The Weekend Damage 11/30

We’ve got a healthy brew of mystery news this week, including some strong and deadly divas, a Scottish morgue, and a true life confession. Live from New York—the city that never sleeps nor submits to winter, apparently—here is the weekly damage.

Read my top 5 after the jump.

Exclusive to The Mysterious Press: The Legacy of George Harmon Coxe, by James Reasoner

Check out this beautifully written essay on George Harmon Coxe, an exclusive to The Mysterious Press.

There was a time – I remember it well – when you could go into just about any public library in the United States and find a dozen or more novels by George Harmon Coxe on the shelves in the mystery section. And for good reason, too. Coxe's career lasted for 40 years and 63 novels, and he was one of the most consistently entertaining of the hardboiled mystery novelists.


Born in Olean, N.Y., in 1901, Coxe attended Purdue and Cornell, was a newspaperman (a background that would greatly influence his later work), and worked in advertising before he began selling short fiction regularly to the mystery pulps. Beginning in the mid-Thirties, he was successful enough to concentrate full-time on writing fiction and became one of the leading authors in the legendary pulp Black Mask with a series of tough, well-plotted stories about Boston news photographer Jack "Flash Gun" Casey. Flash, as he was usually known, was big, hot-tempered, fiercely loyal to his friends, and a better detective than he gave himself credit for.


To read the rest of the essay, click here and we will relocate you to The Mysterious Press website.

New eBooks from The Mysterious Press 11/29/11

We're excited to announce sixteen new books from two exciting authors: Wendy Hornsby and Joseph Wambaugh.


Wendy Hornsby is the Edgar Award-winning creator of the Maggie MacGowen series. A native of Southern California interested in writing at a young age, she first found professional success in fourth grade, when an essay about summer camp won a local contest. She has written seven of the MacGowen novels, most recently The Paramour’s Daughter (2010), and the sprawling tales of murder and romance have won Hornsby widespread praise. For her closely observed depiction of the darker sides of Los Angeles, she is often compared to Raymond Chandler.

Check out all of her titles: Bad Intent, Telling Lies, A Hard Light, Midnight Baby, No Harm, Telling Lies, and 77th Street Requiem at The Mysterious Press website.




Joseph Wambaugh is the son of a policeman, and he began his writing career while a member of the Los Angeles Police Department. He joined the LAPD in 1960 after three years in the Marine Corps, and rose to the rank of Detective Sergeant before retiring in 1974.
His first novel, The New Centurions (1971) was a quick success, drawing praise for its realistic action and intelligent characterization. He followed it up with The Blue Knight (1972), which was adapted into a mini-series starring William Holden and Lee Remick.
Since then Wambaugh has continued writing about the LAPD. He has been credited with a realistic portrayal of policemen, showing them not as superheroes but as men struggling with a difficult job, a depiction taken mainstream by television’s Police Story, which Wambaugh helped create in the mid 1970s. Besides novels, Wambaugh has written non-fiction, and he has won four Edgar Awards. He was also named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. His most recent novel is Hollywood Hills (2010).

Check out all of his titles: The Glitter Dome, The Black Marble, The Blooding, The Delta Star, Finnegan's Week, Floaters, Fugitive Night, The Golden Orange, and Lines and Shadows on The Mysterious Press Website.

The Center for Fiction is launching their Crime Fiction Academy!

The Center for Fiction’s Crime Fiction Academy is the first

ongoing program dedicated solely to crime writing in all its forms.

Raise a glass with the Center for Fiction as they celebrate the launch of the new Crime Fiction Academy on Wednesday, November 30th from 6-7:30pm. Meet some of the CFA’s acclaimed teachers - Lee Child, Megan Abbott, Lawrence Block, Thomas H. Cook, S.J. Rozan, Jason Pinter, and Jonathan Santlofer.

Please RSVP to esther@centerforfiction.org

Learn more about this exciting program, and its star-studded faculty, which also includes Joyce Carol Oates, Laura Lippman, Val McDermid, Linda Fairstein, Dennis Lehane, Susan Isaacs, and Karin Slaughter at centerforfiction.org/crimefiction.
 

The Center for Fiction is located at 17 E. 47th Street (Between Madison and 5th Ave) in New York City.

Sally's Wekly Update for 11/25/11

 We're all still groaning from Thanksgiving indulgences, but It is time to get serious about the holiday season!

