was I cheating? Absolutely. Will I do it again? Probably. Ah, let's be honest, knowing me, definitely.

It's always a tough call, when I want to be sure that the people I've come to care about make it, and nowadays, that's not always a given. When I read Elizabeth George's With No One as Witness, I knew from the very beginning that someone I had grown fond of was going to die. It said so in the promotional material, but it obviously didn't say who. And I found myself bargaining with Ms. George (as if that would change anything; the book was in my hand already!), pleading "Please, not Havers!" then "Please not Havers and Lynley" then "Please not Havers or Lynley or Nkata". It went on and on until I was running out of people to plead for, and by then of course I knew I was past the tipping point.

But I never read ahead. I let it be a shock, which it was. And yes, I cried like a little girl. Shut up. I bet you did too. It was one of those times when I would have been angry with myself for cheating. Whoever died deserved my full attention and the sense of hurt and loss. It was only fair, so I didn't.

Now I'm not looking for a show of hands, but I know you're out there, right? I'm not the only one who reads the end first, not always but once in a while. You are, aren't you?

 P.S. Amber here, I cheat... all the time, in fact it is rare for me to read a book without cheating. I always want to know if my favorite charecter will make it to the end. I also enjoy watching how the author slowly implicates the culprit through the story.

Plus blame Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally, I don't want to die without knowing how the book ends!

Adieu, Farewell, See Ya Later, Alligator

Finally, it is with both a mix of sadness and happiness that we announce the official retirement of shop founder Bill Farley.

As you may know if you’ve been around us awhile, Bill opened this shop after having worked at Whodunnit in Philadelphia and being told by visiting author Aaron Elkins that Seattle needed a specialty mystery shop, too. Bill went home that night and told his wife B Jo that they were moving to Seattle right away.

We’ve always taken July 1st as our birthday, though there never really was a ‘first day of business’. As with everything we’ve done over the years, it was much more informal than that. In 1998, he began to feel as if he’d taken the shop as far as he could and it was time to ‘retire’. Hah! As if we’d let him get away that easily! He’s too great a resource for that, and, seriously, he didn’t really want to completely vanish. So, after he sold the joint to me at the beginning of 1999, he stayed on, working part time.

But now it really is time for him to kick back, play mah jong, see just how fast his yacht can go, finish all his carpentry projects, get that black belt, finish his PhD in ictheology, sign up for that Western line-dancing class, get his sky diving certificate AND his motorcycle license, and take that oft-postponed voyage to the Outer Planets. Which is just a way of saying he won’t have scheduled days any more after Labor Day. You may still see him here, after he has had his split-pea soup and pie at Bakeman’s, or helping during a big signing, or filling in if someone comes down with the crud. But, after 21 years, Bill Farley will no longer be a scheduled member of the staff. His name will stay on the masthead of the newsletter, the bookmark and on the pebble-glassed door.

Yes, Bill Farley is finally retiring, just a little bit more. Anyone wishing to send their good wishes to him via e-mail or good, old-fashioned mail, we’ll make sure he gets them. We’re planning on an official farewell party just as soon as we can get all our ducks in a row, and Bill gets back from snorkeling down to the Titanic. So, in the next couple of weeks, we figure. We’ll keep you posted.

He and I have always refered to this place 'riding a tiger' - you hang on for dear life and don't dare let go. Thanks, Bill, it has been a hell of a ride. And a pleasure.

~ JB

Genre-bending

Fran here, pondering a bit.

I read all over the mystery spectrum, from police procedural (I love Dorothy Uhnak and wish her Christie Oparas were still available) to urban fantasy (Cherie Priest's vampire thief is going to be a hugely fun series) to anthropomorphic (sheep as the protagonists? Why yes, actually) to true crime (Doug Preston's time in Italy still creeps me out) along with the more traditional whodunits, capers, thrillers and traditional/cozy stories. Well, you know the various types of mysteries, and if you don't, we have them listed here.

After all, when people come in and wonder, wide-eyed "This is ALL mystery?" our response is that we're mystery broadly defined because we do carry all those types, along with some books that aren't mysteries simply because we like the author's writing. I'm thinking right now of Lowen Clausen's River (IPG, $14.95, signed) and John Straley's poetry, The Rising and the Rain (UCP, $19.95) here. But in general, there's some sort of crime or lawlessness or puzzle in each of our books.

Sometimes, though, publishers present a book in one way and we discover that it's not quite what we thought it was, and that can be fun but a little disconcerting too. Let me give you an example.

I am currently reading Daniel Polansky's Low Town (Doubleday, $25.95) and JB ordered it because it was billed as a thriller with noir sensibilities, but what he didn't realize was that it's fantasy, and not urban fantasy but just straight-up fantasy. 

