New Touch in Promoting New Books--

My library has had a much appreciated new fiction book section where a stand-alone bookshelf housed the new books, identified by its yellow dot stickers with a date marked on them.  Convenient, it was close to the circulation desk in the front of the building.  A reasonable set-up--this was the arrangement for years until several weeks ago.    

First the books were moved across the floor to into a corner lining the wall.  They are no longer close to the circulation desk.

(Photo by blogger)

Second the revamped display appeared with some new fiction books now separated by genre.  As you can see on the photograph above the new mystery books are now on their own shelf with a modest-looking black "MYSTERY" label to identify the shelf for the library user.  And since I work in a different library department, this change was unexpected for me.

In the previous location all fiction books were interfiled although a small sticker on the bottom identifying some by genre.  Today, certain books are filed together as "mystery," "science fiction" and so forth.  I like it. I'm satisfied about the ease for the casual book browser--including me--to quickly find a "new" library mystery book.     

It Came in the Mail (2)--

In another mailing (months ago old, I'm afraid), I received 10 very nice promotional brochures for writer Jane K. Cleland's new book Killer Keepsakes (a Josie Prescott antiques mystery). Called a "sneak preview" on the top, this brochure gives the first two chapters of the book, book series information, and invitations to contact Ms. Cleland.

Of course, the author's website is mentioned which includes interactive appraisal challenges from a notable auction house, book discussion questions and comments of critic's praise for earlier work. That website also has a nifty YouTube video with Cleland discussing the five components of a "traditional mystery."

I passed out the brochures during the September book club and two attendees recognized the author and had read her work with one saying she had read Killer Keepsakes.

Keepsakes is the fourth Josie Prescott book of the series.

It Came in the Mail--

Months ago I received a nice postcard promoting a new mystery The Examined Life (a Gil Rodrigues Mystery) by Virgil Jose for the book club. Unfortunately for us, we don't have it in our library system but its good to find out what we're missing.

War vet and widower Rodrigues is a private investigator who receives a jot to his stagnant world as his best friend, David Chang, is suddenly murdered. He looks into the crime and finds Chang's business affairs along the way touches upon professional assassins and international espionage. Pushing the issue on this case, Rodrigues does move to enact a personal revenge.

Crime Spree Magazine says the book is "one of those small gems that deserves to be dug out of the thousands of books published each year." According to the Amazon website, this is Jose's first published work of fiction.

A Good Read in Advance of the Inauguration--

After the presidential election, you'd expect a lull in the all things political scene but recent news stories dictate otherwise. And I think you regular news readers (or radio listeners for NPR) would agree with me.

In that vein with an inauguration of a new president coming soon, I noticed this new paperback mystery which should have genuine appeal with all the fanfare of the upcoming presidential inauguration. The paperback is the second of the series featuring the most unlikeliest of heroines--a White House chef. Julie Hyzy writes about ambitious chef Ollie Paras with her new adventures in Hail to the Chef (a White House Chef Mystery). In this book, Ollie is quite busy when two strange deaths occur close to her and she feels drawn to follow her suspicions about them. The first death is of a careful electrician who is electrocuted to death and the second is of the First Lady's nephew who just hours before had worked with Ollie preparing food.

Hail to the Chef, also professes to include "recipes for a complete presidential meal" on the book cover.

Hyzy does show strong creative promise with this series. The first book is State of the Onion which my library system does not have.

New Mysteries on the Shelves (6)

Fortunately, our library doesn't skimp on finding new mysteries--here are three more new ones.

First is Soul Patch: a Moe Prager mystery by Reed Farrel Coleman. This paperback features the New York private investigator, Prager, returning to his cop roots in Coney Island as he is drawn into a murder investigation and the recent death of a NYPD detective. Prager's assignment is additionally hampered by the mistrust between the police and him when delving into police criminal activity which occurred up to 30 years earlier. Prager also has his emotions further churned up as his marriage has troubles and his attention drifts to an attractive Latina detective. Coleman's new novel is 233 pages and the fourth of the "Prager mystery" series.

The next book is Roux Morgue by Claire M. Johnson, a second entry of the Mary Ryan series. Ryan, a San Francisco pastry chef, returns to her old alma mater to teach and lands in an annoying turf war between her original mentors and her contemporaries. That may not be so surprising but additional job pressures from the dean and two unexpected deaths of fellow faculty lead to a decidedly dicey environment. This story is on the cozy side too with a possible romance for Ryan and humor for the reader. The book is 223 pages.

