Murder Circle

Want to see your title in miniature print? Chris Verstraete offers “printies,” book covers for the well-read dollhouse. See her work and get your own book on tiny shelves at http://cverstraete.com/mb/miniature_book_printies.html  What a collectible idea!

Like a bit of mysticism with your mystery? Luisa Buehler offers THE INN KEEPER: AN UNREGISTERED DEATH. Finding the bodies of a runaway slave and a socialite buried in the basement of an old boarding house is strange enough, but when forensics proves the burials were 80 years apart, amateur sleuth Grace Marsden has her 6th case to investigate. Spirits are raised when she spies the specter of the slave haunting the boarding house looking for justice.

What happened in Vegas shouldn’t stay in Vegas! This year’s Public Safety Writers Conference nearly doubled in size from 2008. Videos are up at You Tube, just put in PSWA Conference. Kathleen Ryan posted a terrific description on Women of Mystery  http://www.womenofmystery.net/2009/06/mtm-las-vegas-nevada.html

I was in the room when Holli Castillo and W.S. Gager (Wendy) got the first glimpse of their debut novels. Remember that feeling? Castillo is a former New Orleans prosecutor and the author of GUMBO JUSTICE featuring Ryan Murphy, an assistant DA “who likes her Tequila cold and her cops hot.” A CASE OF INFATUATION lets Gager dust off her credits as a newspaper reporter with the creation of crime beat reporter Mitch Malone. Malone has 3 rules: blood & gore on the job doesn’t bother him, he always works alone, and he hates kids. Rules are broken when he is accused of murder and must go into hiding with a preschooler.   

Forensic handwriting expert Sheila Lowe gave a fascinating presentation of cases she’s worked on and samples of killer handwriting. Lowe uses her expertise in DEAD WRITE, the 3rd book in the Claudia Rose series. When a Russian matchmaker hires Claudia to find out why her clients are dying, the court qualified handwriting expert finds dating is more dangerous than ever before.

Keynote speaker Betty Webb told of death threats after the publication of DESERT WIVES. The book, featuring PI Lena Jones, is about polygamy practices in Arizona. Webb has launched a new zoo series with ANTEATER OF DEATH featuring zookeeper Theodora “Teddy” Bentley. Let’s hope there are no death threats from the animal kingdom.

THE POT THIEF WHO STUDIED PYTHAGORAS is another discovery I dug up at the Vegas conference. Author J. Michael Orenduff introduces Hubert Schuze, a man who digs for ancient pottery in the New Mexico soil. The government calls him a pot thief, but he believes in finders/keepers. When a customer comes to his shop asking him to steal a thousand-year-old pot from a museum, things really get dirty.

Civilized society meets the frontier when former president Ulysses S. Grant visits Leadville in Ann Parker’s 3rd novel, LEADEN SKIES. Set in a Colorado mining town, saloon owner Inez Stannert is the secret partner of the local madam. When a prostitute gets murdered, Inez must protect her investment. Even in the old West, girls gotta stick together!  

Juliet Blackwell (AKA half of the sister writing duo, Haily Lind) informs us that a group blog is known as a “grog.” She belongs to one with seven other California writers known as Pens Fatales.  Julie is also going woo-woo on us with SECONDHAND SPIRITS. Her protag is Lily Ivory, owner of a vintage clothing boutique in the Haight-Asberry area of San Francisco (and Julie’s stomping ground).

News on the street is that La-La Land has optioned Sue Ann Jaffarian’s first Odelia Grey mystery, TOO BIG TO MISS. The book’s a winner–how could it miss on the big screen?  

I want to give a shout-out to Murder Circle Favorites who made the short list for B-con nominees. Best novel: THE CRUELEST MONTH by Louise Penny; Best First Novel: PUSHING UP DAISIES by Rosemary Harris and DEATH OF A COZY WRITER by G.M. Malliet; Best Paperback Original: STATE OF THE ONION by Julie Hyzy; Best Short Story: KILLING TIME by Jane K. Cleland; Best Critical Nonfiction Work: ANTHONY BOUCHER: A BIOBIBLIOGRAPHY by Jeffrey Marks; and Best Children’s/YA: CROSSROADS by Chirs Grabenstein. Good luck to all in Indianapolis on Oct. 17.

As if the Death on Demand and Henry O series weren’t enough, Carolyn Hart is adding a new series starring ghostly busybody Bailey Ruth Raeburn. A member of Heaven’s Dept. of Good Intentions, she is obliged to help any Earth-bound person who needs her. When the pastor’s wife finds a corpse on the porch, Bailey Ruth grabs her sidekick Wiggins and becomes a GHOST AT WORK.

Speaking of BEST INTENTIONS, even the elite of New York City have to downsize their privileged lifestyle. Lisa Barkley is willing to give up those jaunts to Europe, but she draws the line at giving up her husband to another woman. The price is too high in Emily Listfield’s novel. 

Things are also on the downhill slope for Claire Hanover in the second Gift Bag Mystery, TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET. A ski trip turns chilly when a young woman gets killed. Beth Groundwater keeps it slippery! 

The Murder Circle found out that Jeri Westerson turned more than a few heads at the LA Times Festival of Books with her T-shirt that announced “Chaucer Is My Homeboy.” Westerson is up for a Macavity for VEIL OF LIES. In September, the Murder Circle will tout her latest, SERPENT IN THE THORNS.  

Is motherhood the best training for a Private Eye? The writing team of Evelyn David makes the case on a blog titled “Gumshoe Moms” over at http://meanderingsandmuses.blogspot.com  And MURDER TAKES THE CAKE is their latest Sullivan Investigation Mystery. 

Another confession a la blog comes from Jane Cleland. Over at www.thedebutantball.com  the author says her mom omitted details on her recipe cards so nobody could replicate her cooking. Is that “just desserts?” Cleland’s latest Josie Prescott Antique Mystery KILLER KEEPSAKES is on the shelves.

I had my own fun ride over at http://booklandheights.blogspot.com earlier this month. I have no filters and let my sassy mouth run the show. Good friend Marilyn Meredith is over there right now. Ask her a question about her latest, NO SANCTUARY.

Fellow Oak Tree Press author Dennis Griffin paid a visit to my hometown with mobster Henry Hill in tow. Henry is portrayed by Ray Liotta in the movie ”Goodfellows.” Griffin, who knows all about the Vegas mob scene, has just released his novel VEGAS VIXEN.

The three of us are part of the Public Safety Writers Association. We’re very proud of members Sarah Cortez and Liz Martinez, editors fo the 1st ever anthology of short crime fiction penned by Latino writers. HIT LIST: THE BEST OF LATINO MYSTERY takes readers on a trip through the barrios and imaginations of such writers as Mario Acevedo, Carolina Garcia-Aguilera and Steven Torres. Published by Arte Publico Press, this is a ground-breaking collection.

Congrats to Agatha winners and Murder Circle favorites G.M. Malliet, Louise Penny, Kathy Lynn Emerson andChris Grabenstein. Enjoy those teapots! For more on their award-winning books, scroll down to the previous MC.