FATAL FIRST EDITION -- Jenn's Release Day!

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JENN McKINLAY: How much do I love this cover? Let me count the ways... 

As ever, Heathcliff the dog is featured and now Zelda the cat is as well. Maybe that's how you can determine the longevity of a cozy series. How many of the amateur sleuth's pets are on the cover? 

The artist Julia Green is always amazing and when I told the art department that the opening of the book is a murder on a train and that a train set with the dog would be cool...well, they delivered. I mean look at that cover. It's fabulous!

This book is my homage to Patricia Highsmith's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN mashed up with Agatha Christie's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. This mysteries really make you want to try train travel, don't they? 

But truly the entire plot came about when I decided it would be fun to have my characters meet up with the characters of my plot group buddy Kate Carlisle, author of the NYT bestselling Bibliophile Mysteries. Her amateur sleuth Brooklyn Wainwright is a professional bookbinder and it just felt like my librarian Lindsey Norris needed to meet Brooklyn. Of course, I spent months teasing Kate that I was going to kill off her characters (I could never, I adore Brooklyn) but when it was time to submit the manuscript, I sent Kate the relevant pages and she approved the cameo. Not gonna lie, it was a blast to write another person's characters, especially since I'm a super fan as well as a friend of Kate's.

Hey, here's a thought the Reds should all scramble books and write each other's mysteries...aaaaand, they all just keeled over in horror! LOL.

But seriously, what do you think about cameos of characters from other author's series, Reds and Readers? Yay or Nay? 

ABOUT FATAL FIRST EDITION

People are dying to get their hands on a rare, valuable book in the newest Library Lover’s Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of The Plot and the Pendulum. Briar Creek Library director Lindsey Norris and her husband, Sully, are at a popular library conference in Chicago to hear book restoration specialist Brooklyn Wainwright give a keynote address. After the lecture, Lindsey looks under her seat and finds a tote bag containing a first edition of Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, inscribed to Alfred Hitchcock. Brooklyn determines the novel is one of a kind and quite valuable, so Lindsey and Sully return the book to the conference director, not wanting to stir up any trouble. But just hours after the pair boards the train back to Connecticut, rumors that the Highsmith novel has gone missing buzz amongst the passengers, and they soon find the conference director murdered in his private compartment. And worse—the murderer planted the book in Lindsey and Sully’s room next door, making them prime suspects. Now, they must uncover the murderer and bring them to the end of their line, before they find themselves booked for a crime they didn’t commit. Featuring a cameo by a beloved character from the New York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle’s Bibliophile series!

The Stolen Legacy: The Shocking True Story of Book Theft that Inspired a Novel by Kate Carlisle

Jenn McKinlay: I am delighted to have my dear friend and plot group buddy here with us today to share what inspired her latest (and greatest!) bibliophile mystery! Woo hoo!

Kate Carlisle: We mystery writers are a warped lot. We have to be—we put ourselves into the minds of people who do some pretty awful things. You know, like murder.

Yet, I can still be shocked by real-life villainy. Archivist and supposed booklover Greg Priore stole eight million dollars of rare books and ephemera from the antiquarian library he managed. It gets worse. With an X-acto knife, Priore cut out the heart of many precious books, removing maps and illustrations to sell to unwitting private collectors. How could he????

For almost 20 years, Priore fenced stolen goods through a rare book dealer. Both men pled guilty to their crimes.

The ending of the story—the sentencing—is perhaps the most shocking part. Zero jail time. Just a few years of house arrest followed by probation. (The judge explained to the New York Times that they weren’t incarcerated because of the coronavirus pandemic.)

Full story: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/theft-carnegie-library-books-maps-artworks-180975506/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/20/us/Carnegie-library-theft-schulman-priore.html

When I read that story, I was as shocked and as disgusted as the rest of the book-loving community. But I was also inspired. (I told you we writers are warped!)

