August 9 National Book Lovers Day
August 15 Bookstore Romance Day |
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Hello,
I love it that August is such a special month for book lovers.
We celebrated on Sunday with Robert Pobi, in Toronto, with his editor Keith Kahla in NYC. Then with Lee Child in the US and Mark Billingham in the UK. A double date, double treat. You
can watch the videos and listen to the podcasts Both events were exceptional!
And expanding our reach further, Bookstore Romance Day on August 15 brings us two events, one at 1:00 PM with Victorian cozies authors Jenn Ashley and Dianne Freeman, one at 2:00 PM for 18th Century mystery with Elsa Hart and Douglas Preston talking about Cabinets of Curiosity. 
You may recall that Preston & Child wrote about them in The Cabinet of Curiosities ($10) back in 2002, the third for Agent Pendergast and a huge hit wherein a serial killer created one under New York City. So this will be lively fun on the 15th.
I'd like to say that it has been fascinating to watch the range of books, new and old, you wonderful customers have been ordering. It's been an education as well as keeping The Pen afloat. THANK YOU.
Twitter visits with a huge range of authors, and more short book chats or pitches on IGTV which is an Instagram platform that let's us post book recommendations to our Instagram.
Lesa does a wonderful job of discovery and recommendation in our Blog bringing in lots of authors for more discovery and recommendations.
And you can find Staff Picks and more in our Webstore We do rely on your purchases to fund this range of activities. But we think of them as a service to authors too, something to share and expand.
It's a huge help to Sign Up family and friends to our Enews. It's free, and adds no daily clutter to your In Box. It will also help expand coverage if you sign up for our You Tube.
Barbara and all The Pens
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Thank you for supporting The Poisoned Pen, 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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The August Booknews
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I list the August Books of the Month below.
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More New Podcasts
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There are even more new podcasts up. We can see you are enjoying them by the almost 28,000 downloads. Lots of conversations here! And with lots of authors!
For those who prefer not to stare at a screen but would like to enjoy our conversations with authors, these are for you.
Visit our new Podcasts Easy download links are provided. They are also available on ITunes and Google Music
Don't forget to search for a favorite author. There are many of them, often frequent visitors to The Pen, but some new to us.
New: Christopher Reich, Robert Pobi, Lee Child & Mark Billingham. Later this week Hank Phillippi Ryan; Fiona Davis with Kate Quinn, T Jefferson Parker.
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AudioBooks
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It's easy to set up an account. And a % of the revenue comes to The Pen.
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Video Book Talks
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You can find some book talks, short recommendations, by me and a new one from Patrick, on our Instagram courtesy of IGTV
You can also find book talk s on our Home Page 
Running now, John Connolly from Dublin, Irish literature and travel and favorite landmarks. It's terrific!!
Next Up: Douglas Preston previewing his event Saturday with Elsa Hart and his new work with Lincoln Child
Then Michael Robotham from Australia about his new novel When She Was Good (Scribner $26) with Anna Downes
And then Dame Denise Mina with Patrick
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Shopping with Us
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We are eager to connect with you via phone and curbside pickup
Call us 480-947-2974 for sales and for service
Monday-Friday 11:00-3:00 Saturday 11:00-5:00
Sunday 1:00-4:00
For the best customer service other than curbside pickup please continue to email [email protected]
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Matt Goldman
David Ricciardi
Tonight 6:00 PM
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TUESDAY AUGUST 11 6:00 PM
Matt Goldman discusses Dead West (Forge $26.99)
PI Nils Shapiro does Hollywood
I really love the PI Nils Shapiro series, in part because Goldman kicks them off with...kick ass premises. So original. Here's a Starred Review for the latest:
"In bestseller Goldman's excellent third mystery featuring  Minneapolis PI Nils Shapiro, Beverly Mayer, a grumpy matriarch, hires Nils to check on her grown grandson, Ebben, who she believes is wasting his time in the movie business. Ebben, whose fiancée has just died, is trying to launch a creator-focused studio, but Nils suspects that Ebben's fiancée was murdered and that Ebben himself might have been the target.... Nils dives into the L.A. scene, meeting mysterious East European mobsters, attractive screenwriters, powerful agents, and plenty of others who might have wanted to kill Ebben.