Last is In the Night of the Heat: a Tennyson Hardwick novel, a new title with the writing collaboration of actor Blair Underwood with Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes. In this second Hollywood mystery with African-American private detective/actor Hardwick, he is requested to help a football star facing threats after his acquittal in a murder case. Preoccupied with a good, new TV job,Hardwick declines but events change so that he reverses his decision. The acting job suddenly appears and the football star suffers a sudden death from questionable suicide. Again, the offer comes to help--this time in the investigation of the football player's death from his family (with a sizable money offer)--and Hardwick agrees. The case jumps from location (the governor's mansion) to time period (the 1960s) with the detective facing dangers from the work and juicy dangers from a steamy background. The book is 447 pages.

Finally, actor Blair Underwood (currently in ABC-TV's Dirty Sexy Money) is a big draw for the book as he is on the book cover (unlike the first Tennyson Hardwick book) and the cover says "Blair Underwood presents... [book title]" (again, unlike the first book.) Interesting move, book editors.

New Mysteries on the Shelves (5)

Looking at the new mysteries downstairs (with the newest fiction books) I ran across two titles with political themes but in very different places and times. And it is a presidential election year so if you can not get enough politics from the newspaper, TV, etc.--then there is more...

The first is Broken Heartland: a Mad Dog & Englishman mystery by J. M. Hayes. It is set in the present day U.S. midwest with a sheriff's election as the focus. Running for re-election, Sheriff English of Benteen County, Kansas, has a tough contest with a born-again Christian candidate using his family against him as a political issue. Matters nosedive for English, however, with a series of sensation events. First, a deputy crashes into a school bus of area teenagers with the Benteen teen choir during a vehicle chase. After the accident, the bus driver mysteriously vanishes. Meanwhile, Benteen would have to play catch-up with all those issues later as he investigates a shooting at a local school. This is the fourth novel of the "English mystery" series. The book is 229 pages.

The next book is a historical mystery set in Egypt after World War I. The Mark of the Pasha : a Mamur Zapt Mystery by Michael Pearce is the sixteenth of this long-running series. Gareth Cadwallader Owen (known as "Mamur Zapt" or head of the secret police) is busy confronting possible bomb threats in Egypt as relaid by his operatives. This police work also proceeds his big safety detail assignment of a visiting major European delegation to the capital. The book is 200 pages.

New Mysteries on the Shelves (4)

I've missed promoting the new books recently on the blog but here it comes another posting with new mystery books--this time three paperbacks.

The first book is Murder, Mayhem and a Fine Man by Claudia Mair Burney. Listed under the African American fiction category in the library's system, it is the first of a new series and identified as "an Amanda Bell Brown mystery" on the book cover. Ms. Brown is a forensic psychologist who uses her professional expertise to investigate a mystery involving an underground cult with a pattern of abuse. Along the way, she meets a good-looking detective. This 291 page book is also under the Christian fiction genre.

A vastly different mystery setting from the present day is in 18th century England for the next book, The Crimson Cavalier by Mary Andrea Clarke. This book is named for a local highwayman--a colorful character--presumed of a London murder of magistrate. The Cavalier has an unlikely defender in gentlewoman, Miss Georgiana Grey and her associates in this cause. Attempting to find the likely murderer, Grey amasses a list of suspects and puts her own life in jeopardy. This 288 page book is the first of a new series.

The last book is Thugs and Kisses : an Odelia Grey mystery. This series features a plump and lively paralegal ameatur sleuth. In this outing, Odelia attends her 30-year high school reunion with a friendly homicide detective when--it's hard to imagine here--a person turns up dead. The decedent is a (deserving?) class bully who still is mercilessly cruel to Odelia. Despite it all, she starts an investigation and finds several individuals with reasons to kill the guy and Odelia has another challenge too as her boss vanishes. The book is 329 pages and is tagged as "chick lit fiction."

How's your summer reading...?

It's officially summer now--so, how's your pleasure reading? Need any help? On our library downstairs display book cart labeled "Check Out--these just returned materials" I blinked and Margaret Truman's Murder on K Street disappeared from the available books for quick browsing.

In the new issue of the weekly alternative newspaper in town Janet Evanovich's newest Fearless Fourteen is second in the tops of books of "Charlotte Bestsellers List." No surprise there, huh?

