15th Annual
Monday, May 3, 2010
with media sponsorship by WDUQ
Doors open at 4 pm
Program begins at 5 pm
This year's Festival of Mystery will take place on Monday May 3rd, our traditional first Monday in May.
We will return to the new quarters at the Greek Orthodox Church in Oakmont, 12 Washington St., about 5 blocks from the store. The Church hall gave us a much more comfortable space for our many authors and their fans at last year's Festival and this year's promises to be just as big.
Keep checking this page for updates as we begin to assemble the program.
If you are an author who would like to attend, please Contact Us.
Tickets to the Festival are available in advance for $8, at the door for $9.
You can purchase tickets online. For multiple ticket purchases you can adjust the quantity in the shopping cart before you check out.
 Festival Ticket, $8
A complete bibliography of books by the Festival authors is available to download and print
Also available: four page Festival Guide.
Donna Andrews set the tone for her charming and humorous Meg Langslow series by winning the Agatha, Anthony, the Barry and the Romanic Times awards for the debut, Murder with Peacocks. For the Festival, Donna will be coming with the eleventh, Swan for the Money, an Agatha nominee .
Lorna Barrett is the pen name of author Lorraine Bartlett. She honed her characterization and plotting skills as a frequent writer for romance magazines. Murder Is Binding is the first in the Booktown Mystery series and it introduces small-town mystery bookstore owner Tricia Miles.The third, Bookplate Special, was published last year. She also writes the Jeff Resnick paranormal/psychological suspense series as L.L. Bartlett. The second book in the series is Dead in Red.
Carrie Bebris is an award-winning author best known for the Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery series, a collection of novels set in Regency England and inspired by Jane Austen’s beloved characters and novels with a dash of gothic atmosphere. She holds a master's degree in English literature and is a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. A Wisconsin native, she now resides in Ohio.
Cordelia Biddle is well known to MLB fans as half of the husband and wife team behind Nero Blanc and the crossword puzzle mysteries featuring Roscoe Polycrates. Two years ago, under her own name, Cordelia launched a splendid new historical mystery series featuring young Philadelphia heiress Martha Beale who investigates her own father's mysterious death in The Conjurer, set in 1842. A wealth of carefully researched detail, some based on Cordelia's own family history, made this series debut a treat for fans of historical mystery. The third in the series, Without Fear, was published in January.
New York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle spent twenty years working in television production before deciding to go to law school, where she turned to writing fiction as a lawful way to kill off her evil professors. She eventually left law school but the urge to write has never stopped. Kate makes her home by the beach in Southern California.
Elizabeth Lynn Casey is the national bestselling author of the new Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series with Berkley Prime Crime. Sew Deadly kicked off the series in August. Death Threads, the second book in the series, debuts in May just in time for the Festival. In addition to her work as a mystery writer, Elizabeth also writes romance under the name Laura Bradford. She lives in New York state with her family.
Before becoming a full-time mystery writer, Sheila Connolly taught art history, structured and marketed municipal bonds for major cities, worked as a staff member on two statewide political campaigns, and served as a fundraiser for several non-profit organizations. She also managed her own consulting company providing genealogical research services. Her Glassblowing Mystery Series, written as Sarah Atwell, debuted with Through a Glass, Deadly, an Agatha nominee, followed by Pane of Death, and Snake in the Glass. Her Orchard Mystery Series opened with One Bad Apple, followed by Rotten to the Core. The third, Red Delicious Death, was published in March. Her new Museum Mystery Series will debut in October 2010 with Fundraising the Dead.
Ellen Crosby launched her mystery writing career after working as a free-lance journalist, most recently with The Washington Post. After researching the wine-making business, she put her knowledge to excellent use in her Virginia wine country series which includes The Merlot Murders and The Chardonnay Charade. At the Festival you can pick up the fourth in the series, The Riesling Retribution.
