Seattle Mystery Bookshop

Simenon

Here is the huge Georges Simenon collection we just got in!

Jayne Ann Krentz

We did a little rejiggering anf Jayne Ann Krentz has her very own display!

Newzine 7.3.14

Happy Fourth of July, USA!

Like you, we’re taking the day off.

Back to work for us on Saturday.

 Birthday Sale:

For the first half of the month, July 1^st through 15^th, all used hardcovers will be 25% off.

 Links of Interest:

Two from the Sunday New York Times:

        A Copper, a Dust-Up and a Death

        San Francisco Noir

From The Guardian: “Women’s appetite for explicit crime fiction is no mystery”

 14 Things You Don’t Know about James M. Cain

NPR’s ‘Crime and the City’ series continues with Australian crime writer Peter Temple: “Hard-Boiled Hero Jack Irish Lives, And Drinks, In A Shadowy Melbourne”

 Authorisms: Words Wrought by Writers

While we specialize in mystery and crime books, we can order virtually any new book that you might want, no matter what its topic.

Gift Certificates:

They’re available in Whatever Denomination You Want; They Don’t Expire; You can Order Them by Phone, e-mail or through the Website, and we can Mail them directly to the Recipient if you’d like. Perfect for all sorts of occasions.

See the calendar of all currently-scheduled events on our website. The website calendar contains plot synopses. At the bottom of it is the updated, complete list of signed copies that we’ll be getting from other sources. Click Here.

Yasmine Galenorn, July 5

Diana Renn, July 7

Leslie Budewitz, July 11

Emma Campion (Candace Robb), July 12

Jacqueline Winspear, July 16

Warren C. Easley, July 19

J.A. Jance, July 22

Greg Rucka, Aug 2

Kat Richardson, Aug 9

Mary Daheim, Aug 14

Martin Limón, Aug 19

Chelsea Cain, Aug 20

Jayne Castle, Aug 26

Yasmine Galenorn, Oct 4

Hank Phillippi Ryan, Oct 10

Urban Waite, Oct 21

And there are always more on the way!

Remember, too, that while it is always fun to come in and meet the author in person, that isn’t always possible. So reserve a signed copy to be mailed to you or for you to pick up later. Those who reserve in advance get the copies in the best condition!

______________________________________________________________________________

Wish List

Our website has a Wish List capability. If folks want to know what you’d like for a given holiday or birthday, it is easy to point people to our website. Amber has put together a dandy blog post explaining it and how it works.

Word of the Week (in honor of July 4^th)

rocket (n.1) A garden plant of the cabbage family, c.1500, from Middle French roquette (16^th C.), from Italian rochetta, diminutive of ruca "a kind of cabbage," from Latin eruca "colewort," perhaps so called for its downy stems and related to ericus "hedgehog," also "a beam set with spikes," from PIE *ghers- "to bristle".

rocket (n.2) A type of self-propelling projectile, from the 1610s, from Italian rocchetto "a rocket," literally "a bobbin," diminutive of rocca "a distaff," so called because of cylindrical shape. The Italian word probably is from a Germanic source (compare Old High German rocko "distaff," Old Norse rokkr), from Proto-Germanic *rukkon-, from Proto-Indo-European root *rug- "fabric, spun yarn." Originally "fireworks rocket," meaning "device propelled by a rocket engine" first recorded 1919; rocket-ship in the modern sense first attested February 1927 ("Popular Science"); earlier as a type of naval warship firing projectiles. Rocket science in the figurative sense of "difficult, complex process or topic" is attested by 1985. Rocket scientist is from 1952.

“That such a feat is considered within the range of possibility is evidenced by the activities of scientists in Europe as well as in America. Two of them, Prof. Herman Oberth and Dr. Franz Hoeff, of Vienna, are constructing a five-ton rocket ship in which they hope to reach the moon in two days.” [Popular Science, Feb. 1927]

rocket (v.) "to spring like a rocket," 1860, from rocket (n.2). Earlier "to attack with rockets" (1799). Related: Rocketed; rocketing.  (thanks to etymonline.com)

You can browse our collectable and hard-to-find books, as well as signed copies from earlier author events, on Biblio.com. You do not have to place an order through them, especially if you’re a long-time customer and we have your ordering info. Just email us to order.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

What We’ve Been Reading                                   

Amber Recommends:

 Amber’s project for 2014: My 52 Weeks of Agatha Christie. Here’s her explanation.

