Read the Book First...

 

2) The Midwest Independent Booksellers Association features books that "celebrate the midwest." Every month the store will feature the new Midwest Connections Picks in our special section labeled just that! This month we are featuring the following books:

• The Good Girl by Mary Kubica. A psychological thriller about an abduction that goes horribly wrong and the subsequent investigation. If you like Gone Girl and the Silent Wife (see above). 
• The Hundred Year House by Rebecca Makkai. This book is set on an historic estate that once housed an arts colony. It's a bit of a mystery in that the house has secrets that the reader will enjoy discovering - including the possibility of a ghost. If you like Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings.
• Landline by Rainbow Rowell. This is a moving and hilarious tale of a marriage on the brink. If you like Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin, Where'd you Go Bernadette by Marie Semple; The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

3) The Regional and Indie shelves are located just inside the door on your right. Madison and the surrounding area has an enormous amount of writing talent. Our event schedule regularly features many locals as do the shelves. A sample of what you're likely to find here: Bread and Butter by Michelle Wildgen, Vintage by Susan Gloss, Jewelweed by David Rhodes, Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane by Kelly Harms, A Sunday Kind of Love by David Benjamin, Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen, The Dog Year by Ann Garvin, In Warm Blood by Judith Gwinn Adrain and DarRen Morris, and Little Oslo by William R. White.

4) You may be surprised to fine a Poetry section in a mystery bookstore. Well, there are amazingly talented poets in Madison and we're proud to have many of their books and chapbooks here. Andrea Potos (one of those amazing poets), is a bookseller at Mystery to Me. She just published a new chapbook called New Girl. Check it out!

5) We have new shelves coming soon to hold our growing collection of young adult and middle school books. If you have any favorite young adult and/or middle school mysteries to tell us about, please email us at info@mysterytomebooks.com. And, the picture books and early readers section already includes some fun mysteries -- like Encyclopedia Brown, Nate the Great and more. 

I can see in the Dark by Karin Fossum
Only the Dead by Vidar Sundstol
Atonement of Blood by Peter Tremayne
An Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot by David Shafer 
Back Channel by Stephen L. Carter
Dear Daughter by Elizabeth Little
Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke
Last to Know by Elizabeth Adler
No Safe House by Linwood Barclay
Third Rail by Rory Flynn  -- introduces Eddy Harkness, a young detective with a knack for finding anything -- he's on the fast track in the Boston elite narcotics unit until....
The Skeleton Crew -- How Amateur Sleuths are Solving America's Coldest Cases, by Deborah Halber
The Director by David Ignatius
Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman
Shots Fired, CJ Box
Robert Ludlum's THe Bourne Ascendancy by Eric Van Lustbader

New (or newly reprinted!) in Trade Paperback

Muzzled, a Kate Turner, D.V.M Mystery by Eileen Brady (a 2013 Discover Mystery Award Winner) 
Almost Like Spring by Alex Capus
Purity of Vengeance by Jussi Adler-Olsen
17 Stone Angels by Stuart Archer Cohen
Sandrine's Case by Thomas H. Cook (an Edgar Award finalist)
A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans
Silent Kill by Peter Corris (the godfather of Australian crime fiction)
Room No.10 by Ake Edwardson
Free Fall by Chris Grabenstein
Dark Hollow by Anna Katharine Green (1st published in 1914)
The Resurrectionist by Matthew Guinn
Final Curtain - an Edna Ferber Mystery by Ed Ifkovic
The Jackal's Share by Chris Morgan Jones
Tamarack County by William Kent Krueger
How The Light Gets In, Louise Penny
A Dangerous Fiction by Barbara Rogan
Nobody's Child by Libby Hellman
Just One Evil Act by Elizabeth George
An Old Betrayal by Charles Finch
The Sound of Things Falling, Juan Gabriel Vasquez
Gift Wrapped by Peter Turnbull
The Gifted by Gail Bowen
A Blind Goddess by James R Benn
Just What Kind of Mother Are You by Paula Daly
Seven for Secret, Lindsay Faye
The Madmen of Benghazi by Gerard de Villiers
Orange is the New Black, Piper Kerman