Shirley Damsgaard will arrive at the Festival with the seventh in her Ophelia Jensen series, The Seventh Witch. Her Agatha Nominated debut Witch Way to Murder kicked off this series with a paranormal twist that pairs librarian Ophelia with her Aunt Abby with entertaining results.
Casey Daniels, it can now be revealed, is also Miranda Bliss. As Casey, she once applied for a job as a tour guide at a historic cemetery. She didn't get the job, but she did get the idea for the Pepper Martin Mystery Series about a cemetery tour guide who finds she can communicate with the permanent residents. The fifth in the series, Dead Man Talking, came out earlier this year.
As Miranda Bliss, she is the author of five books that feature best friends Annie and Eve who give cooking classes. Most recent is Murder Has a Sweet Tooth.
Casey and Miranda learned to love mysteries early thanks to her dad, a Cleveland Police detective, who enjoyed Sherlock Holmes stories and spent his days off searching for stolen cars--with Casey along for the ride. Casey has a degree in English and a background in journalism and teaching. Casey lives in northeast Ohio.
Author of the Southern Beauty Shop mysteries, Lila Dare was born in Georgia and has lived in Alabama, Mississippi, and Virginia. Although she has never worked in a beauty shop, she frequents salons and likes to tell her stylist: “Surprise me.” Maybe that’s why she looks nervous in her photo.Lila comes to the Festival with her debut Tressed to Kill. She currently lives west of the Mississippi with her husband, two daughters and dog, and misses Southern cooking and friendliness, but not the humidity.
Bill Davis has lived in southwestern Pennsylvania nearly all of his life. After several years in the Aerospace Electronics field and a 30 year career in Industrial/Electrical at Allegheny Ludlum he has finally been able to pursue his lifelong interest in writing, publishing his first novel The Forever Man. Set in the small town of Smith Falls in Southwestern Pennsylvania it features Sheriff Clive Aliston who finds himself tracking a serial killer. The second Clive Aliston Novel, Tail of the Scorpion, continues the series and is now followed by the third, The Ticket Master, (Forever Man II) due for release in April 2010.
'Vicki Delany has been called “one of Canada's most promising new practitioners of the crime genre.” (Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune). Winter of Secrets is the third in a traditional police procedural series featuring Constable Molly Smith and set in the mountains of British Columbia. She is also the author of two novels of psychological suspense, Scare the Light Away and Burden of Memory. Last year Vicki launched a historial series set during the Klondike gold rush, the second, Gold Fever, will be published in March.
Hannah was born in England and moved to Los Angeles in 1993 to pursue a writing career. Along the road to publication she has served as an obituary reporter, private jet flight attendant and Hollywood story analyst. She began writing the Vicky Hill mysteries six years ago. Her third book, Expose! was published in December 2009. Hannah is a board member of the Los Angeles chapter of Sisters in Crime.
bio
New Jersey writer Irene Fleming's work has been described by Publishers Weekly as "delightful." The Edge of Ruin is the first in her series about the early days of silent film and the struggles of Emily Daggett Weiss to make it in the business, while dealing with the occasional corpse.
Beth Groundwater comes to the Festival with the second in her gift basket designer series, To Hell in a Handbasket. The first, A Real Basket Case, was nominated for the 2007 Best First Novel Agatha Award. Beth also writes the Rocky Mountain Adventure mystery series which will debut in March, 2011 with Deadly Currents. Her science fiction novella, The Epsilon Eridani Alternative, was published in December, 2009, and she has published eight short stories. Beth lives in Colorado and enjoys its many outdoor activities, including skiing and whitewater rafting.
Pittsburgh playwright and actor Kathryn Miller Haines is coming to the festival with When Winter Returns, the fourth in her WW II-set series featuring actress and would-be PI Rosie Winters.
