Articles tagged "Louise Penny"

Booklist's 2013 Best Crime Novels

It's #MysteryMonth over at Booklist and one of the things I love about that is getting to post a "year's best" list in summer—December and January get all the round-up love.

And if you're thinking, Hold up! There's a reason those round-ups are in December! Are these books from last year? This year? Next year?! Don't you fret, they've cleared that up for us: "As always, both our best crime novel lists draw from crime fiction reviewed in Booklist since the last Mystery Showcase issue"

In Top 10 Crime Fiction:

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY by Louise Penny

"Roiling human passion set against the sublime serenity of the chants produces a melody of uncommon complexity and beauty."

In Best Crime Fiction Debuts:

A GOOD DEATH by Christopher R. Cox

"[Cox] channels Conrad, Kipling, and Francis Ford Coppola. An insightful, transcendent adventure."

See Booklist's full list on "The Year’s Best Crime Novels: 2013."

Reviews and Publicity

Monday Fun Day! (5/6/2013 Edition)

Hellooooo Monday! It's yet another brand new week and we're inching ever closer to summer skies. To kick off your week right we rounded up a few exciting viewables; take a look.

- Watch Louise Penny accept the 2013 Agatha Award for Best Novel (yet again!) this time for THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY and Catriona McPherson accept the 2013 Agatha Award for Best Historical for DANDY GILVER AND AN UNSUITABLE DAY FOR MURDER:

Louise kindly thanked her editor Hope Dellon, her publicist Sarah Melnyk, and publisher Andrew Martin. In describing her books she said,

"At the heart of the nugget they're about belonging, they're about my own personal quest for belonging, that for all of my life I've felt—for much of my life I've felt like I was on an island near the mainland [...] for me to find my community is deeply meaningful and what great company to be in."

Catriona also thanked all of the excellent people at Minotaur Books, her editor Marcia Markland, her fellow Macmillan author and winner of the Mary Higgins Clark Award Hank Fabulous Ryan, er, Hank Phillippi Ryan and everyone in the Flatiron building (that's us!).

We loved getting the chance to talk about these two incredible books and if you didn't heed our praises when they came out, now's the time!

See all of the Agatha winners at MaliceDomestic.org.

- Speaking of Mysteries, if you missed the "Thrilling Mysteries" Booklist webinar you can now access the archived webinar (the link is available on our titles list post).

- And finally, the greatest mystery of all: what exactly is this cat trying to pull? (Thanks, Ivy!)

@taliasherer @macmillanlib These tweeps in your repertoire? // RT @emrgencykittens: twitter.com/EmrgencyKitten…
— Ivy B (@Ivy_B) May 2, 2013

Reviews and Publicity

Monday Fun Day! (2/11/2013 Edition)

Happy Monday, librarians!

Apologies for the unexpected radio silence after Wednesday of last week; I fell victim to the seasonal cold monster. I've triumphantly defeated the beast and returned only slightly sniffly to kick off the week with some great news.

- Continuing the exciting award nomination news from last week, we got the list of Macmillan books nominated for the 2012 Agatha Awards:

Nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Novel of 2012:

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY
by Louise Penny
A FATAL WINTER
by G.M. Malliet
THE OTHER WOMAN
by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel of 2012:

DANDY GILVER AND AN UNSUITABLE DAY FOR A MURDER
by Catriona McPherson

Winners will be announced at the 2012 Agatha Awards banquet on May 4th, 2013, during Malice Domestic 25. See the full list of Agatha nominees here.

- A delightful review of THE MARLOW PAPERS is currently traveling all across the U.S. in American Airline's American Way magazine!

"With the screw-tightening verve of a great thriller and the romantic pull of Renaissance poetry, the novel—which purports that Marlowe is the true author of William Shakespeare’s legendary oeuvre—is a gripping, lyrical, most unlikely page-turner."

Read the super quick review here.

- Flavorwire suckered us in with another one of their bookish listicles, "The Best Fictional Libraries in Pop Culture."

- And finally, a couple of snuggly red pandas romping around in the snow!!

