strange and random happenstance

Bookstore: The Poisoned Pen Bookstore

Location: Scottsdale, Arizona

The Official Patter: "The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, founded in 1989 by Barbara G. Peters, is an independent bookstore specializing in fiction. Discover with us current and classic works of mystery, thrillers, historical and literary fiction, and literature of the American Southwest, much of it offered in Autographed First Editions and imports. Located in Old Town Scottsdale’s Art District, The Pen is celebrated for its schedule of author and literary events and its global outreach through webcasts and worldwide shipping. The Poisoned Pen hosted the Left Coast Crime Conference in 1995 and most years hosts a themed mystery conference of its own in Scottsdale."

Why I Love Them: I actually first learned about The Poisoned Pen, not for their bookstore, but for their publishing imprint, Poisoned Pen Press. They are literally "one of the largest publishers of hardcover mysteries in the world." All my Phryne Fisher books have that memorable pen nib logo on the spine. They are also champions of re-publishing long-lost mystery classics with gorgeous covers worthy of old British Tube and Train advertising. And as for learning about their bookstore? Well, if you follow historical fiction authors or mystery authors it won't be long until you hear about The Poisoned Pen. It literally seems that on each book tour this store, more than anywhere else, is the must stop spot. 

Best Buy: With so many historical fiction authors swinging through their doors it should be no surprise that many of my Lauren Willig signed first editions came from them. Thus it was a little hard to choose a favorite, because how can you choose your favorite child? But I did try, and at the moment my best buy is the sixth Pink Carnation book, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily. Maybe I chose it because the heat of India reminds me of the heat of Arizona? Who knows, I'm a fickle creature. But I have to warn you that if you plan to order from them I have found them not to be the most organized of stores. I think because they host so many events with so many authors and guests in attendance their customer service with regards to those orders placed online aren't given the priority they deserve. Yes, I do think that the customer who shows up in the store deserves the most service, because there is nothing ruder than bothering to show up and having the staff give priority to phone calls... it's just that they need to find some kind of happy medium. I just have this feeling whenever I have dealt with them that they have too much on their plate and I'll be lucky if I get what I ordered. Though interestingly enough the one major problem I had with a book I got from them wasn't their fault at all. I had ordered a copy of Lauren's eleventh Pink Carnation book, The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla, and thought when it arrived it looked shorter than her other books. Well, that was because it was somehow missing a hundred pages! I almost wish I had kept this oddity... but even if I had it still wouldn't have been my best buy...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Arizona, Lauren Willig, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Poisoned Pen Press, Support Your Brick and Mortar, The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla, The Poisoned Pen Bookstore

Flying Too High (Phryne Fisher Book 2) by Kerry Greenwood
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: 1990
Format: Hardcover, 245 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Something is in the air and it seems to be effecting local pilots associated with The Sky-High Flying School. Bill McNaughton has been arrested for the murder of his father, William, and Henry Maldon's daughter Candida has been kidnapped. In an odd twist of fate, Phryne Fisher was called in to prevent the murder of William McNaughton, Bill's father... though sometimes things don't go to plan. Looking into William's death she realizes that he was a horrid man who abused both his wife and his daughter and, in a just world, his killer could get away with it. Sadly though, in order to save Bill, she must figure out what really did happen, because though he deserved to die, Bill is innocent, not matter what the local police think.

Then there's Candida. Plucked off the street with her bag of sweets falling into the gutter. Candida's father recently won some money in the lottery, money that is now gone thanks to buying a new home and purchasing a plane for the flying school. Though the kidnappers don't know that he is skint. Believing in wealth, they put up with Candida and her demanding ways, she did vomit quite a lot on one of the culprits. Because of helping Bill, Henry Maldon risks calling Phryne for help. She's not the police so he's not going against what the kidnappers said. Phryne knows that they have to act swiftly and comes up with quite a daring and dangerous rescue plan. Here's hoping she can pull it off and get justice for all who deserve it.

Yet again I was struck by how much I just loved this book with it's perfect balancing of the fun and frivolous with the dark and disturbed. There's something so much more that you get that isn't in the television series, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, though I dare say, the series is lovely in it's own rights. Flying Too High is not afraid to have sympathetic bad guys and unlikable good guys. There's a non-traditional feel to the narrative that makes it fresh and original. All this though comes through Phryne. It's her unique views on the world that inspire this non-traditional feel. She has interesting notions of justice which she carries out. Just because someone has been forced into a life of crime doesn't mean they are a bad person. If need be, she will be fluid with the truth if it will help that person out. Likewise, the kidnapping, which is a trope that everyone falls victim to, was made more interesting and original by the fact that Candida handled her situation in a more rational and thoughtful manner and was surrounded by criminals that had more depth, motive, and originality then your random thug. This also led to a very interesting solution cooked up by Phryne. Instead of either a) going to the police against the kidnappers wishes or b) bungling the counter plan that isn't police approved or sanctioned, she goes with c) a plan that works brilliantly.