Quick aside, JB was hesitant about getting into the urban fantasy genre because he wanted to stay away from the fantastical, so finally we compromised by making sure that all the fantasy is based on some iteration of Earth, like Yasmine Galenorn's Sisters of the Otherworld series set here in Seattle, or Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville series set in Denver.

Okay, back to Low Town. I'm really enjoying it and should have a review for our ezine fairly soon, but it wasn't what I was expecting, and I felt like I took a small mis-step early on, a small trip in my reading psyche while I adjusted from mystery to fantasy.  I have a great willing suspension of disbelief so it wasn't a challenge for me, just a small surprise.  As I say, I like it all.

But it did get me thinking. Do you ever find that you've picked up something and it's not what you thought it was? I suspect most of us have. Sometimes, as in this case, it's a misleading or incomplete -- albeit accurate -- blurb, sometimes it's a cover that doesn't reflect the book inside, but whatever the cause, it makes for a moment that kicks you out of the story.

In the end, though, isn't it the story that matters? Granted, as I say, I read across genres, so I have no problem switching genres. I can see where, if you only like true crime and you pick up a book thinking that's what it was only to discover that it's a caper told from a llama's point of view, you might not be inclined to finish the book.

I guess my questiobn is, do you enjoy books that surprise you in this way? Do you like discovering something is different from what you had anticipated, or does it make you cranky?

"Here Come The Shamuses"

From the good folks at The Rap Sheet:

The Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) tonight announced its 2011 list of nominees for the Shamus Awards, “given annually to recognize outstanding achievement in private eye fiction.” Winners in each of four categories will be declared during a banquet at Bouchercon in St. Louis (September 15-18).

 Without further ado, the contenders are ...

Best Hardcover P.I. Novel:

No Mercy, by Lori Armstrong (Touchstone)

The First Rule, by Robert Crais (Putnam)

 Voyeur, by Daniel Judson (Minotaur)

If the Dead Rise Not, by Philip Kerr (Putnam)

Naked Moon, by Domenic Stansberry (Minotaur)

Best First P.I. Novel:

In Search of Mercy, by Michael Ayoob (Minotaur)

One Man’s Paradise, by Douglas Corleone (Minotaur)

Rogue Island, by Bruce DeSilva (Forge)

Random Violence, by Jassy MacKenzie (Soho)•

City of Dragons, by Kelli Stanley (Minotaur)

Best Paperback Original P.I. Novel:

Hostage Zero, by John Gilstrap (Kensington)

Nightshade, by Tom Henighan (Dundurn Press

Mister X, by John Lutz (Pinnacle)

The Panic Zone, by Rick Mofina (Mira)

Asia Hand, by Christopher G. Moore (Grove/Atlantic)

The Little Death, by P.J. Parrish (Pocket Star)

Best P.I. Short Story:

“The God of Right and Wrong,” by Steven Gore (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)

“The Lamb Was Sure to Go,” by Gar Anthony Haywood (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine)

“The Girl in the Golden Gown,” by Robert S. Levinson (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)

“Phelan’s First Case.” by Lisa Sandlin (Lone Star Noir)

“A Long Time Dead,” by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (The Strand Magazine)

Congratulations to all of the nominees!

Back at SMB!

It's always an adventure coming to the Seattle Mystery Bookshop. Last year it was Seafair, and this year it's Hempfest and a Seahawks game. Let's not forget the scavenger hunt, either, with a doorway blocked by neon-green-clad bike riders trying to find my signing poster in the front window. Which had been removed since SMB had politely declined to take part in the hunt. Because of the whole blocked doorway thang. If only the riders were here for the mysteries!

And then there was walking in and mistaking Adele for a customer. Because I'd never met her before. She didn't used to work on Saturdays, and I've always signed on Saturdays. Thankfully she forgave me for telling her I didn't work here. At least I didn't offer to tell her where the bathroom is.

Lovely, interested, mystery-reading browsers here, as well as incredibly knowledgeable staff who make authors and customers alike feel welcome. Thanks Adele, Bill and Janine for making my afternoon so enjoyable!

~Cricket

ENTER TO WIN a $150 Shopping Spree at Seattle Mystery Bookshop 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Name: _______________________

Last Name: _______________________

Email:____________________________

The drawing for this certificate will be held at 2pm on SEPTEMBER 3rd, 2011 at Seattle Mystery Bookshop during the official launch of UNHOLY ALLIANCE by Neil Low www.neillow.com  www.tigresspublishing.com . E-mail your entry to either of these websites, or stop in our shop to fill out an entry form.

Sponsored by Neil Low and Tigress Publishing. 

No purchase necessary to enter. Gift certificate does not expire.

E-mail us to reserve copies of the book. Come in on Sept. 3rd, meet Neil, get your copies signed, and see if you win!