Reviews and Publicity

Starred Reviews for A Fatal Winter

Agatha Award-winning author G.M. Malliet is getting great reviews for her charming second Max Tudor cozy, A FATAL WINTER!

Max Tudor—Anglican priest, former MI5 agent, and village heartthrob—is investigating two deaths at Chedrow Castle. But his growing attraction to Awena Owen complicates his case, as does the recent arrival at Chedrow Castle of a raucous group of long-lost, greedy relatives, any one of whom has a motive for murder...

"Agatha Christie fans will relish Malliet’s delicious second Max Tudor novel. [...] Clever deduction and a logical fair-play solution are enhanced by the author’s wry humor." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"This series shines for its wit, well-drawn characters, pitch-perfect dialog, and intricately structured puzzle. [...] For Louse Penny fans, of course, but also for those who crave a well-done Golden Age-style mystery." -Library Journal (starred review)

Reviews and Publicity

Once Again Louise Penny Wins the Anthony Award for Best Novel!

This past weekend at Bouchercon, Louise Penny was awarded the Anthony Award for Best Novel for the third year in a row with another exquisite Chief Inspector Gamache novel, A TRICK OF THE LIGHT! In 2011 she won for BURY YOUR DEAD and in 2010 she won for THE BRUTAL TELLING.

If you haven't joined the Penny party, it's about time! Robin Nesbitt of the Columbus Metropolitan Library admitted on the library's blog that she only just picked up the first book in the series and very much enjoyed it!

"This is a great read for fans of Agatha Christie. Great characters, great writing, and good plot - if you haven't read this series yet, give it a try."

A word to new readers: the character and relationship development in these books is beautifully done, but they are all stand-alone mysteries so start with which ever book you can get your hands on!

See the rest of the Anthony Award winners here.

Reviews and Publicity

Starred Reviews for The Beautiful Mystery

As the last note of the chant escaped the Blessed Chapel a great silence fell, and with it came an even greater disquiet.

The silence stretched on. And on.

These were men used to silence, but this seemed extreme, even to them.

So begins THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY, the eighth entry in Louise Penny's award-winning and New York Times bestselling Chief Inspector Gamache series.

This mystery brings Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, deep in the wilderness of Quebec. Between growing vegetables, tending chickens, making chocolate and singing, one of the monks planned and committed a violent murder.

"Traditional mystery fans can look forward to a captivating whodunit plot, a clever fair-play clue concealed in plain view, and the deft use of humor to lighten the story’s dark patches. On a deeper level, the crime provides a means for Penny’s unusually empathic, all-too-fallible lead to unearth truths about human passions and weaknesses while avoiding simple answers." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"This heart-rending tale is a marvelous addition to Penny’s acclaimed series. Fans won’t be disappointed." -Library Journal (starred review)
"There is always something mammoth roiling away beneath the surface of Penny’s novels—but this time the roiling is set against the serenity of the chanting, producing a melody of uncommon complexity and beauty." -Booklist (starred review)

Readers' Advisory librarians take note, Kirkus Reviews said, "The most illuminating analogies are not to other contemporary detective fiction but to THE NAME OF THE ROSE and MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL."

Reviews and Publicity

The Ultimate #BookBattle2 Webinar Title List

Today at 2pm Talia and Chris (Sterling) are going head-to-head in a reprise of their Oscar-nominated book buzz performance from ALA Annual and you don't want to miss it this time around. Sign up now!

UPDATE: This event is now over. The archived Booklist webinar will be available here soon!

Here's a sneak peek at the books that Talia will be talking about this afternoon (and see her full slide deck here!). WARNING: Major spoilers below!

