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Allen & Unwin - April Newsletter New Historical Mystery Series & Crime Fiction

Karen — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:48:46 +1000


	Crime City \| April 2008

Click here to view this newsletter online

Are you An Expert in Murder? Nicola Upson’s exciting new series cleverly blends fact and fiction to bring out the sleuth in you this month. April also introduces the thrilling new Regency mystery series. Meet the enigmatic Sebastian St Cyr as he sets out to catch a killer within the political intrigue of C.S. Harris’ What Angels Fear before following him into a world of hidden passions in When Gods Die. Or slip into classic icy noir from the master of American fiction, Walter Mosley, in his latest shifty tale of dark secrets and silent desires, Diablerie.

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What Angels Fear

CS HARRIS

Gripping tales of murder and passion in the new Regency mystery series

It is 1811, and a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered, and a duelling pistol belonging to Sebastian St Cyr is recovered at the scene. Now a fugitive running for his life, Sebastian must catch the killer and prove his own innocence ... Harris deftly combines political intrigue, cleverly concealed clues and vivid characters with fast-moving stories that will have readers eagerly anticipating the return of Sebastian St Cyr.

Learn more

Read an extract (PDF)

A reader's review of What Angels Fear (Rebecca Fung, NSW)

"CS Harris draws out a large enough cast to keep you thinking 'whodunit' without giving it away too early. A well drawn cast of larger than life characters romp in and out of her novel, with suspicion cast in almost any and every direction ... those who like a good old-fashioned murder mystery and characters who jump off the page, will not be disappointed. The dialogue flows naturally and the easy prose keeps the reader hooked. This is the kind of book I would recommend for a holiday or a weekend read."

When Gods Die

CS Harris

On a summer evening the beautiful young wife of an aging marquis is found dead in the arms of the Prince Regent himself. Lured into a dangerous murder investigation, Sebastian St Cyr finds himself thrust into a world of hidden passions and disguised ambition. Sebastian St Cyr returns in another gripping tale of murder and passions.

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Read an extract (PDF)

Diablerie

Walter Mosley

Icy noir from a master of American fiction

Ben Dibbuk has a beautiful wife, a lovely daughter and a good job. Then he meets Star, a mysterious woman at a launch for the hop magazine Diablerie. Star claims to share a gruesome secret that Ben just can't remember. As Ben's grip on the truth begins to falter, the line between how things really turned out, and how they might have done, becomes harder and harder to negotiate in this slippery tale of dark secrets and silent desires.

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An Expert in Murder

Nicola Upson

It's March, 1934, and Tey is travelling to London to celebrate what should be the triumphant final week of her celebrated play. Then a seemingly senseless murder takes place and Detective Inspector Archie Penrose feels sure it is connected to Tey's work - putting her reputation, and even her life, under threat. Cleverly blending fact and fiction, An Expert in Murder is an atmospheric detective novel and a tribute to one of the most enduringly popular writers of crime.

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A reader's review of An Expert in Murder (Catherine Laughlin)

"Nicola Upson set herself an unusual task by using real people as fictional characters. Josephine Tey, though not a recluse by any means, was essentially a private person so her thoughts can only be gleaned through her writings. Her gentle wit, with a cutting edge, is echoed in Nicola Upson's writing ... The actors and actresses (this IS before politically correct times) are all well drawn, suitably theatrical and believable, but why could, at least the principal actor, not have his real name too? "

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Set up a virtual bookshelf

Do family and friends ask you to recommend books all the time? Or maybe you're curious about what other people are reading.

We recently discovered www.booktagger.com, a website that allows you to create a virtual bookshelf and write reviews, which you can then share with family and friends.

You can also join a forum to discuss a particular book or topic, and there's even a widget which you can add to your own blog, website or MySpace page.

Win a copy of What Angels Fear by CS Harris

We have two to give away, to enter: send an email to enewsletter@allenandunwin.com and tell us in 25 words or less why you want to read What Angels Fear. Send in your entries before Friday 25th April and make sure you include your name and postal address in your email.

Competition is open to subscribers of this eNewsletter only and must be residents of Australia or New Zealand.

Last month's winners:
Maggie W, Qld
Cheryl H, Vic
Debbie S, Qld

The winners will be notified by email and their name published in the next issue of this eNewsletter.

The Father of Forensics

Colin Evans

How Sir Bernard Spilsbury Invented Modern CSI

This is the fascinating story of the life and work of Bernard Spilsbury, history's greatest medical detective, and of the cases that not only made him a celebrity, but also inspired the astonishing science of criminal investigation in our own time.