Described in the Ottawa Citizen as “one of the best new voices in the mystery business”, RJ Harlick writes the Meg Harris mystery series set in the wilds of Quebec, where tensions amongst English Canadians, Quebecois and Algonquins invariably spark murder. Like her heroine Meg Harris, RJ loves nothing better than to roam the forests surrounding her own wilderness cabin, But unlike Meg, she doesn’t find a body at every twist and turn, although she certainly likes to put them in Meg’s way. The recently released fourth book in the series, Arctic Blue Death, takes Meg to Canada's far north in search of her father whose plane went missing over 30 years ago. Arctic Blue Death is not only a journey into Meg's past but it is also a journey into the land of the Inuit and the culture that has sustained them for thousands of years
Anthony and Agatha-nominated Rosemary Harris writes traditional mysteries that have been compared to Diane Mott Davidson's and Earlene Fowler's. In Dead Head, Rosemary's third novel, amateur sleuth Paula Holliday learns that a new friend is actually a fugitive who's been on the run for decades and she's hired to find out who outed the woman and who is still seeking revenge.The Big Dirt Nap and Pushing Up Daisies are now available in paperback.
L.C. Hayden’s fifth mystery, Why Casey Had to Die, was the Agatha Nominee for Best Novel and her previous release, What Others Know, was nominated for Left Coast Crime’s best mystery award. L.C. will be at the Festival with the second Harry Bronson book, When Death Intervenes.Hayden hosts Murder Must Air, the live talk show sponsored by Mystery Writers of America. Besides writing, Hayden enjoys drawing, reading, traveling, and scuba diving. In addition to her seven novels, Hayden has published over 400 pieces in various magazines.
Sue Ann Jaffarian is the author of the Odelia Grey mystery series which features a plus-sized, middle-aged paralegal as a humorous amateur sleuth. In addition to writing, she is a paralegal like her character. Sue Ann is active in Mystery Writers of America and the current president of the Los Angeles Chapter of Sisters In Crime, an international non-profit organization dedicated to promoting women in the mystery genre. The first book in the Odelia Grey mystery series, Too Big To Miss, has been optioned for TV. The fifth, Corpse on the Cob, was just published. Sue Ann lives in Los Angeles.
Laurie R. King lives in the hills above Monterey Bay in northern California. Her background includes such diverse interests as Old Testament theology and construction work, and she has been writing crime fiction since 1987. The winner of the Edgar, the Nero, the Macavity and the John Creasey Awards, she is the author of highly-praised stand-alone suspense novels and a contemporary mystery series featuring San Francisco Police detective Kate Martinelli, and the author of nine mysteries in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series, including the New York Times bestseller The Game and The Language of Bees.
Nancy Martin, author of nearly 50 popular fiction novels, departs from her bestselling Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series with the 2010 publication of Our Lady of Immaculate Deception, which features tough Pittsburgh girl Roxy Abruzzo. Nancy lives in Pittsburgh, serves on the board of Sisters in Crime and received the 2009 Romantic Times award for Lifetime Achievement for mystery writing.
Mary Jane will be coming to the Festival with the sixth in her Camilla McPhee series, Law and Disorder. Lawyers take cover! Closet Confidential, the fourth book featuring upstate New York professional organizer Charlotte Adams will be available from Mystery Lovers on July 6th. She is a lapsed librarian, a former mystery bookseller, and a past president of Crime Writers of Canada. Although she is a member of the Ladies Killing Circle, in reality, she has never bumped off anyone.
Judi McCoy has published fifteen romances. She teaches the Aspiring Author course each year at Romantic Times, and gives writing workshops across the country. Hounding the Pavement, released in March 2009 is the first book in her new romantic mystery series. All royalties from the book will be donated to Best Friends, the largest no-kill animal shelter in the U.S. Judi currently resides on Virginia's peaceful eastern shore. A retired women’s gymnastic judge, she raises orchids and continues to write the next book in her unique series. Judi will join us with the second book, Heir of the Dog.