Goldman wisely keeps the Hollywood satire to a minimum, focusing instead on the actual detective work, the very real dangers Nils faces, and emotionally grueling issues Jameson is attempting to process. Goldman takes a classic trope-a working-class private detective set loose in Hollywood-and squeezes enough originality out of it to make for a dazzling tale."
David Ricciardi discusses Black Flag (Berkley $28)
Ricciardi's exciting third Jake Keller thriller finds the CIA officer and his agency partner, John Pickens, in Mogadishu, Somalia,  seeking to identify the mastermind behind the bandits who have been using high-speed skiffs to attack oil tankers. After killing the crews, the bandits seize the oil and sell it on the black market. The two most promising suspects are Badeed, chief elder of the Hawiye clan, and Yaxaas, the warlord of the Darwood clan. Yaxaas keeps a pet alligator named Little Yaxaas, and it's no surprise what Little Yaxaas's job is in the organization.
Keller has a plan to lure the mastermind out of hiding, but the mission is complicated by a secret agenda originating from CIA headquarters. The appealing leads have complementary strengths. Pickens is old school, interested in human intelligence, while Keller comes from an analysis background and is adept with technology. The complicated plot and furious action build to a final, head-snapping twist. Riccardi has hit his stride with this outing.
Signed books in stock for both books
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James Lee Burke
Postponed to August 21 5:00 PM
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Karen Rose
Thursday 3:00 PM
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THURSDAY AUGUST 13 3:00 PM
Karen Rose discusses Say No More (Berkley $26) with John
Seventeen years ago. That was the last time Mercy Callahan saw  Ephraim Burton, the leader of the twisted Eden cult where she was raised. But even though she escaped the abuse and terror, they continue to haunt her. When her brother Gideon discovers new evidence of the cult's--and their victims'--whereabouts, Mercy goes to Sacramento to reconnect with him.
There, she meets Gideon's closest friend--homicide detective Rafe Sokolov. From Rafe, she receives an offer she never knew she needed: to track down Ephraim and make him pay for everything. But Ephraim, who had thought Mercy long dead, discovers she is in fact alive and that she is digging around for the cult's secrets. And now he'll do anything to take her back to Eden --dead or alive.
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Ariel Sabar
A Religious Artifact Grand Hoax... true
Thursday 5:00 PM
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THURSDAY AUGUST 13 5:00 PM
Ariel Sabar discusses Veritas (Knopf $29.95)
Journalist Sabar's investigation of a sensational religious forgery
has the force of a thriller
Sabar, the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of My Father's Paradise, whose journalism has appeared in outlets including The New York Times, The Atlantic, Harper's, and This American Life, pens "A real-life Da Vinci Code, from a terrific writer." -Ron Charles
This astonishing book--part detective story, part exercise in  reporting conducted at its highest level-reaches hold of you by the shirt collar and doesn't let go. Here is a gallery of types that have surrounded Christianity since its earliest beginnings: the professionally cynical, the frankly mercenary, and the profoundly faithful.
It is a tale that takes us from the offices of two Harvard presidents to, perhaps inevitably, that of a Florida pornographer. Exciting on every level, it poses the deepest question of faith: does it depend on the scholarly verification of ancient fragments or on what Heaney called a journey 'into the marvelous?'
Fascinating stuff to see how a most serious scholar wants to believe in the veracity of a lost fragment. Those of you old enough to remember the impact of Elaine Pagels' work will have more sympathy. If you have read Daniel Silva's The Order ($28.99), Veritas will be of great interest.
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Jennifer Ashley
Dianne Freeman
Saturday 1:00 PM
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CELEBRATING BOOKSTORE ROMANCE DAY
SATURDAY AUGUST 15 1:00 PM Victorian Mystery
Signed books in stock for both books
When young cook Kat Holloway learns that the children of London's Foundling Hospital are mysteriously disappearing and  one of their nurses has been murdered, she can't turn away. She enlists the help of her charming and enigmatic confidant Daniel McAdam, who has ties to Scotland Yard, and Errol Fielding, a disreputable man from Daniel's troubled past, to bring the killer to justice. Their investigation takes them from the grandeur of Mayfair to the slums of the East End, during which Kat learns more about Daniel and his circumstances.... Ashley pulls no punches describing how woman are at the mercy of many factors including their own families. In contrast is the love story and the unusual sense of family in the servants' hall and orphanages.