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Stealing the Scream

Edward Dolnick

The Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece

One morning in 1994, two men in a stolen car skid to a halt in front of Norway s National Gallery. Minutes later, they roar off with Edvard Munch's iconic, tortured, best-known work. In desperation, Norwegian police call on the world s greatest art detective Scotland Yard s enigmatic, irascible, brilliant Charley Hill. The hunt for The Scream will either cap his career or end in a fiasco that will dog him forever.

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We want your book reviews!

If you'd like to be the first to read and review a book before it is published, then send us an email and tell us why you want to read and review The Suspicions of Mr Whicher. We may use quotes from your review in our upcoming eNewsletters.

Send in your entries before Friday 25th April and make sure you include your name and postal address in your email.

Offer is for residents of Australia or New Zealand only.

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher

Kate Summerscale

On a warm summer's night in 1860, an elegant detached Georgian house is serenely quiet. Behind shuttered windows the Kent family lies sound asleep. At some point after midnight a dog barks ... The family awakes the next morning to a horrific discovery: an unimaginably cruel murder has taken place in their home. In The Suspicions of Mr Whicher Kate Summerscale untangles the facts behind this notorious case, bringing it back to vivid, extraordinary life.

Learn more

Days of Atonement
Michael Gregorio

Tokyo Year Zero
David Peace

Snake Stone
Jason Goodwin

Shark Island Joan Druett

Critique of Criminal Reason
Michael Gregorio

Australian Independent Booksellers Launch 'The Indie Award'

Karen — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:37:01 +1000

PRESS RELEASE

AUSTRALIA’S INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS

LAUNCH NEW ANNUAL BOOK PRIZE

THE ‘INDIE’ AWARD

Australia’s independent booksellers will show their support for Australian authors with the launch of their major new prize, The Indie Award.

The $18,000 prize will honour an Australian author for the best book of the past twelve months, with the winner to be announced on Monday 6^th October 2008. The award is being managed by Leading Edge Books, a group of independent bookstores with member stores across Australia, both metropolitan and regional, including many of Australia’s iconic independent bookshops. The award will demonstrate independent booksellers’ commitment to Australian books and writers, with over 120 bookshops working together to sponsor this annual award.

Leading Edge Books General Manager Chris Burgess says the launch of The Indie Award is an exciting initiative for independent booksellers.

“Independent bookshops make up over 20% of all books sold in Australia and maintain a strong and vibrant position in the market. This compares very favourably with about 10% in the UK and only 5% in the US. Independent bookstores hold a special place in the hearts of their customers as havens of enjoyment, stimulation and relaxation in an ever-busier world. We feel the launch of The Indie Award sees them take their rightful place in the spotlight as key supporters of Australian authors. Their incredible passion and knowledge of books makes them uniquely placed to judge and recommend the best Australian books of the past year to their customers and the general reading public.”

Over 100 titles have been submitted to The Indie Award panel in the categories of Fiction, Debut Fiction, Non Fiction and Children’s Books. Independent booksellers around the country are now madly reading, with the winner from each of the four categories to be announced on 25^th August. The winner of The Indie Award for the book of the year will be chosen by the booksellers from the four shortlist category winners and announced on Monday 6^th October.

The initiative has received wide support from across the entire industry as these messages indicate:

“Everywhere else in the English-speaking world, bookselling has become the province of chains, of massive centralisation, of venality and a steady loss of competence on the shop floor. Thank God we still have booksellers passionately committed to our shared reading culture. This is something we must not give up. For nearly thirty years I've made a living from writing fiction in this country with the steady support of independent bookshops. This year I've been lucky enough to have a novel reach the top of the bestseller lists. A literary novel at number one. Hand-sold all the way there by people who take books personally.”

Tim Winton, Author

“The independent bookselling sector is stronger, more vibrant and more important in Australia than anywhere in the English-speaking world. This is good for authors, good for publishers and above all good for readers. As independent publishers we applaud our bookseller colleagues for their initiative in creating and sponsoring this award.”

Patrick Gallagher, Executive Chairman and Publishing Director, Allen & Unwin

For media enquiries and further information contact: Chris Burgess

On telephone: 02 9497 4022 Fax: 02 8208 3274 E: burgessc@leadingedgegroup.com.au

Become a Crime Writer - Penguin Australia wants you to give it a go

Karen — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 11:17:18 +1000

Now this is the sort of news that makes the despairing Australian Crime Fiction fan do happy dances in the kitchen first thing in the morning!