We hope everybody is recovering from a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.
Now that the holiday season is truly upon us, we’d like to remind you that, hopefully, we will be busy busy busy.
During December, we will be shipping the Crime Club Selections as well as everybody’s holiday orders. Triage is called for!
Please let us know if there is a present included in your order so that we can prioritize shipping.
And while we’re on the subject - our Christmas Story is now available. Black Christmas by Jason Starr will be shipped with every order received between now and the end of December.

The Duke Collier Collection of Mystery and Crime Fiction

See a complete listing of events, new signed and rare books after the jump!

Brian Koppelman Stops by The Shop to Sign The Night & The Music

Brian Koppelman popped in unexpectedly this afternoon to sign his introduction of Lawrence Block’s The Night & The Music.

Koppleman is best known as the co-writer of Ocean’s Thirteen and Rounders, and of course, for being a die-hard Block fan.

Just another day in the office.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Extra! Extra! Markdown on Mysterious Press Books

Call us sentimental, but we're getting into the charitable holiday spirit and offering some of our Mysterious Press eBooks for $2.99. The sale wont last long, so get your Black Friday on, fire up those eReaders and curl up with Donald Westlake, Ken Bruen and Thomas H. Cook on a dark and stormy night...

You can purchase these, and other eBooks, on the MysteriousPress website.

Full list of discounted titles after the jump!

Holy Chandler!

Raymond Chandler: Writer, celebrety and myster maestro once said, "I certainly admire people who do things." We do too, Raymond, we do too. That's why we were full of awe and admiration when Sotheby's annouced that they will be actioning off a collection of Chandler's works, including a copy of "The Big Sleep," inscribed to his wife Cissy (reading "For Cissy, who wants something much better, but was pleased even with this.").

Another copy of "The Big Sleep" also for sale is dedicated to Chandler himself and reads "For me without my compliments," a sentence so snarky chic that my little heart can barely stand it.

The auction also brags a copy of the original Bond novel, "Goldfinger," inscribed by Ian Fleming to Chandler, and James M. Cain's novel "Three of a Kind" with a personal note to Chandler.

Here's a hint to all those mysterious boyfriends out there: Forget the diamonds, Chandlers are a girl's best friend. The Auction will be held on Dec 13th in New York City.

Check out the full article has been circulating the Mysterious Bookshop office all day, don't miss it! (via The New York Times)

-Alex

The Weekend Damage: 11/22

Check back here every Monday for the latest, the greatest, and the strangest news in the Mystery World (please ignore the fact that this is posted on Tuesday, the idea just smacked me in the face). Just like this beautiful, dirty city that houses the Mysterious Bookshop, the Crime Fiction world never sleeps (especially on the weekends). Here are my favorite beginning of the week happening my sleuthy friends!

Alex's Top 5 after the Jump.

New eBooks from The Mysterious Press 11/22/11

We're super excited to launch seven new ebooks from James Grady and Charles McCarry today! Fire up your Kindle/iPad/Nook/Sony eReader/Toaster Oven and get reading!

Images of the full title list, beautiful new covers, and a breif description after the jump.

Thomas Mullen Discusses The Revisionists, among other things.

Thomas Mullen comments on his new book:

"My new novel, The Revisionists, is sort of a literary spy novel with a twist. Writing anything with “a twist” can be dangerous for an author, as straddling genres can be confusing to one’s readers, and to the booksellers who have to decide which shelf to put the darn thing on. But it’s also a ton of fun, both as a writer and as a reader."

Check out the full interview from our friends at Mulholland Books, where Mullen fills us in on his favorite "Hard-boiled with a twist" novels.



Signed First Editions of The Revisionists are available at mysteriousbookshop.com.

Sally's Weekly Update 11/18

The staff of The Mysterious Bookshop wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.  Hope your turkey is moist, the wine flows freely, and your team wins.

Check Out Our New and Improved Website

Our website has been completely overhauled. Check it out and you’ll be able to access

A list of upcoming events
Our digital imprint MysteriousPress.com
The MSBS Newsletter plus archived editions
Sally’s Weekly Update
Facebook
Twitter
Blog

Kudos to Otto’s new assistant, Alex Hess, who made this a priority. Find us at http://www.mysteriousbookshop.com/

SIGNED COPIES NOW AVAILABLE

The Night and the Music by Lawrence Block is now here and will be shipped out shortly. This collection of Matthew Scudder stories contains a never-before published story. If you have not ordered your copy of this limited edition, there are still a few copies left. Signed numbered copies are limited to 100 copies at $150.00, and lettered editions to 26 copies at $275.00.

Charles Finch signed A Burial at Sea. Charles Lenox, now a Member of Parliament, sets sail on a clandestine mission for the government. When an officer is murdered, Lenox is drawn toward his old profession as a detective, determined to capture a killer before he can strike again. This fifth installment in the popular historical series is a Soft Boiled Crime Club Main Selection. $24.99

More Recently Signed After the Jump!