 This Week: Fandoms

We have two Tumblr blogs, in addition to our regular shop blog:

Books and Decay, maintained by Amber – interesting photos with literary quotes to match

Hardboiled, maintained by JB – pulp covers, film noir and other images of crime and mystery

On This Date

July 5, 1893 – Golden Age author Anthony Berkeley Cox was born. As Anthony Berkeley he wrote one of Bill’s favorites, Poisoned Chocolates Case (1929). As Francis Iles, he wrote Before the Fact (1932) filmed by Hitchcock as Suspicion in 1941

July 5 – from Hollywood: Warren Oates (1928, Depoy, KY), Edie Falco (1963, Brooklyn), and Eva Green (1980, Paris)

July 6, 1899 – Mignon G. Eberhart – prolific novelist and MWA Grand Master was born

July 6 – a flock of Hollywood Stars: Janet Leigh (1927, Merced, CA), Ned Beatty (1937, Louisville), Burt Ward (1945, LA), and Sly Stallone (1946, NYC) – yes, Robin is older than Rocky!

July 6, 1937 - 9^th of the dozen victims credited to the Cleveland Torso Murderer found. She would never be identified

July 6, 1951 – Lynda Robinson, author of the historical Egyptian series, was born

July 8, 1892 – future Chicago crime boss Dean “Dion” O’Banion was born in Maroa, IL

July 7, 1930 – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died

July 7, 1946 – Joe Spano – Henry Goldblume on “Hill Street Blues” – was born in San Francisco

July 8, 1843 – future lawman Virgil Earp was born in Hartford, KY

July 8, 1859 – Fergus Hume, author of what is thought to be the rarest of all mysteries ever written (The Mystery of the Hansom Cab, self-published in Australia in 1886 – only 2 copies are thought to still exist) was born in London

July 8, 1911 – John Ball, creator of Virgil Tibbs, was born in Schenectady. In the Heat of the Night was published in 1965

July 8, 1918 – future TV PI Peter Gunn, Craig Stevens was born in Liberty, MO

July 8, 1942 – future mystery bookseller, editor and man-about-mysteries Otto Penzler was born

July 8, 1947 – Roswell: whatever it was that crashed, crashed

July 8, 1948 – future firefighter and Shamus-winning mystery author Earl Emerson was born in Tacoma

July 8 – of Hollywood royalty, Anjelica Huston was born in Santa Monica (1951) and Kevin Bacon was born in Philadelphia (1958)

July 9, 1775 – English writer William Gregory Lewis was born. His 1795 novel The Monk caused a scandal due to what was viewed as excessive blood, murder and ‘immorality’

July 9 – a big day in Hollywood: Brian Dennehy (Bridgeport, CT), Richard Roundtree (1942, New Rochelle, CT. Shaft comes in 1971), Chris Cooper (1951, Kansas City), Jimmy Smits (1955, Brooklyn), Tom Hanks (1957, Concord, CA) and Kelly McGillis (1956, Newport Beach, CA)

July 9 - Lionel White in Buffalo, NY (1905), Nancy Taylor Rosenberg was born in Dallas (1946), Dean Koontz was born in Everett, PA (1945)

July 9, 1945 – Gerald Manson Ford was born in Everett, MA. His friends call him Jerry, the spines of his books say G.M. Ford

July 10, 1875 – E.C. Bentley – creator of the fallible Det. Trent – was born in London

July 10, 1897 – Jack Diamond was born in Philadelphia. Bootlegger and gangster, he’d become known as “Legs” for his dance talent and his ability to escape enemies

July 10, 1914 - Dan J. Marlowe was born in Lowell, MA

July 10, 1923 – the prolific Deloris Florine Stanton Forbes was born in Kansas City. She’s most well known for the work under her pen name Stanton Forbes

July 10, 1928 – Hubert Monteilhet was born in Paris

July 10, 1973 – the jet-setting grandson of J. Paul Getty was kidnapped

July 11, 1804 – the Burr/Hamilton duel

July 11, 1910 – pulp writer Hugh B. Cave was born in Chester, England

July 11, 1931 – San Francisco homicide detective Dave Toschi was born. He would later be a lead investigator in the Zodiac case and legend has it Steve McQueen modeled his performance in Bullitt after him

July 11, 1983 – Ross Macdonald died

And Have a Relaxing and Book-Filled Weekend!

Newzine 6.27.14

Happy Birthday to US!

July 1^st is the day we traditionally take as our birthday. This year will mark 24 years since Bill started this outfit. To celebrate and reward you loyal supporters, we’re giving you the present: for the first half of the month, July 1^st through 15^th, all used hardcovers will be 25% off. Whether they’re $5 reader copies or $55 million copies of the Gutenburg phone book, they’ll all be 25% cheaper to buy for the first half of the month.