Penguin Australia (bless their little cotton socks) have started a competition to find a new Australian voice in the commercial crime and thriller market.

"I've been a London editor for 13 years now, specialising in the crime-thrillers genre, and it really is saturated with US and UK authors," says Beverley Cousins, editorial director of the Penguin Group (UK), who will judge entries with British crime writer Nicci French (or writers Nicci Gerrard and Sean French, who write under the French pseudonym), Robert Sessions, Penguin's Australian publishing director and Melbourne bookseller Paul Landymore.

The winner will be published by Penguin Australia and three runners-up will receive a detailed critique of their work.

If you head over to penguinmostwanted.com.au, you will find tips on writing the right sort of book: (plot / pace / well drawn characters); a good ending; tips on content and so on.

Entries are due by the 23rd June.

And if you give it a go - let us know!

Bitter Lemon Press - Dog Eat Dog, Iain Levison

Karen — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:02:48 +1100

This just in from Bitter Lemon Press:

Dog Eats Dog

by Iain Levison

Out in May 2008

British author with large cult following in the US and France now published in the UK for the first time

ISBN 978-1904738-312 B-Format paperback, 282 pages, RRP £8.99

Publicity: Alex Hippisley-Cox T: 020 8488 3764 E: ahipcoxpr@btconnect.com

The Novel

Philip Dixon is down on his luck. A hair-raising escape from a lucrative but botched bank robbery lands him gushing blood and on the verge of collapse in a quaint college town in New Hampshire. How can he find a place to hide out in this innocent setting? But peering into the window of the nearest house, he sees a glimmer of hope: a man in his mid-thirties, obviously some kind of academic, is rolling around on the living-room floor with an attractive high-school student... And so Professor Elias White is blackmailed into harbouring a dangerous fugitive, as Dixon - with a cool quarter-million in his bag and dreams of Canada in his head - gets ready for the last phase of his escape.

But the last phase is always the hardest... FBI agent Denise Lupo is on his trail, and she’s better at her job than her superiors think. As for Elias White, his surprising transition from respected academic to willing accomplice poses a ruthless threat that Dixon would be foolish to underestimate...

Praise for Dog Eats Dog:

“A talented writer has produced an enthralling crime novel. Fiendish suspense but also a wonderful settlement of scores with American society”.—Lire Magazine

The Author:

Iain Levison was born is Aberdeen, S cotland in 1963 and went to live in the US in 1974. After graduating high school, he returned to the UK to join the British Army. He was promptly sent to Peru to burn cocaine fields. Three years later he returned to the US where he has worked as a truck driver, house painter, Alaskan crab fisherman and an Emergency Medical Technician. He detailed his woes of wage slavery in the widely reviewed US titles Working Stiff’s Manifesto (Soho Press, 2002; Random House reprint 2003) and Since the Layoffs (Soho Press, 2004). He currently resides in Raleigh, North Carolina

Praise for Iain Levison:

"The real deal ... bracing, hilarious and dead on." New York Times Book Review

"Witty, deft, well-conceived writing that combines sharp satire with real suspense." Kirkus Reviews

“There is naked, pitiless power in his work” USA Today

“Levison writes tight, punchy prose, with deadpan humor and savvy. Wall Street Journal

Bolinda Audio Books

Karen — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:23:50 +1100

I just found out that Sensitive New Age Spy (Geoff McGeachin's new book) has just been released by Bolinda Audio (this link will take you directly to the full set of three of his books in audio format), and then realised it had been a while since I had a wander around their site.

This link will take you to the list of Crime, Mystery and Thriller books that they now have available - and there are a LOT there!

Books on the way in 2008

Karen — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 11:55:28 +1100

There's a great list of upcoming books in 2008

Paul Cleave will have a new one out, and Peter Temple's follow up to The Broken Shore, - Truth is due as well.

Katherine Howell's follow up to Frantic will be out, as will Leah Giarratino's next book.

John Avjide Lindqvist's next book - after Let the Right One In will be around.

Fred Vargas - This Night's Foul Work will be released, and Jo Nesbo's Nemesis is due. Reginald Hill will have A Cure for All Diseases and Karin Fossum will release Broken. Mark Billingham has In The Dark and R.D. Wingfield's last ever Killing Frost will be bought out post the author's death this year.

You might also want to keep an eye out for the first in a trilogy that's creating a massive stir in reading circle's - Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. All I can say is that if you get your hands on a copy of this - can I borrow it after you?

Have a great mid-December festival season (whatever form it takes for you).