Stop! You're Killing Me!: Mystery Cover of the Week

If I love anything, it's a bad pun and kitchy art. Hence my choice for the first Mystery Cover of the Week. "Malice in Wonderland" mashes our beloved mystery genre with a beloved children's tale (albeit, a drug addled one), and it then sets it against a classic scene of Motel Americana AND switches coconuts out with skulls?! Phew! Yes Please!










The whole delicious concoction is topped off with this opening line:

"When Alice Wickershield was a little girl of nine and still believed in all the childhood wonderlands with their fantasy inhabitants, she was given a birthday party by an old woman whom she firmly considered to be a witch."

Don't think you can live without this beautiful piece? Shoot us an email, and we'll see what we can do for you....


-Alex

Trailer for The Hunger Games Released!

To the glee of 14 year-old girls (and, I can't lie, myself), The Hunger Games trailer has hit the interweb. Check it out below:

Yea, yea, I know Suzanne Collins' series is unabashed rip off of Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale. And yes, the writing style is geared towards “alternative” high school girls reading at a slightly remedial level… but I can’t lie. I really cannot wait. At the end of the day, a book/movie team about children killing each other for the thrill of a TV audience in the thematic vein of a not-boring-Lord-of-the-Flies has done everything right.

-Alex

Signed Copies Now Available at The Mysterious Bookshop

It's been a busy week here at the bookshop, what with the likes of, ahem, Joyce Carol Oates and Anthony Horowitz popping in to sign copies of their latest and greatests. While she was here, Joyce Carol Oates signed her new collection of stories, The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares. Follow tried and true themes of exploitation, kinapping and the cruelty of children, this is Joyce at her dark and disturbind best ($24.00).

We also have signed copies from Michael Dirda, Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis, and more! Don't beleive us? Why don't you stop in and see for youself?
Check out our full list of our newly signed titles after the jump!

Sally's Weekly Update for 11/11/11

Sally's Weekly Update 11/11/11

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT


The Mysterious Bookshop is Proud to Announce a Limited Signed Edition of Lawrence Blocks's
The Night and The Music
The Mysterious Bookshop is proud to be publishing a special limited edition of this exceptional collection of all the Matthew Scudder stories, one of which is published here for the first time. Signed by the author, one of the most popular mystery writers working today. It will be produced in the same elegant format as our previous publications, almost all of which sold out on publication. This special limited edition is the only hardcover edition of this highly significant volume.

The edition is limited to only 100 copies, numbered and signed by Lawrence Block. Bound in blue marbled boards with a blue leather spine. The price is $150.00. There also are 26 lettered copies, bound in red marbled boards and red leather spine, priced at $275.00

Reserve your copy today.



CRIME SCENE: NEW LITERATURE FROM EUROPE

The 8th Annual Festival New Literature From Europe will take place in New York, November 15th - 20th 2011.

A description of the Literary Series and the Film Series can be found on the website: www.newlitfromeurope.org.

In collaboration with the Center for Fiction, The Mysterious Bookshop will be among the partners in this cultural event.

From Marathon City, Here is the Latest Update

EVENTS



Monday, November 7th 6.30 p.m. - 8.00 p.m.

Anthony Horowitz will be here discussing his Sherlock Holmes novel

The House of Silk

Horowitz, the author of the Alex Ryder series, was commissioned by the Arthur Conan Doyle estate to write this novel and we are hearing great things. Otto says it is the best SH novel he’s read, excluding those written by Doyle. Horowitz will be signing the U.S. edition only. $27.99




Author and scholar Michael Dirda will also be here to discuss his book, On Conan Doyle. $19.95

Tuesday, November 8th 6.00 p.m. - 8.00 p.m.



The Mysterious Bookshop and Akashic Books will celebrate the release of New Jersey Noir.

Editor Joyce Carol Oates will be here along with contributors including Bradford Morrow, S.J. Rozan, Jonathan Santlofer, Edmund White, Sheila Kohler, Gerald Stern, Michael Carroll, S.A. Solomon, C.K. Williams, Hirsh Sawney, Jeffrey Ford, and Lou Manfredo.

Hardcover $24.95

Paperback $15.95

Joyce will also sign copies of her new anthology The Corn Maiden and Other Nighmares. $24.00

Chuck Palahniuk Signs Copies of DAMNED

Author Chuck Palahniuk stopped by the store today to sign copies of his new novel DAMNED! Signed copies are now available!