And while we’re on the subject of birthday – we’re going to be initiating some changes, in addition to what we’ve already been doing. Here’s an explanation.

And that leads neatly into the beginning of July:

We’ll be closed on Friday, July 4^th.

That means next week’s newzine will be a day early. Back to regular hours on the 5^th.

Rest In Peace

The great Eli Wallach died this week. For the last six decades, he’s been in everything – TV, stage, movies – and played all sorts of characters, both good and bad, both elegant and grubby. A list of his roles would take up all the space we have, so let’s limit it to crime entertainment: The Lineup, The Moon-Spinners, The Two Jakes, The Deep, Mystic River, The Godfather III, “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”,”Kojak”, “Murder, She Wrote”, “Batman”, “L.A. Law”, “Law & Order”, to name just a few. He began acting on TV when it was almost all live, and continued up until 2009. He appeared in movies from 1956 to 2010! He won a Tony award in 1951.

Studying at the University of Texas, he met and acted with future governor John Connally and future anchorman Walter Cronkite, who became a life-long friend.

While he’s probably most well known for his role of Tuco in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, he related that he received more fan mail for appearing as Mr Freeze in “Batman” than anything else he’d done.

With Wallach’s death, only Robert Vaughn is left alive from the stars of The Magnificent Seven.

Eli Herschel Wallach was born in Red Hook, Brooklyn, on Dec 7, 1915, and grew up the only Jewish kid in a neighborhood full of Italians. His parents owned a local candy story – Bertha’s. . He served in the Army medical corps during WWII.  In 1948, he married fellow actor Anne Jackson and spent the next 66 years with her – three children, 5 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren

He kept his perspective on things to the end. “Having the critics praise you is like having the hangman say you've got a pretty neck.”

Mr. Wallach died in his native New York City on June 24^th. He was 98.

Vayos con dios!
R.I.P.

Gift Certificates:

They’re available in Whatever Denomination You Want; They Don’t Expire; You can Order Them by Phone, e-mail or through the Website, and we can Mail them directly to the Recipient if you’d like. Perfect for all sorts of occassions.

Links of Interest:

Raymond Chandler is being honored with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame (love to hear his reaction to that – it’d probably be, shall we say… acidic)

How the CIA secretly published Dr Zhivago

Italian police 'solve' the 1909 Petrosino Mafia murder.

Inside Job: 10 Crime Writers Turned Detective

NPR is starting their Summer Mystery series, “Crime in the City”. First up, Julia Keller: In Mystery Series’s W.Va. River Town, There’s No Escape from Terror

Pure fun: time-lapse video of the huge London bookseller Foyle’s moving half a million books 100 meters away to a new location.

The Strange Case of the Poisoned Pen Letters: John Mullan explores one of the inner demons of parochial England.

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While we specialize in mystery and crime books, we can order virtually any new book that you might want, no matter what its topic.

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????New Signings (with authors who will be visiting the shop)

Wed, July 16, Jacqueline Winspear drops by to sign The Care and Management of Lies (Harper hc, $26.99).

A nonmystery novel of The Great War. Kezia and Thea have been best friends nearly all their lives. But the relationship has been tested by Thea’s politicization from the suffrage movement and Kezia’s romance with Thea’s brother. Kezia does marry Tom and they move to the family’s farm in the summer of 1914 as War looms. Tom is soon off to war and the women are left to try to stitch their relationship back together as the world descends into madness and death. [Please note: this will not be a scheduled time. She’s coming in as a favor to us while on tour. We HIGHLY recommend reserving a signed copy now so that we know how many copies to have for her to sign and so that you are assured of a copy for later pick-up or to be mailed.]

Fri, Oct 10, noon – Hank Phillippi Ryan signs Truth Be Told (Forge hc, $24.99)

Truth Be Told is part of the bestselling Jane Ryland and Jake Brogan series. It begins with tragedy: a middle-class family evicted from their suburban home. In digging up the facts on this heartbreaking story—and on other foreclosures— reporter Ryland soon learns the truth behind a big-bucks scheme and the surprising players who will stop at nothing, including murder, to keep their goal a secret. Turns out, there’s more than one way to rob a bank. Boston police detective Jake Brogan has a liar on his hands. A man has just confessed to the famous twenty-year-old Lilac Sunday killing, and while Jake’s colleagues take him at his word, Jake is not so sure. But he has personal reasons for hoping they’ve finally solved the cold case.

See the calendar of all currently-scheduled events on our website. The website calendar contains plot synopses. At the bottom of it is the updated, complete list of signed copies that we’ll be getting from other sources. Click Here.