Coming up in July 08 - Orion

voyagersaus — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:52:55 +1100

Coming up in July from Orion:

* New Elvis Cole by Robert Crais

* The latest Sookie Stackhouse novel, ALTOGETHER DEAD by Charlaine Harris.

From Pan Macmillan Australia in March

Karen — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:48:10 +1100

While I'm at it a quick wander around Pan Macmillan Australia's site shows the following of interest under their March new titles:

Lady Killer / Daddy's Girl, Lisa Scottoline

Rounding the Mark / The Patience of the Spider, Andrea Camilleri (highly recommend this series if you haven't embarked on it)

The Machiavelli Covenant, Allan Fossum

Paper Butterfly / The Eye of Jade, Diane Wei Liang

Not Dead Enough, Peter James

A Deeper Sleep / Prepared for Rage, Dana Stabenow

The River Killings, Merry Jones

The Black Dove, Steve Hockensmith

Bound by Blood, Rick Nelson

Hush My Mouth, Cathy Pickens

The Deader the Better, G M Ford

Dead-End Road, Richard Kunzman

And a smattering of Science Fiction titles as well.

Check out the full details of the books by following this link.

Hachette Livre (Aust) Hodder - June releases

voyagersaus — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:21:55 +1100

CARELESS IN RED - Elizabeth George
# 13 Lynley/Havers, British police procedural/drama

**SPOILER WARNINGS FOR LAST TWO NOVELS IN SERIES

It is barely three months since the murder of his wife and Thomas Lynley tales to the South-West Coast Path in Cornwall, determined to walk its length in an attempt to distract himself from his loss. On the forty-third day of the walk, he sees a cliff climber fall to his death, apparently witnessed by a surfer in a nearby cove. Shortly afterwards, Lynley encounters a young woman from Bristol whose personal history is a blank before her thirteenth year. These events propel him into a case that brings Barbara Havers from London and thrusts both detectives into a world where revenge is only one of the motives they must sift through to identify a killer.

THE BIBLE OF CLAY - Julia Navarro
International thriller

From the internationally bestselling author of The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud comes this electrifying new suspense thriller about a biblical discovery in the remote Iraqi desert—and a deadly struggle being waged on the eve of war to uncover a truth that’s waited 3,000 years to be told….

In St. Peter’s Basilica, a man sits in a confessional asking forgiveness for a murder he’s about to commit. And a young priest begins a desperate journey to stop him.…

It’s only the beginning of a ruthless race among the world’s most powerful to find a rumored cache of sacred texts inscribed with the story of Creation as told by Abraham. This account, on tablets of clay, predates the Bible by a thousand years and could be one of the most important discoveries of all time.

Archaeologist Clara Tannenberg’s announcement of an excavation to seek the tablets has set off shock waves of outrage, contempt, and outright disbelief. But among four old friends, bound through decades by shared tragedy, the announcement has renewed their hunger for revenge. For Clara’s reclusive, infamous grandfather Alfred is a man as feared as he is hated and his enemies will stop at nothing to destroy him—and use anything as a weapon…even his granddaughter.

Among rumors of Iraq’s imminent invasion, time is already running out. As Clara and her husband Ahmed put together a ragtag team of renegade archaeologists and inexperienced students to excavate the Bible of Clay from deep within the heart of Iraq, another far more sinister team is determined to get there first. For Alfred Tannenberg has roots that reach deeply into the horrors of Nazi Germany and they’ve come to fruition in today’s highest precincts of power.

Sweeping from the time of the biblical patriarchs to the front lines of the Iraqi conflict to the parties and back rooms of Washington D.C., and other centers of influence, The Bible of Clay is a thriller of unrelenting, thought-provoking, and all-too-plausible suspense.

THE WITNESS - Sandra Brown

endall Deaton pulls herself and her baby out of a wrecked car, and a mixture of courage and fear gets her to the top of a ravine, where she flags down help. But she doesn't dare reveal her true identity or that of her amnesiac passenger to the authorities. Instead, she plans her immediate escape. Her perilous flight begins. The best public defender in Prosper, South Carolina, Kendall has stumbled upon the town's chilling secret—and her marriage to one of the town's most powerful men became a living hell. Her only hope for survival is to flee. Now Kendall is a terrifed mother trying to save her child's life...a reluctant witness who knows too much about an insidious evil...and a woman who knows too little about her own heart.

