This Is Women's History Month
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Hi
Some of you have asked, why are these our opening hours?
And the answer is that our most vulnerable, and so far not vaccinated staff, work from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. I am not prepared to put them at risk. Or you.
As the staff is vaccinated, we will be able to be open from
12:00 to 6:00 PM.... additionally if anyone were to catch COVID we'd have to shut down and quarantine. So far we've avoided it.
Thank you for your understanding and your patience. 
SO OUR HOURS FOR NOW ARE:
Mon-Fri 2:00 - 6:00 PM
Sat. 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sun.: 12:00- 5:00 PM Curbside pickup only!
Please come masked. Please do not come if you are feeling unwell but instead choose curbside pickup.
Please use hand sanitizer on arrival. Gloves are available.
Limited to SIX persons at a time. The Pen is not a large retail space.
Please enter through the front door, not the side doors.
No public restroom
In another sign of spring there is some exciting and festive art on display at the Desert Botanical Gardens.
Thank you as ever for your interest and support. Stay safe, stay well, and keep reading!.
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Thank you for supporting The Poisoned Pen since 1989, frequently named Best Specialty Bookstore by the New Times and by the Arizona Republic, one of 45 Great American Indie Bookstores 2013; Best Locally Owned and Operated Business: Scottsdale and more....
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Donna Leon
Virtual Book Launch
Tuesday March 9
1:00 PM
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 We offer two ways to join this exciting event, Donna's first at The Pen
The purchase of the book is required to attend, or a $5.00 fee. NOT both.
TUESDAY MARCH 9 1:00 PM Virtual Book Launch
Click on the title to order and you will get a zoom link on March 8
Signed copies while they last
Please note the start time per time zone:
3 PM ET; 2 PM CT; 1 PM MT (us); 12 PM PT
Can it be the 30th for Commissario Guido Brunetti? Yes. And it reflects the Venetian policeman's weariness with his job and his city. The focal point is the culture of the Giudecca, its insularity, and a kind of local boss with an iron grip that may be hard to break. It begins when two young American tourists are dropped off at the hospital's dock, one of them seriously injured. Cameras reveal two young men in a boat (naturally) ferried the women there. They are soon identified as a well-to-do young lawyer and his childhood friend, a boatman.
Patient and persistent inquiry ensues ringing in the coast guard  and naval commandos, yet despite the high action finale the pace is a slow burn and in the end, what is accomplished? Leon increasingly goes for ambiguity, reflecting her view I think of a broken city government, maybe of Italy's government. I have to agree with a reviewer who writes, an aging Brunetti, who blames his tightening trousers on the dry cleaners rather than his eating habits, goes about his day: meeting with informants, lunching with colleagues, and dining with his erudite wife and opinionated children.
Brunetti feels disillusioned with his retired friends, who can talk of nothing but grandchildren, and mournfully accepts that tourism will eventually destroy his beloved Venice. But meanwhile he loves his family, and really, his work.
Only 5 left to preorder
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The March Booknews
Part 1
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And use the share feature with both to reach out to readers you know.
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Our Podcast Library Keeps Growing
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Visit our Podcasts 70,600 downloads show your interest
Easy download links are provided. They are also available on  ITunes and Google Music
Enjoy conversations from our storied past:
AND more new conversations:
CJ Box
Tasha Alexander/Deanna Raybourn
Don Bentley/Jack Carr (previewing The Devil's Hand, his April book launching here
April 12 -- please reorder now)
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Buy Audio Books from Libro.fm & Help The Pen
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Your purchase of audio books results in a small income stream to the bookstore so we very much appreciate it.
They do frequent specials and update available audios.
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Tips on our Virtual Events
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The times listed are Mountain Standard Time UNTIL March 14.
When Daylight Savings kicks in March 14, the times we list will be Pacific Daylight Time. It begins with Harlan Coben in our calendar..
We try to start them on time at the hour posted. You can sign it a bit early and wait for it to start. Or join later.
You can watch them in real time and comment if you do belong to FB. And you can watch them later at any time that is convenient.
You can listen to them in a subsequent podcast
The Videos go back for some years. Watch those posted to You Tube on your Smart TV. It's a nice change from a small screen
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Britain's Elly Griffiths
Friday 1:00 PM
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FRIDAY MARCH 5 1:00 PM
Our March British Crime Book of the Month is replete with the delightful humor that characterizes Edgar winner Griffiths' Ruth Galloway Mysteries which I adore. And she won the Edgar for her first Harbinder Kaur investigation: The Stranger Diaries ($15.99).