Jennifer Murphy, June 28

Burt Weissbourd, June 28 (please note 3:00pm)

Ingrid Thoft, July 2

Mike Lawson, July 3

Yasmine Galenorn, July 5

Diana Renn, July 7

Leslie Budewitz, July 11

Emma Campion (Candace Robb), July 12

Warren C. Easley, July 19

J.A. Jance, July 22

Greg Rucka, Aug 2

Kat Richardson, Aug 9

Mary Daheim, Aug 14

Martin Limón, Aug 19

Chelsea Cain, Aug 20

Jayne Castle, Aug 26

Yasmine Galenorn, Oct 4

Urban Waite, Oct 21

And there are always more on the way!

Remember, too, that while it is always fun to come in and meet the author in person, that isn’t always possible. So reserve a signed copy to be mailed to you or for you to pick up later. Those who reserve in advance get the copies in the best condition!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Wish List

Our website has a Wish List capability. If folks want to know what you’d like for a given holiday or birthday, it is easy to point people to our website. Amber has put together a dandy blog post explaining it and how it works.

Word of the Week (in honor of July 4^th)

bang (v.): From the 1540s, "to strike hard with a loud blow," from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse banga "to pound, hammer" of echoic origin. Slang meaning "have sexual intercourse with" first recorded 1937. Bang-up "excellent, first-rate," 1820, probably shortened from phrase bang up to the mark. The noun is recorded from late 16^th C. (thanks to etymonline.com)

 ________________________________________________________________

You can browse our collectable and hard-to-find books, as well as signed copies from earlier author events, on Biblio.com. You do not have to place an order through them, especially if you’re a long-time customer and we have your ordering info. Just email us to order.

_______________________________________________________________________________

What We’ve Been Reading                                   

Amber Recommends:

Amber’s project for 2014: My 52 Weeks of Agatha Christie. Here’s her explanation.

This Week: Telephone & Tangled

Fran Recommends:

Generally, I enjoy novels over short stories. I like being lost in someone's world for long stretches.

But sometimes short stories hit the spot, especially when they're set in a favorite world, so I really enjoyed Craig Johnson's Wait for Signs(Oct., Viking hc, $22.00, no idea if we'll have signed copies, but fingers crossed). For years, Craig has gifted his friends with stories at Christmas, and this anthology has brought them together for the first time as a book, along with one entirely new story - you'll love Petunia! - and it's a nice dip into Walt Longmire's world.

I think they'll be a great sampler for folks who want to get to know what Craig Johnson's writing is like, but as someone who's familiar with Absaroka County, I found these little snippets of time spent with favorite characters was like a little vacation, a series of short visits with old friends.

Sometimes funny, sometimes touching, and always entertaining, Wait for Signs is a complete delight. With an introduction by Lou Diamond Phillips, who plays Henry Standing Bear in the television series, this is a short story collection you're not going to want to miss!

[JB concurs and says that the story “Messenger” is one of the funniest things he’s read in ages!]

We have three Tumblr blogs, in addition to our regular shop blog:

Books and Decay, maintained by Amber – interesting photos with literary quotes to match

Hardboiled, maintained by JB – pulp covers, film noir and other images of crime and mystery

On This Date

June 28, 1891 – birth of serial killer, arsonist and burglar Carl Panzram. He confessed to killing 21 around the country and died in Leavenworth

June 28, 1909 – future thriller-writer and Edgar-winner Eric Ambler was born in London

June 28, 1926 – funnyman, writer, director, actor and producer Mel Brooks was born in Brooklyn

June 28, 1947 – writer of stories for kids of all ages Peter Abrahams was born in Boston. Co-incidentally, at that same instant, Spenser Quinn was born, too!

June 28, 1966 - Åsa Larsson (Uppsala, Sweden) and John Cusack (Evanston, IL) were born

June 28, 1970 – future author of the Spenser series Ace Atkins was born

June 28, 1971 - Joe Columbo, head of the Columbo crime family, was shot

June 29, 1908 – pulp and paperback original writer Bruno Fischer was born in Berlin

June 29, 1924 – future Black Dahlia and murder victim Elizabeth Short was born in Boston

June 29, 1930 – producer Robert Evans was born in NYC and we thank him for The Godfather and Chinatown

June 29 –from Hollywood: Slim Pickens (1919, born Louis Burton Lindley, Jr. in Kingsburg, CA), Ian Bannen (1928, Airdrie, Scotland), and Gary Busey (1944, Goose Creek, TX)

June 29, 1945 – Quintin Jardine, Scottish crime writer and creator of Skinner and Blackstone, was born

June 29 – birthday of two of the shop’s favorite people: Pat Lee and cookie-lady Gina Williams. Early Happy Birthday to you both!