THE TWILIGHT TIME - Karen Campbell

# 1 new series, Scottish police procedural

Anna Cameron is a new Sergeant in the Flexi Unit. On her first day in the new job she discovers she'll be working with her ex, Jamie, now married with a child. In at the deep end emotionally after many years without him, she's also plunged headlong into the underworld of Glasgow's notorious Drag -- the haunt of working girls, drug dealers and sad, seedy men. Someone is carving up the faces of local prostitutes, an old man has been brutally killed and racist violence is on the rise; Anna must deal with all this alongside tensions and backstabbing within her own team.

OSCAR WILDE AND THE RING OF DEATH - Gyles Brandreth

# 2 (or 4 in non-compiled edition) Oscar Wilde, Victorian Brit crime, political intrigue

It’s 1892, and Wilde is the toast of London, riding high on the success of his play Lady Windermere’s Fan and celebrating with friends at a dinner party where he conjures up a game called “murder” that begs the question: Who would you kill, if you had no chance of being caught? Wilde and friends, including Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, and poet Robert Sherard (the novel’s narrator) write the names of their “victims” on pieces of paper and choose them one by one. After leaving the party, Wilde scoffs at the suggestion that he may have instigated a very dangerous game indeed….

The very next day, the game takes an all-too sinister turn when the first “victim” turns up dead. Soon Wilde and his band of amateur detectives must travel through the realms of politics, theater, and even the circus and the boxing ring to unearth misguided passions that have the potential to become deadly poisons…not only for the perpetrators of the seemingly perfect crimes, but also for the trio of detectives investigating them.

THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING - Joshilyn Jackson

Standalone mystery, drama

Laurel Gray Hawthorne needs to make things pretty, whether she's helping her mother make sure the literal family skeleton stays in the closet or turning scraps of fabric into nationally acclaimed art quilts.Her estranged sister Thalia, an impoverished Actress with a capital A, is her polar opposite, priding herself on exposing the lurid truth lurking behind middle class niceties. While Laurel's life seems neatly on track--a passionate marriage, a treasured daughter, and a lovely home in suburban Victorianna--everything she holds dear is suddenly thrown into question the night she is visited by the ghost of a her 13-year old neighbor Molly Dufresne.The ghost leads Laurel to the real Molly floating lifelessly in the Hawthorne's backyard pool.Molly's death is inexplicable--an unseemly mystery Laurel knows no one in her whitewashed neighborhood is up to solving.Only her wayward, unpredictable sister is right for the task, but calling in a favor from Thalia is like walking straight into a frying pan protected only by Crisco. Enlisting Thalia's help, Laurel sets out on a life-altering journey that triggers startling revelations about her family's guarded past, the true state of her marriage, and the girl who stopped swimming

Hachette Livre (Aust) Little, Brown - June releases

voyagersaus — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:37:56 +1100

PITCH BLACK - Alex Gray

Sphere (Hardback)

# 5 DCI Lorimer, Scottish police procedural

When Chief Inspector Lorimer returns from his holiday on the island of Mull, he feels a welcome sense of calm. But it doesn’t last long. Kelvin FC’s new star midfielder is found brutally stabbed to death in his own home and, with his wife apprehended trying to leave the country, a seemingly straightforward new case begins. But the grisly murder of a referee after a Kelvin match throws light on some dark secrets at the ground. And when the latest signing to the club becomes the latest victim in a string of killings, Lorimer knows there’s a serial killer on the loose - one that’s only beginning to show his true colours. As lies emerge and tensions build, the players and managers live under the constant threat of becoming the next Kelvin fatality.

THE BRUTAL ART - Jesse Kellerman

Sphere

Standalone American Thriller

A thing of beauty is a joy forever - or at least until it kills you. Ethan Muller is struggling to establish his reputation as a dealer in the cut-throat world of contemporary art when he is alerted to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: in a decaying New York slum, an elderly tenant has disappeared, leaving behind a staggeringly large trove of original drawings and paintings. Nobody can tell Ethan much about the old man, except that he came and went in solitude for nearly forty years, his genius hidden and unacknowledged. Despite the fact that, strictly speaking, the artwork doesn't belong to him, Ethan takes the challenge and makes a name for the old man - and himself. Soon Ethan has to congratulate himself on his own genius: for storytelling and salesmanship. But suddenly the police are interested in talking to him. It seems that the missing artist had a nasty past, and the drawings hanging in the Muller Gallery have begun to look a lot less like art and a lot more like evidence. Sucked into an investigation four decades cold, Ethan will uncover a secret legacy of shame and death, one that will touch horrifyingly close to home - and leave him fearing for his own life.