New in Mass Market
W is for Wasted, Sue Grafton
Deceived by Randy Wayne White
Murder with a Twist by Allyson K. Abbott
Murder in the Mystery Suite by Ellery Adams
Murder, Simply Stitched, Isabella Alan,
Gone with the Woof, Laurien Berenson
Night of the Living Threat, Janet Bolin
Heirs and Graces, Rhs Bowen
Crime Rib, Leslie Budewitz
Blood of the Lamb, Sam Cabot
Taken In, Elizbeth Lynn Casey
Tailing a Tabby, Laurie Cass
Book Fair and Foul, Erika Chase, 
Billionaire Blend, Cleo Coye
Shear Trouble, Elizabeth Craig
Maple Mayhem, Jessie Crocket
Hearts of Sand, Jane Haddam, 
Muffin But Murder, Victoria Hamilton
grace against the clock Julie Hyzy
Extra Sensory Deception, Allison Kingsley
Death by Devil's Breath, Kylie Logan
Wll Read, Then Dead, Terrie Farley Moran
Death of a crabby Cook, Penny Pike
The Wrong Girl, Hank Phillippi Ryan
Close Knit Killer, Maggie Sefton
The Cat, the Vagabond and the Victim, Leann Sweeney
In the Blood, Lisa Unger

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Events at Mystery to Me, an independent bookstore www.mysterytomebooks.com
Sunday, August 17 12:30 – 2 pm	Sunday Sleuths Book Club Exile by Denise Mina
Thursday, August 21 7 – 8 pm	Local filmmaker, Marc Kornblatt previews his new film “A Hobbit’s Heart”
Friday, August 22 7 – 8:30 pm	Bingo Queens of Oneida author Mike Hoeft is here. Join us for a book chat and bingo event (no cash prizes, sorry!)
Sunday, August 24 12:30 – 2 pm	Sunday Scandinavians Book Club What is Mine (Norway) by Anne Holt
Thursday, August 28 7 – 8:30 pm	Araceli Alonso discusses her book Out of Havana Don’t be surprised by a little Cuban music too!
Friday, August 29 6 – 8 pm	Madison Writers’ Studio students read from their recent work
Sunday, September 7 12:30 – 2 pm	History’s Mysteries Book Club Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
Wednesday, September 10 6:30 – 8 pm	Armchair Detectives Book Club Christine Falls by Benjamin Black
Thursday, September 11 7 – 8:30 pm	A neighborhood book club discusses Michelle Wildgen’s book, You’re Not You Closed to the public
Friday, September 12 7 – 9 pm	William Kent Krueger discusses his newest Cork O’Connor mystery, Windigo Island Libby Fischer Hellmann discusses her book, Nobody’s Child – a Georgia Davis novel of suspense
Saturday, September 13 10 – 5 pm	Monroe Street Festival Hundreds of books on sale at Mystery to Me!
Friday, September 19 7 – 9 pm	Fishing Mysteries!  A double header evening with John Galligan and Victoria Houston
Sunday, September 21 12:30 – 2 pm	Sunday Sleuths Book Club The Hum and The Shiver by Alex Bledsoe
Sunday, September 28 3 – 4:30 pm	Little Grey Cells, an Agatha Christie Book Club Three-act Tragedy or Murder in Three Acts (Poirot)
Sunday, October 5 12:30 – 2 pm	History’s Mysteries Book Club Death Comes as the End by Agatha Christie
Wednesday, October 8 6:30 – 8 pm	Armchair Detectives Book Club Sandrine's Case by Thomas Cook
Thursday, October 9 7 – 9 pm	Dudgeon-Monroe Neighborhood Association Fall gathering! Come one, come all!
Thursday October 16 through  Sunday, October 19	Madison Public Library presents the Wisconsin Book Festival! http://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org/ special note: Deborah Crombie will be at the Library October 16
Sunday, October 19 12:30 – 2 pm	Sunday Sleuths Book Club Water Touching Stone by Elliot Pattison
Friday, October 24 7 – 9 pm	Ellen Hart will be reading from her new Jane Lawless book The Old Deep and Dark and will be joined by Jessie Chandler talking about Chip Off the Ice Block Murder
Sunday, October 26 12:30 – 2 pm	Sunday Scandinavians Book Club Death Angels (Sweden) by Ake Edwardson
Sunday, November 2 12:30 – 2 pm	History’s Mysteries Book Club The Coroner’s Lunch by Colin Cotterill
Thursday, November 6 7 – 8:30 pm	Dublin author Stuart Neville makes Mystery to Me a stop on his national tour for The Final Silence
November 7 and 8 Times to be determined	It’s another SLAM!
Sunday, November 9 2 – 3 pm	Jerry Peterson discusses his new mysteries, The Last Good Man and Capitol Crime
Wednesday, November 12 6:30 – 8 pm	Armchair Detectives An Expert in Murder, Nicola Upson
Sunday, November 16 12:30 – 2 pm	Sunday Sleuths Book Club A Night of Long Lives by Rebecca Cantrell
Tuesday, November 18 6:30 – 8 pm	Kathleen Ernst launches her newest Chloe Ellefson mystery, Tradition of Deceit
Friday, November 21 7 – 8:30 pm	Local poet Rosemary Zurlo-Cuva reads from her new book The Beauty of this World, published by Parallel Press
Sunday, November 23 3 – 4:30 pm	Little Grey Cells – an Agatha Christie Book Club A Caribbean Mystery (Marple)
Sunday, December 7 12:30 – 2 pm	History’s Mysteries Book Club Medicus by Ruth Downie
Sunday, December 21 12:30 – 2 pm	Sunday Sleuths Book Club Killed at the Whim of a Hat by Colin Coterill
Thursday, December 25	Closed to Celebrate Christmas Day
Sunday, December 28 12:30 – 2 pm	Sunday Scandinavians Book Club Night of Awe (Finland) by Harri Nykanen