Also, for some reason, this book really made me think more of the victim of a crime. Here I'm talking about the murder of William McNaughton. At the beginning when his wife is pleading to have his life saved, you think that he's probably a good, upstanding citizen, whose wife loves him dearly and would do anything to save him. You think of him as the good man in a bad situation. Of course, in short order your views are rapidly changing, doing a complete 180. Which brings me to my thought of the day. Why meet out justice for the bad guys? I mean, yes, it's what is legally and morally right, solve the crime no matter who the victim was... but this is fiction. Which led me to another thought. How many times have I sat around watching a murder mystery and been rooting for someone to die? Take Midsomer Murders, I often root for the death and then the more death and more death, but in the end, the killer is just as guilty and evil as the victim. Here, finding out after the death of the man's rotten soul, well, I just wanted the killer to get away. I'm not sure if this is because, like Phryne, I found out after the fact of him being evil, or because of some weird notions I have from watching one too many episodes of Midsomer Murders that if you die you deserve it. Whichever way you look at it, it made me think and made me that much more absorbed in the book.

Now, even though I have for the purposes of my Golden Summer finished reading Phryne, I have a feeling I won't be letting her rest much longer on my shelves. There's just something so compelling in these books, something that I just didn't expect, that makes me want to read more and more of them, thankfully I have quite a few! As it says on the back cover "Imagine Emma Peel as a flapper, and you have Phryne Fisher." While I think Phryne deserves better then comparisons, this is an apt one. She has the same physicality, the same sense of justice, the same remarkable wardrobe. Also the same awesome house. I didn't mention her new house yet did I? She literally bought a house whose address is 221 and then added the "B" because she thought it would be fun on the business cards. That and it's a gorgeous townhouse, with a floor all for Dot AND the funniest servants in Mr and Mrs Butler that one could hope for. I wish I could be invited round for tea just once... but then I'd end up solving crimes and hanging out with Bert and Cec... wait... I don't really see a downside to this plan... it must be put into action now!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Australia, Emma Peel, Flying Too High, Golden Summer, Kerry Greenwood, Kidnapping, Midsomer Murders, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Phryne Fisher

Cocaine Blues (Phyrne Fisher Book 1) by Kerry Greenwood
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: 1989
Format: Hardcover, 175 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Phryne Fisher is a little bored in England. One more tedious yet perfectly prepared dinner party and she might lose it. Fast cars, aeroplanes, dancing lessons by gigolos only go so far as to fill the void. The night Bobby tried to make off with the Ambassador's wife's jewels, which Phryne quickly stopped, she is given an interesting alternative to her current life. The Colonel is worried about his daughter Lydia. Lydia has taken herself with her new husband off to Australia and her parents are convinced something is wrong. Phryne has always played with the idea that one day she would return to Australia. Having been raised out of the gutter and spirited away to wealth in England was well and good, but Australia is still her true home. She agrees to help the Colonel, if she is allowed to do it her way, with her money, and in her own time.

On the way to Melbourne, she befriends a female Scotch doctor, Dr MacMillan, and once she disembarks, Phryne picks up associates and friends left and right like they are strays. From the cab drivers, Bert and Cec, to her new maid Dot, who she stopped from committing a heinous crime, to the luscious Russian dancer Sasha, they soon all become her confidantes. Phyrne plans on approaching Lydia obliquely and naturally in a social setting so that she will never guess that Phyrne was sent by Lydia's parents. To do this Phyrne starts to mingle in society, a society she notices that has several flaws. One being a rather robust trade in cocaine, the other being an abortionist who rapes his patients. Seeing as by taking the Colonel's job she has ostensibly set herself up as a detective, Phryne figures she might as well solve these cases too. She doesn't expect to be shot at, set up, sapphically seduced, detained, and threatened. At least this is far more interesting then England.