Here she takes a leaf from Anthony Horowitz, (and even Agatha Christie) in a clever plot that begins with the death of a 90-year-old woman with a heart condition in Shoreham-by-Sea, that should not be suspicious, right? But her devoted associates --home healthcare worker Natalka, café owner and ex-monk Benedict, and former broadcaster Edwin residing in the same elder care facility as Peggy --suspect foul play when they find mystery novels dedicated to Peggy, references to her as a "murder consultant," and a postcard with a disturbing note.
Much to Detective Sergeant Harbinger Kaur unease, the trio head  to a literary festival in Aberdeen to buttonhole the postcard recipients and learn more about Peggy's relationship to them. Soon writers wind up dead, and Kaur is forced to continue her investigation.
"Bibliophile genre fans will enjoy the insider's look at publishing and relish the intoxicating, often intoxicated, milieu of the festival. "All readers will devour the cleverly constructed story, replete with Griffiths' trademark engaging prose, well-placed humor, and always-endearing characters." -Booklist Starred Review.
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Arkady Martine
SciFi/Fantasy with Pat King
Friday 6:30 PM
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FRIDAY MARCH 5 6:30 PM
Arkady Martine in conversation with Pat King
Teixcalaan # 2
"Martine spins a dizzying, exhilarating story of diplomacy, conspiracy, and first contact in the powerhouse sequel to her Hugo Award-winning debut, A Memory Called Empire ($18.99).
Mahit Dzmare has returned home to Lsel station after a brief, eventful stint as ambassador to the empire of Teixcalaan, but now Teixcalaanli warships are moving into formation against the terrifying aliens that live beyond a nearby jumpgate. When Nine Hibiscus, the leader of the warships, requests a trained diplomat to aid in alien relations and avoid conflict, Mahit's former liaison and love interest, Three Seagrass, assigns herself the job--and drags Mahit along with her.
 But there are factions on Lsel and in Teixcalaan who would benefit from an endless war and who work to undermine their negotiations. Martine effortlessly balances several points of view-including the idealistic 11-year-old imperial heir, Eight Antidote-to provide a vivid window into a struggle over the question of who gets to be counted as a person. Martine's aliens are viscerally unsettling and utterly believable, and she deploys them masterfully to underscore themes of colonization, assimilation, and cultural violence. This complex, stunning space opera promises to reshape the genre."--PW Starred Review
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Chris Whitaker with
Hank Phillippi Ryan
Saturday 1:00 PM
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SATURDAY MARCH 6 1:00 PM Virtual US launch
The UK's Chris Whitaker in conversation with Hank Phillippi Ryan
Excellent film news just arrived
"The UK's Whitaker, the award-winning author of Tall Oaks and All the Wicked Girls. has upped his game with this emotionally charged page-turner. This is dramatic storytelling at its best, full of layers of intrigue and complex personalities. Whitaker's ravishing, pulse-raising suspense illuminates how we fall prey to our own fierce desires for connection."
This #1 Indie Next Pick for March, set largely in 2005, examines the repercussions of a fatal accident decades earlier on the residents of Cape Haven, a tourist town on the California  coast. At 15, Vincent King was sent to a men's prison for hitting and killing seven-year-old Sissy Radley while joyriding. Now, 30 years later, Vincent is being released. His childhood friend, Walker -- Cape Haven's police chief -- hopes that Vincent, and the town, can finally begin healing. But soon after Vincent's return, Star Radley, a single mother and Sissy's older sister, is found murdered in her home. With Vincent as the prime suspect, Chief Walker and Duchess, Star's 13-year-old daughter and self-proclaimed outlaw -- with the moxie of Harriet the Spy -- each launch their respective quests for the truth.
"Powered by extraordinarily deep character development and an impressively intricate plot, this novel is simultaneously a murder mystery, a love story, and a heartbreaking tragedy. The existential agony is palpable throughout, but so, too, is the hope at the end. Whitaker has upped his game with this emotionally charged page-turner. This is dramatic storytelling at its best, full of layers of intrigue and complex personalities."
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Lauren Willig with
Karen White
Beatriz Williams
Saturday 2:15 PM
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SATURDAY MARCH 6 2:15 PM
Lauren Willig in conversation with Karen White and Beatriz Williams
Signed books available
Leave it to the imaginative and resourceful Willig to draw upon the real experiences of the Smith College Relief Unit--in World War I, a change up from the flood of WWII novels we are experiencing.
"In 1917, Smith graduate Kate Moran joins fellow alumnus Emmie Van Alden to travel to France and help villagers whose lives have been upended by an earlier German occupation. The unit, composed of 17 women, resides in army barracks near an abandoned chateau in Grecourt, where they provide locals with food, medical care, and education.