Beverle Graves Myers made a mid-life career switch from psychiatry to fiction writing. An avid traveler and opera lover, she sets her Tito Amato mystery series in the musical world of 18th-century Venice. Her Deadly Mischief is fifth in the series. Bev's novels and short stories have earned nominations for the Macavity, Derringer, and Kentucky Literary awards. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky with husband, Lawrence.
Before his thrillers landed him on The New York Times Bestseller list, Kevin O'Brien was a railroad inspector, who wrote novels at night. His second novel, Only Son was optioned for film rights thanks to interest from Tom Hanks, and also featured in Readers Digest Select Editions alongside John Grisham’s The Partner. His first thriller, The Next to Die jumped up the bestseller charts. He’s been writing about murder and mayhem full-time ever since. His 2005 thriller, The Last Victimwon the Spotted Owl Award for Best Pacific Northwest Mystery. His last four thrillers—the most recent, Final Breath—have all been New York Times Bestsellers. His new thriller, Vicious, will make its debut at The Festival of Mystery. Kevin O’Brien lives in Seattle, loves Hitchcock movies and is hard at work on his twelfth novel.
Karen E. Olson won the Sara Ann Freed Memorial Award and is a Shamus Award and Gumshoe Award finalist. She writes the Annie Seymour and Tattoo Shop mystery series. Her second Tattoo Shop Mystery, Pretty in Ink, came out in March, and the third, Driven to Ink, will be out in September.
Diana Orgain holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University with a minor in acting. Diana’s plays have been produced at San Francisco State University, GreenHouse Productions, and PlayGround in San Francisco. She is the author of Bundle of Trouble and Motherhood Is Murder. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and their three children.
Alan Orloff is the author of the just-released debut mystery, Diamonds for the Dead. The first book in his new series, Killer Routine- A Last Laff Mystery, featuring Channing Hayes, a stand-up comic with a tragic past, will be released next year. A former engineer, marketing manager, and newsletter editor, he lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and two children.
Brad Parks’ first novel, Faces of the Gone, landed on several prominent critics’ lists as being among the top debuts of 2009 and was lauded by Library Journal as “the most hilariously funny and deadly serious mystery debut since Janet Evanovich's One for the Money." An escaped journalist, Brad spent a dozen years as a staff writer at The Washington Post and The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger. The Dartmouth College graduate is now a full time author living in Virginia with his wife and two young children.
Sandra Parshall returns to the Festival with Broken Places, third in her series featuring veterinarian Rachel Goddard. Her debut book, The Heat of the Moon, won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel, and was followed by Disturbing the Dead. Sandra lives in the Washington, DC, area with her journalist husband and two cats. She serves on the national board of Sisters in Crime.
Jason Pinter, a former book editor, is the bestselling author of five critically acclaimed Henry Parker thrillers, The Darkness, The Fury, The Stolen, The Guilty and The Mark, which was optioned to be a major motion picture. Jason has been nominated for the Thriller award, Shamus award, Barry award, Strand Critics award, Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award and CrimeSpree award and there are over one million copies of his books in print worldwide. He lives in New York City with his wife, Susan, and their dog, Wilson.
After surviving ten moves as a military spouse, Sara Rosett decided to put those experiences to good use as background for a mystery series. The latest release, Mint Juleps, Mayhem and Murder, has a Southern flare. The first book in the series, Moving is Murder, was a Reader’s Choice Award Nominee in 2007 at the Salt Lake County Library and received a Distinguished Honor Award from the Military Writers Society of America. Sara's essays have also appeared in Chicken Soup for the Military Wife's Soul. Until her next move, Sara resides in Florida with her family.
Hank Ryan has won 26 Emmy awards for investigative reporting—and the Agatha for her first mystery Prime Time. Her 2009 mystery Air Time (continuing her series starring smart and savvy reporter Charlotte McNally) was just nominated for the Agatha for Best Novel, and her short story “On the House” for Best Short Story. Library Journal says her brand new Drive Time puts Ryan “in a league with Lisa Scottoline.” Hank (who is on the air at Boston’s NBC affiliate) and her husband live in Newton, Massachusetts.