June 29, 1987 – The Living Daylights, the first Bond movie with Timothy Dalton, premiered in London

June 30, 1901 – future bank robber and prison-escapee Willie Sutton was born in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

June 30, 1951 – Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train premiered

June 30, 1959 – Vincent D’Onofrio, star of silver and TV screen, was born in Brooklyn

June 30, 1966 – Margery Allingham died

June 30, 1970 – novelist and screenwriter Derek Haas was born in Houston Happy Birthday, Derek!

June 30, 1997 – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published and a phenomenal publishing and entertainment empire began

July 1 – noir master James M. Cain was born in Annapolis, MD (1892), William DeAndrea was born in Port Chester, NY (1952), the delightful and talented Lisa Scottoline was born in Philadelphia (1955)

July 1 - from Hollywood: Charles Laughton (1899, Scarborough, England), Harold Sakata (1920, Honolulu – immortality as Oddjob), Dan Ackroyd (1952, Ottawa) and Andre Braugher (1962, Chicago)

July 1, 1949 – Mankiewicz’s House of Strangers, with Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward and Richard Conte premiered

July 1, 1957 – “Richard Diamond, Private Eye”, staring David Janssen, premiered

July 1, 1981 – the Wonderland Murders took place

July 2, 1864 – William Le Queux was born. A member of the British Secret Service at the end of the 19th C., he turned to writing thrillers based on his experiences. He needed the income to finance his intelligence efforts. They weren’t funded by the government. His stories help lay the foundations of the espionage novel

July 2, 1881 – President James Garfield was shot

July 2, 1927 – rumbly-basso Brock Peters was born George Fisher in NYC. You don’t think of To Kill a Mockingbird as a crime story, but it is – courtroom drama of the highest order

July 2, 1931 – German child murderer Peter Kurten is executed. His case was the inspiration for the great Peter Lorre film M (1931)

July 2, 1971 – Shaft premiered

July 3, 1906 – the debonair George Sanders was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia

July 3, 1908 – award-winning French mystery writer Pierre Ayraud (aka Thomas Narcejac) was born in Rochefort-sur-Mer

July 3 - William Ard was born in Brooklyn (1922), Evelyn Anthony was born in London (1928) and Gwen Moffat was born in Sussex (1924)

July 3, 1947 – funnyman, columnist and novelist Dave Barry was born in Armonk, NY

July 3, 1945 – future Mod Squad member Michael Cole was born in Madison

July 3, 1961 – future serial killer Westley Allan Dodd was born in Toppenish, WA

July 3, 1962 – Tom Cruise was born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in Syracuse

July 4, 1776 – a bunch of old white guys put their names to a document that made them all guilty of treason

July 4: two of the biggest mobsters in American history: Meyer Lansky was born in 1902 and Johnny Roselli was born in 1905. Patriotism and crime, skipping hand-in-hand through the 20^th Century

July 4 – Scotsman Gavin Black was born in Tokyo (1913), Anthony Oliver was born in Abersychan, Wales (1922), Sébastien Japrisot in Marseille (1931) and Edgar-winner Kay Nolte Smith was born in Eveleth, MN (1932)

July 4, 19XX – Charlotte Elkins was born

July 4, 1969 – 2nd ‘official’ Zodiak attack

 And Have a Relaxing and Book-Filled Weekend!

 

Birthday Changes

We've taken July 1st to be our birthday, and our 24th is coming up quickly. We've seen a lot of changes over the years, and the time has come for us to make some changes of our own.

First of all, we're having a SALE! That's right, all used hardcovers, from our $5 specials to our high-end collectibles are all on sale at 25% off! From July 1st through the 15th, this is your chance to pick up a great deal on some one-of-a-kind books. Remember, that's used hardcovers, not new. No reserving early!

One of the changes we've already made is that we're ordering fewer hardcovers in general. Remember when we had huge piles of books for signings? Sadly, those days are gone. We've got to be more fiscally conservative, so we're trying to order just what we know we need. What that means for you is that if there's something you really want, signed or not, please let us know in advance. We are building our orders out of these reserve lists, so it helps us to know how many to have on hand. That way, we won't disappoint you, which is something we hate doing.

In general, we're ordering fewer titles and fewer copies of those we do want to have on hand. This is especially true with trade paperbacks which now can cost as much as hardcovers did when the shop opened in 1990. But just because we don't have it does not mean we won't be willing or interested in getting you a copy. If you don't see what you want, for heaven's sake tell us and we'll order it for you. Doesn't cost you anything extra.