Tom just returned from a delicious vacation in North Carolina where he had some time to catch up on his reading. He took advantage of the peacefulness to read and practice the Thich Nhat Hanh book on How to Sit. It's a short book packed with worthwhile mindfulness exercises. He thoroughly enjoyed reading Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger which he says is so much more than mystery as it offers a story that many of us can relate to concerning our childhood experiences. And the writing is, in a word, extraordinary. (Reminder: WKK will be at the store on Friday, September 12 at 7pm along with another of our favorites, Libby Hellman. Libby's new book is called Nobody's Child).  Tom also read the Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) of M.L. Longworth's new book, Murder on the Ile Sordou which continues her wonderful descriptions of southern France and French food.  Francophiles will enjoy it as well as mystery lovers. This story moves out of Aix en Provence onto the Isle Sardou, which is in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Marseille, France.  The book is scheduled to be released on September 30. 

Tom took a slight diversion and a trip back in time with a book called Behold a Pale Horse by Peter Tremayne about Sister Fidelma, an Irish lawyer in the 7th century. In this story Sister Fidelma diverts her trip back from Rome to a religious settlement called Bobbio to visit her mentor Ruadan. Another excellent book he read is Kerry Greenwood's Murder and Mendelssohn featuring Phryne Fisher. An orchestral conductor is found dead and someone must face the music. Finally, Tom just started reading Gerald Elias' Devil's Trill (recommended by Joanne) which features a blind violin teacher who must solve a murder mystery. 

Meanwhile, Joanne has found a bit of time to sink her teeth into a new novel or two. She found the Midwest Connections Pick, The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai very intriguing and loved the way it wove the stories of the artists into the story of the house. She also read The Black Hour by Chicago author Lori Rader Day.The story is about a Sociology professor who is shot and severely wounded - both physically and mentally. As an academic who studies violence, she is haunted by wanting to know why she was shot -- she knows who shot her, but he's dead now and she's desperate to understand why. Rader Day really captures the drama of campus and academic life and weaves a very compelling story about violence, suicide and campus life. Joanne also reviewed an early copy of Nobody's Child by Libby Hellman - it's a gritty, well-written crime thriller featuring Chicago PI Georgia Davis about the illegal sex trafficking business. Finally, Joanne is enjoying every minute of her time with the ARC of The Secret Place, the next Dublin Murder Squad mystery by Tana French. For all of you Tana French fans -- not to worry, she doesn't disappoint!  The book is scheduled for release on September 2.