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Weekly Special - a Wall Street thriller

This week's special is a debut novel by an author with a famous last name. He's used his experience on Wall Street to write an entertaining and informative thriller that you can enjoy at a savings of 20% plus free shipping.

New Ian Rankin arrives

We're happy to announce that the latest Ian Rankin crime novel, The Complaints, has arrived. We've got a limited quantity to we urge you to order without delay to avoid disappointment.

We've also received another new title from Britain The Coroner by M.R. Hall; the first in a new series featuring a young woman attorney who is the newly appointed coroner for a rural district in England.

New Dan Brown is here

Well, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown arrived on Monday and I'll admit it--I started to read it right away. Such a guilty pleasure. I finished it up on Wednesday and here's my report: A pretty exciting book, as good or better than Angels and Demons and way better than DaVinci Code. For starters, its about 500 pages which is about right for a thriller. For another thing, he's kept those eye-glazing pages of exposition that go on and on to a minimum and they are easy enough to skip without losing the pace of the plot.

What's it all about, Alfie? It's about Robert Langdon who is lured to Washington by the bad guy. It's about Masons and their rituals and it's about solving a series of puzzles to reveal the truth. You'll learn some interesting things--some of which may be true--and you'll have a bunch of interesting things to look for on your next trip to Washington.

A side note, here. Robert Langdon seems awfully careless about the women in his life. Didn't we just leave him in Scotland (or Paris) with that dishy French cop? What happened to her? No idea. It seems to me that he finished up Angels and Demons with some other babe and she disappeared without a trace before DaVinci Code. Jeez, you'd think he could a least throw in a single line about the fate of the last girlfriend before he goes off to save the life of the new one. Just sayin'.

MLB Best Sellers for August

The MLB Best Sellers for August have just been posted and they show a strong effect from our virtual signing efforts with various authors. Other books on the list reflect author appearances as well as books in popular series and book club purchases.

Come check out our Best Sellers and see if you can find some new authors.

See what we're reading in September

The September Staff Picks have been posted with an assortment of new and old titles, even a childrens book. Check out what we're reading this month on our September Staff Picks page.

Shamus Award nominees announced

The Private Eye Writers of America have announced their nominees for the 2009 Shamus Award for novels published in 2008. Books have been nominated in the categories of Best Hardcover, Best First Novel and Best Paperback Original. You'll find the complete list of nominees at our Shamus Award 2009 page.

Missing mysteries

In case you missed them, here are the titles we left out of the September MLB News:

Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson--this is a sort of "between the numbers" Alex Cross book purporting to be a story, called Trial, written by Cross to tell the story of his great uncle Abraham and his struggle against the Klan in the 1940's. The next regular Cross novel, I, Alex Cross, comes out in November.

Wife of the Gods by Kwei J. Quarty--a fascinating view of modern Africa through the eyes of police inspector Darko Dawson who returns to his childhood home in rural Ghana to investigate a murder

Sand Sharks by Margaret Maron--if you're a fan of the Deborah Knott series you won't want to miss this latest installment

Paths of the Air by Alys Clare--the eleventh in this popular Hawkenlye medieval series featuring Abbess Helewise and Joss D'Acquin

No Law in the Land by Michael Jecks--another great historical mystery series featuring bailiff Simon Puttock and his friend Sir Baldwin Furnshill, this is the 26th.

Barbara Cloud - Coffee & Crime September 26

Our Fall Coffee & Crime series continues on September 26 with legendary Pittsburgh newspaper columnist Barbara Cloud. During her long career Barbara interviewed just about everyone who was anyone and we expect a fascinating morning of insider info on celebrities during our author talk.

Halloween Birthday Bash - Oct. 31

With Halloween falling on a Saturday this year we've decided to extend our birthday festivities to cover the whole day.

From 10 am to Midnight we'll have free cappuccino

In honor of our 19th birthday we invite you to take 19% off any one hardcover book purchased that day

At 1 pm Bob Regan will have a talk and signing of Names of Pittsburgh

At 7 pm Alan W. Petrucelli will have a talk and signing of Morbid Curiosity: The Disturbing Demises of the Famous and Infamous

Following Alan's talk, he'll judge and announce the winners in the Dress as Your Favorite Dead Celebrity contest.

At 9 pm we'll hold the Ten Cent Book Sale to benefit Beginning with Books

Please join us for our Halloween Birthday Bash on Saturday, Oct. 31.

New signed books on the way

We've got some signed books that are coming in the next few months. Quantities are limited so place your order now.

As alway, signed books are available in limited quantities so please order now to avoid disappointment.

New Arrivals

New Arrivals picked up a bit this week with the arrival of the new Sara Paretsky, Hardball, along with other titles by Stuart Woods, Michael Connelly, David Baldacci and others.

Check our New Arrivals for page for everything new at MLB.

What's on the website now

Here's what you can find at www.mysterylovers.com:

Upcoming Events

Sept. 26 - Barbara Cloud
Oct. 10 - John LeBeau
Oct. 24 - Elizabeth Zelvin
Oct. 31 - Halloween Birthday Bash

More events...

Take a trip abroad--books are your ticket this summer.
Richard, Mary Alice and the MLB Staff

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