We're also seriously discussing closing on Sundays and/or Mondays. We like being able to say we're here seven days a week, and (so far) Sundays have free parking, which has been a bonus. But sadly, the numbers aren't there, the sales don't support us being here, and it's a hard reality that we might have to face, perhaps by summer's end, if not sooner.

Then too, we're taking a hard look at which signings we'll be accepting, and we may very well be paring those down. We wish, we truly do, that we could accept every author who wants to sign here, but, like the piles of books from before, those days are gone. We love our authors and we want to do everything we can to help them succeed. We're taking a good, hard look at what makes a signing successful, and so some changes will be in order.

Why are we making these changes? People are buying fewer books. We cannot say if it is due to any one thing - the economy, less disposable income, the higher prices of printed books, or e-books - or a combination of them. Our view is all, and more, of those things are at play. Evolution and adaption is the name of the game for any business and we wanted to mention some of the changes you'll be seeing.

As we've said many times over the years, the health of all small businesses depends on the support of their customers. We have been lucky to have had so many over the last 24 years. We hope to be able to say that again, next year, when we hit 25.

Thanks from all of us -

the Crew

Thanks Chevy Stevens!

Look what author Chevy Stevens sent to Fran!

(But the rest of might get a nibble in here or there!)

Thanks!

All Goodies from Canada!

Don't forget Chevy will be here at noon today signing her new book!

Newzine 6.13.14

Friday the 13^th!!!!

And a Full Moon!!!

Let the Howling Begin…

We’re continuing to have problems getting the newzine to some folks. Last week was the second, consecutive with a significant number of rejected addresses. As spam filters and internet security becomes more of an issue and the internet tubes get tighter, we’re thinking that we’ll need to do something else about the newzine, and our thought is to begin posting them on our blog. That way, if you don’t receive one you can simply check there at your convenience. Who knows, it may get to the point where we don’t e-mail them at all. We’ll see how it goes over the next few weeks.

Local news:

Our own Boyd Morrison announced this week on Facebook that he’s been co-writing the next Oregon Files novel with Clive Cussler. Congratulation, Boyd!

Gift Certificates:

They’re available in Whatever Denomination You Want; They Don’t Expire; You can Order Them by Phone, e-mail or through the Website, and we can Mail them directly to the Recipient if you’d like. Perfect for all sorts of occassions  - such as new graduates who no longer have to read for classes!

Links of Interest:

Here’s an interview with Nicola Griffth from Jan. that we somehow missed!

While we specialize in mystery and crime books, we can order virtually any new book that you might want, no matter what its topic.

Signed Copies to Reserve (the authors will not be here for a formal signing or we’ll be getting the copies from other sources):

The signed copies of Dennis Lehane’s The Drop that we announced last week have been cancelled by the publisher. There will still be hardcovers, but they will not arrive pre-signed. Let us know if you want the hardcover or trade paperback.

See the calendar of all currently-scheduled events on our website. The website calendar contains plot synopses. At the bottom of it is the updated, complete list of signed copies that we’ll be getting from other sources. Click Here.

Chevy Stevens, June 24

Jennifer Murphy, June 28

Burt Weissbourd, June 28 (please note 3:00pm)

Ingrid Thoft, July 2

Mike Lawson, July 3

Yasmine Galenorn, July 5

Diana Renn, July 7

Leslie Budewitz, July 11

Emma Campion (Candace Robb), July 12

Warren C. Easley, July 19

J.A. Jance, July 22

Greg Rucka, Aug 2

Kat Richardson, Aug 9

Mary Daheim, Aug 14

Martin Limón, Aug 19

Chelsea Cain, Aug 20

And there are always more on the way!

Remember, too, that while it is always fun to come in and meet the author in person, that isn’t always possible. So reserve a signed copy to be mailed to you or for you to pick up later. Those who reserve in advance get the copies in the best condition!

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Wish List

Our website has a Wish List capability. If folks want to know what you’d like for a given holiday or birthday, it is easy to point people to our website. Amber has put together a dandy blog post explaining it and how it works.

Word of the Week

mug (v.1) : "to beat up," 1818, originally "to strike the face" (in pugilism), from mug (n.2). The general meaning "attack" is first attested 1846, and "attack to rob" is from 1864. Perhaps influenced by thieves' slang mug "dupe, fool, sucker" (1851). Related: Mugged; mugging.

mug (n.2) : "a person's face," 1708, possibly from mug (n.1), on notion of drinking mugs shaped like grotesque faces. Sense of "portrait or photograph in police records (as in mug shot, 1950) had emerged by 1887. Hence, also, "a person" (especially "a criminal"), 1890.

mug (v.2) : "make exaggerated facial expressions," 1855, originally theatrical slang, from mug (n.2).