Frances, the widowed Countess of Harleigh, needs a venue for her sister Lily's imminent wedding, away from prying eyes. Risings, George Hazleton's family estate in Hampshire, is a perfect choice, and soon Frances, her beloved George, and other guests have  gathered to enjoy the usual country pursuits-shooting, horse riding, and romantic interludes in secluded gardens. But the bucolic setting harbors a menace, and it's not simply the arrival of Frances's socially ambitious mother. Above and below stairs, mysterious accidents befall guests and staff alike.
Before long, Frances suspects these "accidents" are deliberate, and fears that the intended victim is Lily's fiancé, Leo. Frances's mother is unimpressed by Lily's groom-to-be and would much prefer that Lily find an aristocratic husband, just as Frances did. But now that Frances has found happiness with George-a man who loves her for much more than her dowry-she heartily approves of Lily's choice. As Frances and George search for the culprit among the assembled family, friends, and servants, more victims fall prey to the mayhem.... Best to order all three in this sprightly series.
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Elsa Hart
in conversation with
Douglas Preston
Saturday 2:00 PM
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SATURDAY AUGUST 15 2:00 PM 18thCentury Mystery
Elsa Hart in conversation with Douglas Preston
Our August Historical Fiction Book of the Month
Signed books in stock
The fabulously talented Hart turns her storytelling gifts from 18th Century China and her mysteries solved by librarian Li Du to London, 1703, our August Historical Fiction Book of the Month. And as is consistent with much of what we offer for August, it earns a Starred Review:
"Hart establishes herself as a versatile talent with this exceptional  standalone set in 1703 London. Botanist Cecily Kay has left her diplomat husband behind in Smyrna to spend time in the home of Sir Barnaby Mayne, a legendary collector, who believes his holdings "contain no less than the future course of all knowledge toward the secrets God left for man to discover." Kay hopes to use Mayne's collection of plants to help her classify the flora she collected in Smyrna. She's delighted to find that Mayne's other guests include a childhood friend, Meacan Barlow, an artist who's been retained to illustrate a new catalogue of the nobleman's possessions.
Both women's plans are disrupted when Mayne is found stabbed to death in his study, with the bloody knife in the hands of another member of the household, who confesses to the murder before fleeing. The astute Kay doubts the confession's truthfulness, but her pursuit of answers puts her in danger.
The author has a gift for vivid similes (randomly displayed objects are 'like guests at a poorly planned party who cannot find a common topic of conversation'." Hart is bound to become a household name for readers who love clever and fair whodunits."
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Our August Calendar
Updated (again!)
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WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12
James Lee Burke Postponed to August 21 5:00 PM
THURSDAY AUGUST 13 3:00 PM
Karen Rose discusses Say No More (Berkley $26) with John
Sacramento Series police procedural
THURSDAY AUGUST 13 5:00 PM
Ariel Sabar discusses Veritas (Knopf $29.95)
Journalist Sabar's investigation of a sensational religious forgery
has the force of a thriller
This is THE book to read after finishing Daniel Silva's The Order
CELEBRATING BOOKSTORE ROMANCE DAY
SATURDAY AUGUST 15 1:00 PM Victorian Mystery
Signed books available for both books
SATURDAY AUGUST 15 2:00 PM 18th Century Mystery
Elsa Hart in conversation with Douglas Preston
Our August Historical Fiction Book of the Month
Signed books in stock
MONDAY AUGUST 17 6:00 PM Virtual Book Launch
Kevin Hearne discusses the spinoff from The Iron Druid Chronicles Ink & Sigil (Del Rey $28)
TUESDAY AUGUST 18 5:00 PM
Jonathan Slaght presents a power point/discussion of
Fascinating nature writing. Photos & a video
TUESDAY AUGUST 18 7:00 PM Virtual Book Launch
Montana's Sean Stranahan
Signed books available
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 19 6:00 PM
Signed books available
THURSDAY AUGUST 20 12:00 PM
UK's Rosie Walsh hosts Kate Riordan
THURSDAY AUGUST 20 7:00 PM
Winslow & Burke, Deception Cove
Signed bookplates for our copies
FRIDAY AUGUST 21 5:00 PM
Dave Robicheaux
Signed books available
SATURDAY AUGUST 22 1:00 PM
Signed books available for Heaberlin
SATURDAY AUGUST 22 2:00 PM
The Jungle Red Bloggers hang out with us
Rhys Bowen, Lucy Burdette, Deborah Crombie, Hallie Ephron, Jenn McKinlay, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Julia Spencer-Fleming
Signed books by Ryan, Bowen, and McKinlay available
NEW! MONDAY AUGUST 24 3:00 PM
John Shea in conversation with Larry
MONDAY AUGUST 24 6:00 PM Virtual Book Launch
William Kent Krueger in conversation with David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Signed books available
TUESDAY AUGUST 25 3:00 PM
Wendy Corsi Staub discusses
TUESDAY AUGUST 25 6:00 PM 
Sandra Brown in conversation with Linda Castillo
Signed books available
NEW!
