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Our not-so-weekly email

Dear %%First Name%%,

Happy Birthday to us, Free Shipping for you

Yup, it's really been 18 years for Mystery Lovers Bookshop and we owe it all to you--our wonderful customers. Along with our wonderful staff, wonderful authors, wonderful publicists, wonderful publisher's reps and everyone else, including our family, that's made a contribution to our success.

As part of our Halloween Birthday Bash (more on that below) we thought that the gift of Free Shipping would be just the thing for our online customers.

Here's what you need to know:

What: Free Shipping for any single shipment of books ordered from Friday, Oct. 31 through Sunday, Nov. 2

How: Use coupon code FSF in the checkout to get your free shipping.

Restrictions, limitation, other stuff to know: Your order must total at least $10 to qualify for free shipping. If you order books that we need to reorder, we'll ship your order next week when the re-orders arrive. If you order books that have not yet been published we'll give you the choice of waiting for them to arrive or shipping what we have. The additional, future publications will not be eligible for free shipping.

Even more birthday gifts: 18% off any one hardcover

As a further Halloween Birthday Gift we're offering 18% off any single hardcover book purchased on Halloween, Oct. 31.

To take advantage of this offer simply place your order on Oct. 31 and put "18% offer" in the special instructions. Your web order won't reflect your savings but we'll take 18% off the least expensive hardcover in your order.

Naturally, this offer doesn't apply to This Week's Special which is already discounted.

This Week's Special

This Week's Special is the long-awaited sequel to a best-selling thriller originally published 18 years ago--the year we opened the store. Save 20% on this exciting read with our Weekly Special. Make the weekly special even more special by using our Free Shipping offer.

New Ian Rankin available

John Rebus may be finished but Ian Rankin isn't as he proves in an exciting new crime novel, Doors Open. The book is available now but quantities are limited for this British import. Order now to avoid disappointment.

2008 Gift Guide now online

We're pleased to announce that the 2008 Gift Guide, our holiday catalog, is now available in an online form that allows you to browse and buy.

The online version has even more books, puzzles, games and gift ideas than the printed version and makes your holiday shopping a breeze.

If you prefer a printed version of the Gift Guide, you can download it from the site.

Many of our holiday items including jigsaw puzzles, pop-ups, signed books and food will sell out as the holidays approach. Why not use our Free Shipping offer to get a jump on your holiday shopping and avoid disappointment later on.

Shamus winners announced

The Private Eye Writers of America announced the winners of the 2008 Shamus Awards at their awards banquet on October 10. We were pleased to see our friends Reed Farrell Coleman and Sean Chercover both winners for Best Novel and Best First Novel, respectively. This is Reed's second Shamus Award.

Best Paperback Original was won by Richard Aleas for Song of Innocence. The author is actually Charles Ardry the publisher behind Hard Case Crime line. He was nominated for a Shamus in 1995 for the earlier book, Little Girl Lost.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees.

Go Green update

As you know, we began a campaign last month to reduce the costs and environmental impact of printing and mailing the MLB news.

The response has been tremendous with over 300 customers so far agreeing to forgo the printed News in favor of the online version. Our thanks to all of you.

If you want to know more, visit our Go Green page for full details.

2008 Holiday Catalog available for download

The Gift Guide, our 2008 holiday catalog, is available for download in PDF format.

In it you'll find 16 pages of games, puzzles, books and goodies for everyone on your list. Many of these holiday items cannot be re-ordered or are in limited supply. Here's your chance to get a jump on your holiday gift buying and to avoid disappointment later in the year.

Please take a look at our Gift Guide. You'll be suprised at what you'll find at MLB this holiday.

Best of Pittsburgh-that's us

We're so pleased to announce that the editors of Pittsburgh Magazine have chosen us for their Best of Pittsburgh issue. We were named Best Mystery of Pittsburgh and the article noted our annual Festival of Mystery as a big part of the choice.

Our thanks to our staff and our customers who made it possible for us to The Best.

New arrivals

Loads of new arrivals since the last email Newsletter with many November books here. You'll find new books by J.D. Robb, John Sandford, Robert B. Parker, Emily Brightwell, Randy Wayne White and many others.

You'll find the complete list of both US and British books at New Arrivals.

Signed books

We have signed first editions by several authors either here now or due. If you're interested, please order now as supplies of these are limited.

Halloween Birthday Bash

Believe it or not, MLB turns 18 on Friday, October 31. Our usual Birthday Bash will be extra special with the appearance of 6 popular authors that evening.

At 7 pm, we'll a host of MLB favorite authors for talks and signings of their new books. Our group includes:

Donna Andrews has been a fan favorite ever since her first Meg Lanslow book, Murder With Peacocks. For Halloween, she'll have a special treat in store, a Christmas mystery with Meg: Six Geese a Slaying. A signed copy would make a great gift--even for yourself.

Cordelia Biddle will be here with the second of her historical mysteries set in 1840's Philadelphia, Deception's Daughter. This series, featuring young heiress Martha Beale, began with The Conjurer, now in paperback.

Tori Carrington is actually husband and wife team of Lori and Tony Karayianni. Their Greek-American sleuth made her first appearance in the eponymous Sofie Metropolis. They'll be at our event with the fourth in the series, Working Stiff.

Ellen Crosby put her knowledge of the Virginia wine-making business to excellent use in her debut The Merlot Murder that introduced her sleuth, vineyard owner Lucie Montgomery. Her latest is The Bordeaux Betrayal, third in the series.

Marcia Talley is well-known to MLB fans, the current record-holder in consecutive Festival of Mystery appearances. The big news is that she'll be here with a brand new entry in her Hannah Ives series: Dead Man Dancing.

At 9 pm we'll start the ten cent book sale, a benefit for Beginning with Books

Free cappuccinno all night and we'll be open til midnight. Please join us if you can.

John Lamb continues Fall Coffee & Crime

Fall is a great time to restart your culture calendar and our Fall Coffee & Crime series is the perfect choice.

Saturday November 8 John Lamb will continue our Fall series with the latest of his teddy bear collecting series, The Clockwork Teddy.

Fall Coffee & Crime continues with:

Upcoming Events

Oct. 31 - Halloween Birthday Bash
Nov. 8 - John Lamb Coffee & Crime
Nov. 21 - Publication party for Suzanne Martinson
Nov. 22 - Katherine Neville Coffee & Crime

Keep on reading,
Richard, Mary Alice and the MLB Staff

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