50 SHADES OF GREY Read-Alikes:

WILD CARD by Lora Leigh
BLUSH by Opal Carew
PANIC SNAP by Laura Reese
TOPPING FROM BELOW by Laura Reese

Adult Titles:

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY by Louise Penny
A KILLING IN THE HILLS by Julia Keller
ROGUE by Mark Sullivan
YOUNG PHILBY by Robert Littell
CHINESE WHISKERS by Pallavi Aiyar
PAW PRINTS IN THE MOONLIGHT by Denis O'Connor
MEMOIRS OF AN IMAGINARY FRIEND by Matthew Dicks
THE FORGETTING TREE by Tatjana Soli
THE ELEMENTALS by Francesca Lia Block
GRACE GROWS by Shelle Sumners
HOW I CAME TO SPARKLE AGAIN by Kaya McLaren
MR. PENUMBRA'S 24-HOUR BOOKSTORE by Robin Sloan
STORMDANCER by Jay Kristoff
THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SPIDERS by David Wong
SHAKESPEARE'S TREMOR AND ORWELL'S COUGH by John J. Ross, M.D.
WE KILLED by Yael Kohen

Teen Titles:

WAKE and LULLABY by Amanda Hocking
BENEATH THE GLITTER by Elle & Blair Fowler
ECHO by Alyson Noel
DEATH AND THE GIRL NEXT DOOR by Darynda Jones
WHISPERS AT MOONRISE by C.C. Hunter
THIS IS NOT A TEST by Courtney Summers
SPARK by Amy Kathleen Ryan
GLITCH by Heather Anastasiu
MIDNIGHT CITY by J. Barton Mitchell
THE HUNT by Andrew Fukuda

And, of course...

PIPPI MOVES IN! by Astrid Lindgren

Reviews and Publicity

Boston Book Buzz: For Adults!

We posted the teen titles that Talia is talking up at the Boston Book Buzz (see previous post) and now here are the Adult titles (see her slides here)!

THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY by Louise Penny

A FATAL WINTER by G.M. Malliet

A KILLING IN THE HILLS by Julia Keller

ROGUE by Mark Sullivan

SACRIFICE FLY by Tim O’Mara

MEMOIRS OF AN IMAGINARY FRIEND by Matthew Dicks

THE FORGETTING TREE by Tatjana Soli

HOW I CAME TO SPARKLE AGAIN by Kaya McLaren

THE ELEMENTALS by Francesca Lia Block

GRACE GROWS by Shelle Sumners

SHAKESPEARE'S TREMOR AND ORWELL'S COUGH by John J. Ross, M.D.

Reviews and Publicity

Our 2011 Agatha Award Nominees!

Malice Domestic has nominated quite a few excellent traditional mysteries for the Agatha Awards this year. We are especially excited about all of the fantastic Minotaur titles!

Best Novel:

THE REAL MACAW
Donna Andrews (author of the 2002 Best Novel and the 1999 Best First Novel)

WICKED AUTUMN
G. M. Malliet (author of the 2008 Best First Novel)

A TRICK OF THE LIGHT
Louise Penny (author of the 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 Best Novel)

Best Historical Novel:

TROUBLED BONES
Jeri Westerson

The winners will be announced at the 2011 Agatha Awards banquet to be held on April 28, 2012. We'll have our fingers crossed until then!

Deep Thoughts

Monday Fun Day! (1/30/2012 Edition)

Well, well, well; if it isn't Monday. You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here again, Monday...

Only kidding! It's going to be a GREAT week, I can feel it in my bones (or maybe that's just the lingering post-Midwinter exhaustion). Either way, we've got a few fun tidbits to kick things off for you.

- Minotaur swept the 2012 Dilys Award nomination list boasting four out of the five nominated titles! The Minotaur nominees are:

WICKED AUTUMN by G.M. Malliet
TAG MAN by Archer Mayor
A TRICK OF THE LIGHT by Louise Penny
GHOST HERO by S.J. Rozan

See the full list of nominated titles here.

- I mentioned it last week, but I'm still tickled to see Talia and her librarian buddies pictured in Library Journal's recap of the RUSA awards ceremony. If you haven't seen it, take a look!

- Jonathan Galassi, president and publisher of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, was featured in The New York Times on Sunday. Read the article, "Contradictions of the Heart," now.

- We're loving blogger Tiffany Gibert's literary outfits. So far she's recreated the cover looks from SMUT by Alan Bennett and SKIPPY DIES by Paul Murray. I wonder what's next up her sleeve (or on it)!

And if you made it here from Unshelved, welcome! Feel free to poke around. We recommend our Books for Teens page and the About Us section. Also we would love it if you introduced yourself in the comments section.