You can browse our collectable and hard-to-find books, as well as signed copies from earlier author events, on Biblio.com. You do not have to place an order through them, especially if you’re a long-time customer and we have your ordering info. Just email us to order.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What We’ve Been Reading                                   

Amber Recommends:

Amber’s project for 2014: My 52 Weeks of Agatha Christie. Here’s her explanation.

This Week: I Lied

Adele Recommends:

In our May 16th newzine, Adele wrote up this review. We're rerunning it as Joel was in earlier this week to sign copies. If you'd like one before Adele sells them all, act fast!

Joel Dicker, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (Penguin tpo $18.00).

In 1975, fifteen year-old, Nola Kellergan was seen running through the woods in Somerset, New Hampshire, never to be heard from again. Thirty-three years later, Marcus Goldman, a young novelist with a best seller to his name, visits his mentor, Harry Quebert, hopefully to get past his writer's block. Marcus has written a huge best seller and is under deadline to finish his second book but hasn't been able to write a word. While in New Hampshire, Marcus finds out that Harry, 37 at the time, had had an affair with Nola before she went missing.

Now 2008, her body is discovered on his property, and Harry is the main suspect. Marcus comes back to New Hampshire to investigate and try to help his mentor who has already been convicted in the press. As Marcus tries to find the true story through his mentor’s books, the hidden history of Somerset's residents, and from Harry, he finds his voice and finally writes the whole story.

I love the mystery with how this book unfolded and hope this young Swiss author writes many many many more.

 We have a Tumblr blog, in addition to our regular shop blog:

Hardboiled, maintained by JB – pulp covers, film noir and other images of crime and mystery

On This Date

June 15, 1859 – the San Juan Islands’ “Pig War” starts when Lyman Cutlar finds Charles Griffin’s pig in his garden once again eating potatoes and kills it. This will quickly escalate to a confrontation between American and British military exchanging shots. When it is resolved, what territory in the inland Pacific Northwest waterways that belong to the US and to Britain (Canada) will finally be settled

June 15, 1905 – Wendell Hertig Taylor is born. In 1971, he and Jacques Barzun publish the classic A Catalog of Crime

June 15, 1908 – Sam “Momo” Giancana was born in Chicago’s ‘Little Italy’. He was executed in 1975 just before he was to testify before the House Select Committee on Assassinations which was re-investigating the Kennedy assassination concerning ties between the CIA and the Mob and plots against Castro

June 15, 1920 – the “Duluth Lynchings”: after a rumor sweeps through a crowd that six black circus workers raped a white teenager, the mob lynches the men. Though four earlier lynchings had taken place in MN, these “shock the nation” due to them haven taking place in the North, rather than the South

June 15, 1935 – film adaptation of Hammett’s The Glass Key, staring George Raft, premiered

June 15, 1944 – Robert Keppel, detective and teacher, was born in Spokane. Bob was the first detective of what was first called ‘The Ted Murders’: the Bundy case

June 16, 1829 – Chiricahua Apache leader Geronimo was born in Gila River, AZ

June 16, 1911 – thriller writer Victor Canning was born in Plymouth, England

June 16, 1922 – Jonathan Escott – who wrote os Jack S. Scott and Jason Leonard was born in London

June 16, 1959 – though circumstances are contentious, Superman star George Reeves died from a gunshot

June 16, 1960 – Psycho premiered

June 17, 1904 – noted actor Ralph Bellamy was born in Chicago. He portrayed Ellery Queen in 4 movies, then played a criminal mastermind Randolph Duke in Trading Places (1983)

June 17, 1933 – the Union Station Massacre in Kansas City and sets in motion the call for a strong Federal role and puts Hoover in the center of it

June 17, 1971 – The Anderson Tapes premiered and Nixon declared the “War On Drugs”

June 17, 1953 – Sam Fuller’s Pickup on South Street premiered

June 17, 1954 – Australian mystery writer Kerry Greenwood was born in Footscray, Victoria

June 17, 1968 – Deanna Raybourn was born in Fort Worth

June 17, 1972 – the 3rd Watergate Break In ends with the burglars arrested

June 18 – births of Carolyn Wells (1869, Rahway, NJ) and Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (1889, Brooklyn)