And the July O: the Orpah Magazine has a nice cover story about summer reading with its article "Not Your Typical Murder Mystery." Those to make the cut are Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser, Shelter Half by Carol Bly, Not in the Flesh by Ruth Rendell and Careless in Red by Elizabeth George.

I'll admit I only tend to look at O Magazine and think cute, colorful covers but I don't open them to read. I am glad I noticed this story about summer books though--good tips.

Summer reading ideas--

My hometown paper has an attractive "Summer reading" section today and there is a nifty "Mysteries/thrillers" section pulling up the rear with options. There were seven titles and I'll admit I could spend time on all but I have favors that appeal to me by plot or the author's previous work.

By plot, I could go for Jane Cleland's Antiques To Die For with a mystery involving a New Hampshire antiques dealer whose good friend suddenly drowns. There's also Phillip Margolin's thriller Executive Privilege with a murder that touches high Washington offices and eventually the White House.

And I am interested to read what local writer Mark de Castrique has new with Blackman's Coffin. I've read the first book of his other series with corner Barry Clayton. This new series has U.S. military investigator Sam Blackman residing in the Asheville veteran's hospital after a stint in Iraq. There he becomes involved in a murder investigation with deep town roots.

New Mysteries on the Shelves (2)

I don't want to let a month go by without mentioning what's new on the library's the book shelves for mystery readers. Here are two more:

The first book is In Cold Pursuit by Sarah Andrews. This sounds like a dream opportunity for a young researcher. Geology graduate student Valena Walker travels to Antarctica to study glaciology--actually a lifelong dream to visit the location--with the esteemed Dr. Emmett Vanderzee. Dr. Vanderzee is unavailable to her as she is stunned to learn he is arrested and accused of murder. Underway with her studies, Walker concludes she needs to help Vanderzee clear his name as her grant-supported work could end otherwise. She does this by attempting to investigate the death of a reporter visiting the area. The reporter was conducting an investigation into research discrediting Dr. Vanderzee.

In steps that mirror her fictional character, Andrews recently used a grant from the National Science Foundation to study in Antarctica. The book has 336 pages.

The next book is Crime & Clutter by Cyndy Salzmann. Described as an inspirational cozy, this is the second of a series of a six middle-age women who comprise the "Friday Afternoon Club," a fun-filled group that meets to cook, eat and chat. Mary Alice has the huge cleaning project with a storage unit in a 1963 Volkswagen minibus and finds old letters from that period involving her father whom she barely knew. Her friends also get involved with the work and the novel switches between the women's story today and Mary Alice's parents in the 1960s, a pair of then hippies caught up in the times. Mary Alice has a tough struggle here as she relives her father's abandonment of her as a baby. Although dead, can she forgive him? The book has 270 pages with recipes and discussion questions.

New Mysteries on the Shelves (1)

From time to time, I walk downstairs to specifically look for the newest mysteries and I like to make note of the findings here. Here are two more.

Going alphabetically, Ellen Crosby's The Chardonnay Charade: a wine country mystery is the second of this series featuring Lucie Montgomery, a vineyard owner in Virginia. In this story, Lucie has her vineyard warmed by a chopper flight during a chilly May night and, unfortunately, a body is discovered near the fields.Controversial political candidate Georgia Greenwood is the dead woman and her husband--Lucie's friend and doctor, Ross--is the immediate suspect for the crime.

Determined to help Ross, Lucie investigates Georgia's death while Ross faces yet another crisis. As a Civil War buff, Ross appears to discover a letter proving that Confederate president Jefferson Davis did have prior knowledge of the upcoming (and successful) assassination attempt on President Abraham Lincoln. This news is simply jaw-dropping--particularly locally in this small Virginia town with Confederacy enthusiasts. The book is 256 pages.

Next, is Eliot Pattison's Prayer of the ragon featuring former Beijing investigator Shan Tao Yun. It is the fifth book of its series.

Currently, an exiled Chinese national, Yun resides in a secret monastery in the remote mountains of Tibet under the friendship of outlaw Buddist monks. He is summoned to a remote village to defend a comatose man from execution for two murders.
The accused man is--curiously--a Najavo Indian seeking ancestral ties between his people and the ancient Bon. As Yun and his two commrades investigate, they find additional deaths and a handfull of suspects. Pattison's book is 362 pages and includes a glossary of foreign language terms in the back.