In my latest Bibliophile Mystery, The Twelve Books of Christmas, twelve rare and valuable books have mysteriously gone missing from the library of Castle MacKinnon, in Oddlochen, Scotland. Bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright flies with her husband Derek Stone to Scotland to attend the holiday wedding of dear friends and to find the missing books. When she arrives, she’s disturbed to discover that the castle library is locked, and that the only person with a key is the librarian under whose watch the books went missing.

Unfortunately, as Brooklyn and Derek search the castle for the missing books, they come across something far more sinister—the body of a murder victim. Could the death and the book thefts be connected?

I’ll be at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, AZ on Saturday, November 5 at 2 pm, with Hannah Dennison and Michelle Hoffman. We’d love to see you there! If you can’t make it in person, you can purchase a signed copy of The Twelve Books of Christmas here: http://bit.ly/3JeFQj3

GIVEAWAY

For a chance to win a $25 gift card to Poisoned Pen Bookstore*, tell me about a favorite holiday tradition—any holiday! 

*The giveaway is open internationally, but if the winner is outside the US, the prize will be a $25 gift card to the bookstore of his or her choice, as long as it can be purchased online with a US credit card.

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ABOUT THE TWELVE BOOKS OF CHRISTMAS

The first ever Christmas mystery in the beloved New York Times bestselling Bibliophile Mystery series!

San Francisco book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright and her hunky security-expert husband, Derek Stone, face a locked-room murder mystery during the holidays in Scotland.

In the middle of a wonderful Christmas holiday in Dharma, Brooklyn and Derek receive a frantic phone call from their dear friend Claire near Loch Ness, Scotland. The laird of the castle, Cameron MacKinnon, has just proposed to her! They plan to be married on New Year’s Day, and they want Derek and Brooklyn to be their witnesses. And while they’re visiting, Claire hopes that Brooklyn will be able to solve a little mystery that’s occurred in the castle library—twelve very rare, very important books have gone missing.

Once in Scotland, Brooklyn starts working on the mystery of the missing books but is soon distracted by all of the thumping and bumping noises she’s been hearing in the middle of the night. You’d think the Ghost of Christmas Past had taken up residence. But when one castle employee meets an untimely end and a guest is killed by an arrow through the heart, Brooklyn and Derek know this is not the work of any ghost. Now they must race to find a killer and a book thief before another murder occurs and their friends’ bright and happy future turns dark and deadly.

Kate Carlisle is the New York Times bestselling author of two ongoing series: the Bibliophile Mysteries featuring San Francisco bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright, whose rare book restoration skills uncover old secrets, treachery and murder; and the Fixer-Upper Mysteries (as seen on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries), featuring Shannon Hammer, a home contractor who discovers not only skeletons in her neighbors' closets, but murder victims, too. Kate’s latest book is The Twelve Books of Christmas, Bibliophile Mystery 17.

What We're Writing - Fatal First Edition by Jenn McKinlay

 We have some winners!!!

Diana, you are the winner of Rhys's giveaway of The Paris Assignment! You can email her with your email address at authorrhysbowen at gmail dot com 

Celia, you are the winner of Lucy's giveaway of the paperback of A Dish to Die For ! You can email her with your address at raisleib at gmail dot com

Congratulations!!!

JENN: I'm not writing so much as doing page proofs on FATAL FIRST EDITION. I found a massive error on page 77, so I'm trying to correct it and not change the page layout. What a dope! I knew I needed to fix it during copyedits and somehow I missed it. Argh!

Anyway, here is the newly finalized cover! YAY! 

FEBRUARY 2024

As you can probably deduce, there is a train involved. Even better than that--what could be better, you ask?--well, the opening of the mystery takes place at an archivist conference and the guest speaker is none other than Brooklyn Wainwright from Kate Carlisle's bestselling Bibliophile mystery series. 

Coming October 24th

Yes, Kate gave her permission. In my mind, I love to believe that Brooklyn and Lindsey are as good of friends as Kate and I.