Back in 2011 someone recommended the Phryne Fisher books to me. I really can't for the life of me remember who it was, but I have a feeling that it was because of my love of Daisy Dalyrymple and Amelia Peabody and my having just read The Forgotten Garden by fellow Aussie writer, Kate Morton, that this mysterious someone said "read this now." I obligingly bought Cocaine Blues and then promptly forgot to read it as it worked it's way into the morass of my reading pile. About a year after that forgotten purchase I was down in Illinois for a book signing with Lauren Willig and Tasha Alexander and afterwards I headed out to the local bookstore, because that's what I do. If I have an event to go to, I immediately find all the bookstores in the vicinity and try to visit as many as possible. This happened to be a Half Price Books Store. I hadn't been to this branch in, oh, at least a year, which is a long time for me. In the mystery section there was a large display of about eight of Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher books. I immediately remembered that I had been recommended to read Kerry Greenwood and promptly bought all of them, not realizing I was re-buying Cocaine Blues, but on a side note, a hardcover edition when I only had a paperback, so score. This was one of those days I remember as a windfall bookstore day of awesomeness! Who would sell these books? Oh, what do I care, their lose is my gain.

Flash forward yet another year and I haven't started reading them yet. Let's be honest, I have so many books I shouldn't be allowed to buy anymore and just be forced to read what I own... I probably would never have to buy another book, want, yes, need, no... ok, yes, need, yes, I have an addiction, I need them! Anyway, back to my story. So anyway, I'm a huge fan of Acorn Media, they release all the best British shows on DVD, I mean seriously, look at all the best releases and they are from Acorn. Anyway, in their "new and exclusive" section this past January they had a new series that had aired in 2012 called Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. As it so happened I was reading the description and I realized that this show was based on all those lovely Kerry Greenwood books I had languishing. I rarely buy the DVDs direct from Acorn, usually waiting the extra months till they are no longer "exclusive" and are therefore about $20-40 cheaper, but it being my mom's birthday (handy right?) I figured I'd splurge and get her the DVD set and therefore get to watch the show. Now I rarely, and I mean rarely, will watch a show before reading the book, but my mom insisted. I instantly fell in love with the show, and, I must say, the clothes. Therefore, going to pick up the first book I was a little hesitant. I mean, the show was fresh in my mind and now I was worried it would color the book! Thankfully all my fears were unjustified.

Cocaine Blues has the bare bones of what the show is, but it's so much more. And you know what? While I like the show, the book has more interest and depth... but then again, it's hard to fit a truly ripping mystery into a rather small time slot. So if your love of the series has been putting you off picking up the series, hesitate no longer! The book is sexy and a little bit raunchy and has a younger more vibrant feel. There is also a rawness to the book that makes it seem more real then other books set in the 20s. Instead of a golden aura of nostalgia that envelopes a lot of this type of fiction, there was an immediate realness. The description of what the evil abortionist, Butcher George did, made the horror that much more real then if it had been glossed over. Now of course I have too too vivid ideas of getting septicemia and loosing my womb... but by forging this connection to me and my insides, wow, it packed a punch. Of all the other books I've read this summer, I would say that Kerry Greenwood's style most reminds me of Dashiell Hammett and Red Harvest. There's a noir sensibility that I just adored. Add to that that Bert has a tendency to say "yair" which just might replace my love of saying "Hodor" and it's a series that I don't think will be languishing in my "to be read" pile much longer.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amelia Peabody, Australia, Cocaine Blues, Daisy Dalrymple, Dashiell Hammett, Golden Summer, Hodor, Kate Morton, Kerry Greenwood, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Phryne Fisher, Red Harvest

"I write Golden Age Detective stories because they have a lovely, complex puzzle, they keep gore to a minimum, they have made the sort of strict form, as strict as a sonnet, but inside which the poet can say anything she wants. They are an intoxicating combination of severe rules and broad, expansive landscapes, exactly fitted to my 'post-impressionist' form of writing." - Kerry Greenwood

Kerry Greenwood is getting far more exposure these days with the success of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, based on her Phryne Fisher books, which has finally been shown stateside, with the second series about to start in Australia. A second series where Kerry is going to have a cameo! Born in Australia, she has had many occupations having worked as a folk singer, factory hand, director, producer, translator, costume-maker, cook and is currently a solicitor. When she is not writing, she works as a locum solicitor for the Victorian Legal Aid. Yet her writing is what has garnered her international attention with awards flying in left and right. She seems to also possess my secret superpower, which is she can detect second-hand bookshops from blocks away and is often found within them, which has led to her being the unpaid curator of seven thousand books. She is also a cat person, as am I, so I think we should totally hang out and I can teach her how to knit. So far Kerry has written nineteen Phryne Fisher books with her signature wit coupled with the darker deeds of man, and I look forward to reading every single one. I am pleased to welcome Kerry Greenwood to my Golden Summer, her and Phryne are great additions to a great tradition.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Australia, Books, Cats, Golden Age of Detection, Golden Summer, Kerry Greenwood, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Phryne Fisher, Solicitor