June 18 – three from Hollywood: E.G. Marshall (1910, Everett Eugene Grunz in Owatonna, MN), Richard Boone (1907, LA, and the 1st actor offered the role of Steve McGarrett!) and Keye Luke (1904, Guangzhou, China)

June 18, 1939 – “Ellery Queen” radio program premieres

June 18, 1945 – future FBI profiler John E. Douglas was born in Brooklyn

June 19, 1863 – Sir Max Pemberton – first writer to publish a novel featuring a team of crooks (1896’s A Gentleman’s Gentleman) was born in Birmingham, England

June 19, 1903 – Judge John D. Voelker (who wrote Anatomy of a Murder as Robert Traver) was born in Ishperning, MI

June 19, 1923 – Joseph Hansen – one of the first writers to have a gay hero – was born in Aberdeen, SD

June 19, 1930 – the great dame and actress Gena Rowlands was born in Madison, WI

June 19, 1953 – the Rosenbergs were executed

June 19, 1954 – Kathleen Turner was born in Springfield, MO

June 19, 1968 – The Thomas Crown Affair premiered

June 19, 1975 – former Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana was murdered while cooking liver

June 19, 1982 – Paolo Mainaridi and Antonella Migliorini become the 9^th and 10^th victims of The Monster of Florence

June 20, 1983 – Lizzie Borden was acquitted

June 20 – a Big Day for Authors and Actors: Rupert Croft-Cooke, who wrote mysteries as Leo Bruce (1903), Harry Carmichael (1908, Montreal), Lilian Jackson Braun and Celia Fremlin (1914, Willimansette, MA and London), Catherine Aird (1930, Huddersfield, England), Martin Landau (1931, Brooklyn), Dorothy Simpson (1933, Monmouthshire, Wales), Danny Aiello (1933, NYC), Gordon Willams (1939, Renfrewshire – published as P.B. Yuill), Susan Dunlap (1943, NYC), Jean-Claude Izzo (1945, Marseille), John Goodman (1952, Alton, MO), Robert Crais (1953, Independence, LA), and Nicole Kidman (1967, Honolulu)

June 20, 1947 – Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel shot down in LA

June 20, 1974 – Chinatown premiered

Latitude Zero

 

Monday July 7^th at Noon - Diana Renn signs Latitude Zero

17-year-old Tessa Taylor is a good girl: diligent student at her alternative New England prep school; dutiful daughter; TV host for a local educational kids' show. But when her not-so-good boyfriend persuades her to ride bandit in a bicycle charity ride, Tessa causes a bike crash that leads to the death of a young Ecuadorian cycling champion known as "El Condor." Horrified to think that her own recklessness could have had fatal repercussions, Tessa becomes obsessed with identifying some other cause to explain El Condor's death. What she finds is a mysterious web that leads her deep into the heart of the cycling world-- and ultimately to Ecuador, itself. Tessa realizes that someone wanted El Condor dead. But who, and why, and what do they now want from her?

What I Found When I Came Into Work This Morning...

So a few months back the brown chair which sat in front of the shop for several years was stolen (a mystery for another day). We now have a bench which sits roughly where the chair used to be.

This new addition seems to attract lonely and unwanted books....

A Puppy Came to Visit!

This is Spenser!

We couldn't resist showing everyone how adorable this little guy is!

(Spenser just came to visit, no need for Parker to get jealous!)

One More Thing

For those of you who pay attention to the small things (or like me potentially have OCD) we have a new table cloth on the signing table! 

Bonus: The hem is no longer crooked!

Yay!

It is Almost May...

That means we have some new displays!

On Screens Big & Small

Mother's Day

Erle Stanley Gardner

James Bond & Other Classics

Agatha Christie

Christie Hardcover Display

 

Sale!

Don't Forget February is a short month!

You only have 10 days left to take advantage of our 20% off all used/rare/collectible hardbacks!

Can't make it into the shop? Search our Biblio.com listings!

New Shop Dog

New shop dog Parker, at 6 weeks.

A New Front Window Display!

Featuring our 20% off Sale on Used Hardcover - Including Collectibles

&

Soho Press Mysteries!

New Displays Around The Shop!

Valentine's Day Mysteries

Hard Case Crime

Murder Mystery and Mayhem From The UK

Jayne on River Road

Jayne Ann Krentz made a trip in this afternoon to get a head start on signing the reserved copies of River Road. As usual, they'll be mailed to all points of the planet. The international orders are usually the first to be shipped since they have the farthest to travel!

That little thing Jayne is holding in her left hand is the small, pink-handled screwdriver that has her name and the title of the book on the handle. One will be included with each mailed copy and handed to to those who come in and buy the book at the signing on Tues, January 7th.