Here's a snippet from their meeting: 

     Lindsey tried not to be nervous as she approached the famed book restorer. She’d read articles about Brooklyn Wainwright and watched online videos where she discussed her various projects. She was everything Lindsey had hoped to be when she’d been in library school, studying to be an archivist. 

     “Excuse me, Ms. Wainwright,” she said.

     Brooklyn turned away from Standish and gave Lindsey her full attention. “Hi, how can I help you?”

     “I’m sorry to bother you, but I have a book here that I was hoping you’d take a look at?” Lindsey used up speak, turning it into a question so that she didn’t sound demanding. She held out the bag and the man beside Brooklyn took it before Brooklyn could. 

     “Really, Derek?” Brooklyn asked the man but he ignored her and opened the bag, peeking inside.

     “Yes, really, darling,” he said. Lindsey noted his British accent and immediately warmed to him as he reminded her of their friend Robbie Vine, also Brit, back home in Briar Creek. “If I’ve learned one thing whilst being married to you, it’s that books can kill.”

     Sully turned to Lindsey with his eyebrows raised. “He’s not wrong.”

     Lindsey glanced at Brooklyn and in that moment she knew she was right and they really were kindred spirits. Not just in their love of old books but also in the men they’d married. 

     “It’s clear.” Derek handed the bag to Brooklyn. 

     “Thank you,” she said. She took the book out of the bag holding it gently just as Lindsey had. 

     She examined every bit of it, cloth cover, edges, and spine, and when she opened it and read the inscription, she gasped. “This could be worth a fortune. It’s a first edition with what appears to be the original dust jacket and it’s in amazing shape. It’d go easily for several thousand but the inscription, if authenticated, makes it an extremely rare collectible for both fans of Highsmith and Hitchcock. The bidding war at an auction for this book could be off the chart.”

     Henry Standish who’d been speaking with one of the conference volunteers, identifiable by the lanyard and badge that he wore, joined them. “Thank you again, Brooklyn, always a pleasure. Our next speaker is here, however, so…”

     He made a shooing motion with his hands. Well, that was abrupt. 

     Brooklyn and Derek exchanged an amused glance. She put the book back in the bag and handed it to Lindsey. “It appears to be in excellent condition. You have quite a treasure there.”

     “It’s not mine,” Lindsey said. “I found it under my seat.” Henry glanced between them clearly impatient for them to depart. Lindsey held the tote bag out to him. “Do you have a lost and found for the conference?”
     “Yes, of course. You can check with the registration staff,” he said. “I’m sure they have one set up right there by the main doors.”

     He began to walk, ushering them like a flock of ducks across a busy road.

     “I’ve only taken a quick glance at the book and I’d need more time to be certain, but I think that book is very valuable, as in tens of thousands of dollars,” Brooklyn said. “Potentially even more than that.”

     Henry stopped ushering. “Excuse me?”

     Brooklyn nodded. “First edition, excellent condition, and inscribed by the author to a famous movie director? We’re talking big money.”

     “And probably a murder,” Derek muttered under his breath. “In fact, I think we need to go so you don’t get involved in yet another life threatening situation.”

     “Me?” Brooklyn put her hand on her chest, the picture of innocence.

     “Sound advice,” Sully said. He and Derek exchanged a look of complete understanding. “We should go to.”

     “But the book,” Lindsey and Brooklyn protested together.

I had so much fun writing Kate's characters into the mystery, although I did tease her and tell her I was going to kill them off - LOL!!! I know, I'm a terrible friend. Also, I would never. I love Brooklyn and Derek!

So, how about it, Reds and Readers, do you enjoy it when characters from one series pop up in another? 

Books as Wish Fulfillment by Kate Carlisle, author of The Little Black Book

Jenn McKinlay: She's here! She's here! My amazing plot group buddy and partner in all manner of shenanigans is here to share the latest on her upcoming release The Little Black Book (which is FANTASTIC)!!! Yay! Everyone, please welcome the amazing Kate Carlisle!