Deborah Sharp reported for USA Today for 20 years, before leaving the news behind to write fiction. Her ''Mace Bauer Mysteries,’’ set in her native Florida, are funny with a Southern-fried edge: Imagine Janet Evanovich, with some cousins named Bubba.
On the Today Show, Deborah chatted with Al Roker about spending a week in the saddle to research Mama Rides Shotgun (Midnight Ink, 2009). The series' third book, Mama Gets Hitched,’ comes out in July 2010.
Joanna Campbell Slan is the author of Paper, Scissors, Death, the first in a series featuring Kiki Lowenstein, an expert scrapbooker who plays amateur sleuth when her husband dies under suspicious circumstances. Paper, Scissors, Death has been called "an engaging cozy" with "an enjoyable mix of humor, suspense (and) a touch of romance." Photo, Snap, Shot, the third book in her Kiki Lowenstein mystery series, will be released just in time for the Festival.
Leann Sweeney is the author of five Yellow Rose Mysteries featuring adoption PI Abby Rose. She also writes a new series, the "Cats in Trouble Mysteries" with amateur sleuth Jillian Hart solving the cat problems in Mercy, South Carolina, problems that always seem to involve murder. The second, The Cat Professor and The Poison, will be out just in time for the Festival. Leann lives in Texas with her three inspiring cats, the ADHD labradoodle Rosie and her husband Mike.
Marcia Talley returns to Pittsburgh to sign copies of her eighth Hannah Ives mystery Without a Grave , just out in trade paper. Marcia's short stories appear in more than a dozen collections, including "Can You Hear Me Now?" from Two of the Deadliest: New Tales of Lust, Greed and Murder by Outstanding Women of Mystery edited by Elizabeth George. This Agatha and Anthony award-winning author divides her time between Annapolis, Maryland and living aboard an antique sailboat in the Bahamas.
Pittsburgh attorney turned novelist Heather Terrell joins us with her latest, splendid historical thriller, Brigid of Kildare. This tale of an early female bishop in the Irish Church and her conflicts with the orthodoxy of Rome makes for riveting reading. Heather, an attorney, lives with her husband and two children in Sewickley, Pennsylvania.
Elaine Viets continues her national bestselling series of dead-end jobs with Half-Price Homicide. Helen Hawthorne works at a designer consignment shop for this ninth novel. Helen finally marries -- after she deals with secondhand clothes and first-degree murder. Elaine, who really does work all these jobs, also has a second series featuring mystery shopper Josie Marcus. Latest is The Fashion Hound Murders. Elaine lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Wendy Lyn Watson writes deliciously funny cozy mysteries with a dollop of romance. Her Mysteries a la Mode, I Scream, You Scream and Scoop to Kill (September 2010) feature amateur sleuth Tallulah Jones, who solves murders in between scooping sundaes. While she does not commit--or solve--murders in real life, Wendy can kill a pint of ice cream in nothing flat. She’s also passionately devoted to 80s music, Asian horror films, and reality TV.
Heather Webber is the author of the Nina Quinn cozy mystery series and a
brand new romantic mystery series featuring psychic Lucy Valentine. Lucy’s
first adventure, Truly, Madly, debuted in February from St. Martin’s
Press, and its follow-up, Deeply, Desperately, will be released in August.
Jenny White is the author of the Kamil Pasha mystery series, set in nineteenth-century Istanbul in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan’s Seal has appeared in fifteen languages. Booklist named it one of the top ten first novels of 2006, and it was shortlisted for the Ellis Peters Historical Crime Award. The third book in the series, The Winter Thief, will appear just in time for the Festival. Jenny White also teaches social anthropology at Boston University and has published two scholarly books on contemporary Turkey. She lives in the Boston area and wavers between being exhausted and exhilarated.
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