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 26 5:00 PM
Stan Parish discussing his superb caper Love and Theft (Doubleday $26.95) in conversation with his legendary editor Jason Kaufman (Dan Brown, etc)
This is our September Crime Book of the Month
Signed books available
NEW! THURSDAY AUGUST 27 4:00 PM with Larry
Philip Bonds discusses his beautiful nature writing
SATURDAY AUGUST 29 12:00 PM
Sophie Hannah in conversation with Alex Pavesi
Hannah discusses her new Hercule Poirot
Signed UK editions of both books available;
See the Signed Book Column on the left 
SATURDAY AUGUST 29 2:00 PM Virtual Book Launch
Co-authors CS Harris, Anna Lee Huber, Susanna Kearsley, Christine Trent discuss The Deadly Hours (Sourcebooks $16.99)
Our copies come with a folded Monster & Mermaids poster, bookplates signed by the authors, and anyone who orders by August 29 is entered into a drawing for a fabulous Gift Basket
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A Preview of the Start of September
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 1 5:00 PM Virtual Book Launch
Signed bookplates available
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 1 6:00 PM
Carl Hiaasen in conversation with John Sandford
Signed books available, please order asap
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2 1:00 PM
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2 2:00 PM
A horror s story based on true 1853 events at the White House
Signed bookplates available
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2 4:00 PM
James R. Benn in conversation with Francine Mathews
Benn discusses his new Billy Boyle WWII thriller
Signed books available
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 3 6:00 PM
Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman discuss their new novel
Alameda Deputy Coroner Clay Edison
A special letter for you Signed by both authors is included in our copies
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 5 2:00 PM
Jenn McKinlay in conversation with Kate Carlisle and Paige Shelton
McKinlay discusses her new Library Lover's Mystery
Signed books available, personalizations limited to 5 words
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10 6:00 PM
Mike Lupica in conversation with Joe Ide
Signed books available
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 12 12:00 PM
The UK's Ruth Ware discusses One by One (Gallery $27.99)
Includes a signed book plate. First 50 orders will also receive a cozy knit beanie hat with custom ONE BY ONE embroidery!
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14 6:00 PM Virtual Book Launch
Kyle Mills with Special Guest Brad Thor
Mills discusses his new Mitch Rapp thriller Total Power (Atria $28.99)
Signed books available
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Our August Paperback Picks of the Month
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OUR AUGUST SMALL PAPERBACK PICKS
OUR AUGUST LARGE PAPERBACK PICKS
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Our August Books of the Month
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First, thank you for your response to The Pen's Books of the Month. The rise in membership means we can do a better job securing signed and unsigned books for you. It's not too late to join one or more clubs.
OUR AUGUST BOOKS OF THE MONTH
[Fantastic = fabulous, not fantasy]
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.
Please email [email protected] for details and to sign up.
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Mystery-of-the-Month Club
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Looking for something new to read each month and aren't sure what to choose? Let us help... And it makes a great gift
The Mystery-of-the-Month Club is individually tailored to each customer's specific tastes. Just let us know what kinds of mysteries you enjoy, whether your looking for signed hardcover books or paperbacks, and we'll take it from there!
For more information, drop Patrick King a line at
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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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