Kate Carlisle is the New York Times bestselling author of two ongoing series: the Bibliophile Mysteries featuring San Francisco bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright, whose rare book restoration skills uncover old secrets, treachery and murder; and the Fixer-Upper Mysteries (as seen on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries), featuring Shannon Hammer, a home contractor who discovers not only skeletons in her neighbors' closets, but murder victims, too.

Kate: My husband and I love to travel. I’ll confess that the freedom to travel was a big part of why I wanted to be a writer. (And the tax write-off for research trips didn’t hurt!)

Right about the time the pandemic hit in March 2020, I was starting to work on the book that would become Little Black Book. Like so many other people, we’d had to cancel a trip, and planning future trips felt impossible with so many unknowns. I think that’s why I wanted this story to be an adventure, even more so than usual. I wanted to get away from COVID, to get out of my mind, out of my house, out of my life.

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Writing Little Black Bookwas my escape, and I hope reading it will be an escape for you. As bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright and her British security expert Derek Stone follow the clues discovered in a first edition of Daphne du Maurier’s classic Rebecca,the action takes them from San Francisco to the wine country commune where Brooklyn grew up and all the way to a castle on the shores of Loch Ness.

 

In essence, there are four settings in Little Black Book to take you out of your mind, house, and life: San Francisco, Dharma, a luxurious private jet, and Scotland. As a bonus, I’ve included one recipe from each of the four locales at the back of the book, plus a fifth recipe to tie them all together. I’ve included one of the recipes below to whet your appetite, but first. . . 

 

ABOUT LITTLE BLACK BOOK 

San Francisco book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright is on the case when a rare edition of Rebecca leads to murder in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling Bibliophile Mystery series.

Brooklyn and her hunky husband, security expert Derek Stone, have just returned from a delightful trip to Dharma, where the construction of their new home away from home is well underway, when a little black book arrives in the mail from Scotland. The book is a rare British first edition of Rebecca, and there’s no return address on the package. The day after the book arrives, Claire Quinn shows up at Brooklyn and Derek’s home. Brooklyn met Claire when the two women worked as expert appraisers on the television show This Old Attic. Brooklyn appraised books on the show and Claire’s expertise was in antique British weaponry, but they bonded over their shared love of gothic novels.

Claire reveals that during a recent trip to Scotland she discovered her beloved aunt was missing and that her home had been ransacked. Among her aunt’s belongings, Claire found the receipt for the package that wound up with Brooklyn and Derek. Claire believes both her own life and her aunt’s are in danger and worries that some complications from her past are coming back to haunt her.

But just as Brooklyn and Derek begin to investigate, a man who Claire thinks was following her is found murdered, stabbed with a priceless jeweled dagger. With a death on their doorstep, Brooklyn and Derek page through the little black book where they discover clues that will take them to the shadows of a medieval Scottish castle on the shores of Loch Ness. Under the watchful gaze of a mysterious laird and the irascible villagers who are suspicious of the strangers in their midst, Brooklyn and Derek must decode the secrets in Rebecca to keep their friend’s past from destroying their future....

Savory Cheese Scones

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp garlic salt

2 Tbsp sugar

8 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 egg

1-3 Tbsp cold milk, divided

2 oz sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1/8-inch pieces

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided

2 Tbsp fresh chives

Whisk or sift together the flour through sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt and egg, then put in the fridge until you're ready for it.

Cut the butter pieces into the flour mixture until it resembled wet sand. Stir in the cold yogurt/egg mixture. The dough is meant to be crumbly, but if it won't come together at all, sprinkle with one tablespoon of cold milk and stir again. If it still won't come together, sprinkle with one more tablespoon of cold milk. Fold in half the grated Parmesan, all of the cheddar and all of the chives. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball of dough, and then into a round disk, about 3/4-inch thick by 9 inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Cut the disk into 12 wedges. Put 1 Tbsp cold milk in a small dish and brush top of each scone with milk. The sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake about two inches apart until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Do you love to travel? What dream trip would you like to take, if money were no object? 