 The villagers' lack of bare necessities is eye-opening for the Smith women, many of whom have led privileged lives. Kate, meanwhile, remains sensitive about her humble beginnings-she gained admission to Smith through a scholarship-and becomes upset when she discovers that Emmie paid for her trip to France. (Emmie had told her they were funded by donations from Smith alumnae). As the war rages on and the German army once again advances on Grecourt, Kate and Emmie's friendship grows stronger when they reveal their deepest insecurities to one another. Willig expertly uses historical details in her seamless, well-plotted tale. This will entice readers from the very first page."-PW, a review that says it as well as I can.
This gem is a generous read at 500+ pages.
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Britain's SJ Bennett
with Lesa Holstine
Monday 1:00 PM
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MONDAY MARCH 8 1:00 PM Virtual US Book Launch
SJ Bennett in conversation with Lesa Holstine
Our March Cozy Crimes Pick of the Month
It is the early spring of 2016 and Queen Elizabeth is at Windsor Castle in advance of her 90th birthday celebrations. But the preparations are interrupted when a guest is found dead in one of the Castle bedrooms. The scene suggests the young Russian pianist strangled himself, but a badly tied knot leads MI5 to suspect foul play was involved. The Queen leaves the investigation to the professionals--until their suspicions point them in the wrong direction.
Unhappy at the mishandling of the case and concerned for her  staff's morale, the monarch decides to discreetly take matters into her own hands. With help from her Assistant Private Secretary, Rozie Oshodi, a British Nigerian and recent officer in the Royal Horse Artillery, the Queen secretly begins making inquiries while she carries out her royal duties with her usual aplomb. A great cast of characters and a wonderful sense of setting make a fun and entertaining read.
The Indie Next Pick says, As charmingly and convincingly portrayed by SJ Bennett, the Queen is an astute observer whose decades of experience serve her well in this role.
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Graham Brown
(Clive Cussler)
National Book Launch
Monday 6:00 PM
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MONDAY MARCH 8 6:00 PM National Book Launch
Graham Brown discusses Fast Ice (Putnam $29), his last full collaboration with Clive Cussler
Signed books available, short personalization requests due End of Day March 6
In the "gripping 18th NUMA Files novel, climate expert Cora Emmerson, while doing research in Berlin, comes across references to a 1939 German expedition to Antarctica that discovered a lake heated by geothermal energy containing a strange green algae that seemed to cause water to rapidly freeze.
 Cora goes to Antarctica, where she collects ice core samples containing the algae. She alerts the National Underwater and Marine Agency, for which she once worked, that she has made a find that has the power to "remake the world." Weeks later, as Cora heads home, a vessel disguised as an iceberg crashes into her ship. Unknown attackers kill the crew and steal Cora's samples. Cora survives to join the subsequent investigation by NUMA's Kurt Austin and sidekick Joe Zavela, which leads them to Ryland Lloyd, an environmentalist who believes climate change actually benefits the planet in the long run. No surprise, Lloyd turns out to have a hidden agenda related to the ice.
The suspense builds as the NUMA team races to avert global catastrophe. This is another classic Cussler action thriller."-PW.
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Our March Paperback Picks
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OUR MARCH SMALL PAPERBACK PICKS
OUR MARCH LARGE PAPERBACK PICKS
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Our March Books of the Month
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Please remember: we read all the book club books BEFORE we select them for each month. No algorithms are at work here, just dedicated readers and booksellers.
Email [email protected] to join or with questions. It's never too late to sign up for an exciting mystery box.
OUR MARCH BOOKS OF THE MONTH
International Crime Book of the Month One Unsigned hardcover or paperback per month
SciFi/Fantasy Book of the Month
One hardcover or paperback per month signed when possible
Neuvel, Sylvain.A History of What Comes Next
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Our March Calendar
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FRIDAY MARCH 5 1:00 PM Our March British Crime Book of the Month FRIDAY MARCH 5 6:30 PM Arkady Martine in conversation with Pat King Teixcalaan # 2 SATURDAY MARCH 6 1:00 PM Virtual US launch The UK's Chris Whitaker in conversation with Hank Phillippi Ryan SATURDAY MARCH 6 2:15 PM Lauren Willig in conversation with Karen White and Beatriz Williams Smith College women go to France in WWI Signed books available MONDAY MARCH 8 1:00 PM Virtual US Book Launch SJ Bennett in conversation with Lesa Holstine Our March Cozy Crimes Pick of the Month MONDAY MARCH 8 6:00 PM National Book Launch Graham Brown discusses Fast Ice (Putnam $29), his last full collaboration with Clive Cussler Signed books available, short personalization requests due End of Day March 6
TUESDAY MARCH 9 1:00 PM Virtual Book Launch