Kate Carlisle

Please welcome Kate Carlisle, author of the New York Times bestselling Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring book expert Brooklyn Wainwright. She's the winner of the Golden Heart and Daphne du Maurier awards, and she spent twenty years in television production as an assistant director in game and variety shows, including The Gong Show and Solid Gold. She also has sung, acted and spent a year in law school. Today she blogs for us today about Scotland and her roots.

Finding Family

From early childhood, I’ve had a deep fascination for Scotland. I think it started in elementary school when I worked on a genealogy project. Like most Americans, my DNA comes from many countries, but I chose my Scottish ancestors as the ones with whom I most identified. My mother’s last name was Campbell, and you can’t turn a corner in Scotland without running into a Campbell or two. (Especially true when you’re not used to driving on the left side of the road!)

What allure did Scotland hold for me? I grew up in California, where “new” was synonymous with “improved,” and the only castle I’d ever seen in real life was at Disneyland. In California, a fifty-year-old building was considered old. But my people live in a place where history has visceral meaning. The past is the present, as they walk the ground where our forebears fought fierce battles, raised children, fell in love, and cursed their enemies. Traditions are clung to fiercely in a land carved out of the rocky countryside with bare and bloodied hands.

I was in my mid-twenties the first time I visited Scotland, and my love for the country was cemented immedi

ately and forever. In my heart, Scotland is my homeland. With its brooding beauty, Scotland spoke to something inside of me right from the start.

The people spoke to me, too…not that I could understand what they said! They are the warmest and friendliest people ever, but I think they’re also a little suspicious. (And who wouldn’t be, after the wars they’ve been through?) I’m convinced they exaggerate their accents when meeting tourists, as a test of our fortitude. Scots are a hearty lot, and they have no patience for namby-pambies who aren’t even resourceful enough to figure out what the hell they’re saying. No, if you ever travel to Scotland, just know that you must face the lingual challenge with determination.

When I began to write the Bibliophile Mysteries series, I knew that at least one of the books would have to be set in Edinburgh, my favorite city in the world. In If Books Could Kill, which was released this month, antique book expert Brooklyn Wainwright is a guest of honor at the Edinburgh Book Fair. A former lover asks her to protect what could well be a never before seen book of poems by Robert Burns. If authentic, the secrets revealed in this book will ignite a scandal of international proportions, a scandal that someone is willing to stop at any cost, even murder.

Edinburgh is the best mix of old and new. (And by “old,” I don’t mean fifty years old!) The modern city is built right on top of the ancient city. I was able to walk down dark and narrow steps and touch the very walls that my ancestors built.

After my travels, I feel even more connected to my Scottish heritage. It’s no wonder, really. My maiden name is Beaver, so you can imagine the teasing I got all through school. My dad (who was a regular laugh riot, let me tell you) always claimed we were Native American, named after Chief Shooting Beaver – hence the appeal of my mother’s side of the family!

Carlisle is a Scottish name. (Some say English, but I’m sticking with Scottish. Carlisle, England is right on the border of Scotland, and I think the town fathers named it such in an effort to be annexed.) You can see my coat of arms at http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.c/qx/carlisle-coat-arms.htm. The Carlisle motto is “with humility.” What they don’t tell you is that humility is a necessity for a clan who keeps tripping over our own feet!

What nationality is your last name? What does it mean? What do you wish it meant? (Go ahead, make up some fun alternate meanings for your name.) What do you think your family motto should be? Rather than “with humility,” I sometimes think mine should’ve been "with fries."

Jan: Thanks Kate!! And everyone please come back tomorrow when I take on the heavy topic of euthanasia. Poinsetta-euthanasia, that is.