Commissario Guido Brunetti of Venice
The purchase of the book is required to attend, or a $5.00 fee
To join by the $5.00 fee CLICK HERE
TUESDAY MARCH 9 5:00 PM Baseball! Emily Nemens in conversation with John Shea and Larry Siegel Shea discusses Willie Mays "24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid" and Rickey Henderson's autobiography "Off Base: Confessions of a Thief
WEDNESDAY MARCH 10 6:00 PM Phillip Margolin discusses
Robin Lockwood legal thriller Signed books available THURSDAY MARCH 11 6:00 PM Joel Rosenburg in conversation with Kyle Mills Military fiction
TIME CHANGE MARCH 14: from here all our events are PDT
MONDAY MARCH 15 5:00 PM Virtual Book Launch Harlan Coben discusses Win (Grand Central $29) Signed books available TUESDAY MARCH 16 6:30 PM Australia's Candice Fox in conversation with Adrian McKinty WEDNESDAY MARCH 17 1:00 PM St. Patrick's Day Party Irish Village Mystery #7 Signed books in stock
WEDNESDAY MARCH 17 2:15 PM
The Pen presents debut authors Julie Carrick Dalton, Nancy Johnson, Sarah Penner
Signed books still available
Signed bookplates available
Penner discusses The Lost Apothecary (Park Row $27.99), our March Historical Fiction Book of the Month
Signed books available
NEW:
THURSDAY MARCH 18 5:00 PM
Mark De Castrique discusses Fatal Scores (Poisoned Pen $15.99)
Sam Blackman, Asheville, NC, private eye
THURSDAY MARCH 18 7:00 PM
Hardboiled Crime discusses discusses another story in Arnold Han's 3 Steps to Hell (Stark House $23.95)
FRIDAY MARCH 19 7:00 PM
SATURDAY MARCH 20 10:30 AM
SATURDAY MARCH 20 4:00 PM Virtual book launch
Lisa Scottoline' first historical, Eternal (Putnam $28), set in WWII Rome
Signed books available
MONDAY MARCH 22 6:00 PM Virtual Book Launch
Jacqueline Winspear discusses
Maisie Dobbs
Signed books available for both titles
TUESDAY MARCH 23 5:00 PM
Alma Katsu in conversation with Michael Koryta
Signed books available
NOTE: We are scheduling an event with Dean Koontz in conversation with Michael Koryta, probably before or after Koryta's conversation with Katsu. Watch this space
WEDNESDAY MARCH 24 5:00 PM
Signed bookplates available
WEDNESDAY MARCH 24 Time TBA
Australia's Sulari Gentill and Emma Viskic
Rowland Sinclair
Deaf PI Caleb Zelic
FRIDAY MARCH 26 1:00 PM
Jillian Cantor in conversation with Nuala O'Connor
Our March Fantastic New Fiction Book of the Month
Signed books available
MONDAY MARCH 29 5:00 PM Virtual Book Launch
Allison Brennan in conversation with JT Ellison
Signed books available for both
MONDAY MARCH 29 6:15 PM National Book Launch
Will Staples discusses his fiction debut Animals (Blackstone $27.99)
Signed books available
TUESDAY MARCH 30 4:00 PM
Cara Black in conversation with Rhys Bowen
Signed books in April for Bowen
TUESDAY MARCH 30 5:15 PM
Signed books available
WEDNESDAY MARCH 31 5:00 PM
Signed books available
THURSDAY APRIL 1 Virtual Book Launch
Paula Munier in conversation with Margaret Mizushima
Signed books available
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Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominees
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Mystery/Thriller
A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen
Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby
And Now She's Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall
Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier
These Women by Ivy Pochoda
The Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Lakewood: A Novel by Megan Giddings
The City We Became: A Novel (The Great Cities Trilogy, 1) by N. K. Jemisin
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda, Polly Barton (translator)
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Buy Poisoned Pen Gift Cards Online
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Tracy has designed two special holiday images for last minute emailing of Gift Cards which allow either a Dollar amount or the name of a book to be filled in.
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We Don't Want to Lose You!
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If you change your email address you will disappear from our Enews mailing list automatically. We can't tell unless you either
Go to the very bottom of any Enews and Click on
UPDATE PROFILE or go here and fill in the form. You can choose whether to get the Enews alone or the Enews and Event invitations.
or Email us your new Email address so we can input it for you into The Enews list. Please tell us that's what you want because we cannot just subscribe you.
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The Poisoned Pen
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Email any requests to [email protected]. It's all part of the experience. Thank you for supporting The Poisoned Pen. Winner, 2001 Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America! Winner,
2012 The Arizona Republic and the New Times Best of Phoenix and Best of Scottsdale, Best Bookstore! 2013 Arizona Republic's Critics' Choice and Reader's Choice Best Specialty Bookstore
12-time Nominee, Publishers Weekly's Bookseller of the Year
Winner, James Patterson Page-Turner Award
Poisoned Pen Press, Winner, The 2010 Ellery Queen Award from The Mystery Writers of America
Member of the Crime Writers of Canada, British Crime Writers Association, The American Booksellers Association,
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