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Our very weekly email - special April-May News Edition

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Dear %%First Name%%,

This week's special--a cozy perfect for knitters

This Week's Special is the second in a delightful series set in a coastal town in Massachusetts. Here's a chance to enjoy a relaxing mystery with a crafty crew of sleuths and 20% savings with free shipping. If you add the first in the series, you can have hours of enjoyment for less than $20.

This week's kid's special--a powerful story of love and redemption

The Kid's Weekly Special is a book for middle readers, 10 and up, and it tells the tale of a calico cat and her kittens who are given shelter under a porch by a friendly hounddog. Save 20% on this affecting story with This Week's Kids Special.

Check out both our Weekly Specials and save some bucks this week.

April-May MLB News is here, for download

The MLB News April-May issue, including Festival of Mystery insert, is ready for download on the website. You don't have to wait one more minute to find out what's coming up in the next two months in the world of mystery. Plus, the four page guide to the Festival of Mystery, now in it's 15th year, is included.

Click on this link and you'll see the entire April-May News, including the Fesitval Insert, exactly as it will appear when printed. If you want a printed copy just remember to use the Adobe Reader print button not the one on your browser.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, on screen, April 16

Please join us for the Pittsburgh Premier of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo at the Pittsburgh Filmmakers Regent Square Theater on Friday, April 16 at 8 pm.

Mystery Lovers Bookshop will be there selliing the first two book and taking orders for the conclusion to the trilogy due for publication in May.

The film, directed Niels Arden Oplev, is in Swedish with subtitles and stars Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace as Mikael Blomqvist and Lisbeth Salander.

"This dynamite thriller shivers with suspense. Haunting and hypnotic." – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

... Lisbeth is as compelling as any movie character in recent memory." – Roger Ebert.

Watch a trailer.

Based on the best-selling novel, and already the highest-grossing Swedish film in history, the movie version is finally here. It begins four decades ago when Harriet Vanger disappears from a family gathering. Her body was never found, yet her beloved uncle is convinced it was murder and that the killer is a member of his own clan. He hires a middle-aged journalist and a young, anti-social – and tattooed – computer hacker (played by the sensational Noomi Rapace) to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grisly murders from almost 40 years earlier, a dark family history begins to unravel. Author Stieg Larsson, who died suddenly in 2004, left behind three novels known as the "Millennium trilogy," which have become global sensations. This is the first screen adaptation. With subtitles. (Niels Arden Oplev; Sweden; 2009; 154 min)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the first of a trilogy by Stieg Larsson which features Lisbeth Salander, the character of the title, who is an antisocial misfit and computer hacker and Mikael Blomqvist, an investigative journalist.

The second book, now available in paperback, is The Girl Who Played With Fire. The conclusion, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, will be published in the US in May.

Pittsburgh Filmmakers Regent Square Theater
1035 S. Braddock Ave
Edgewood PA 15218
412-682-4111

Friday, April 16 at 8 pm, doors open at 7:30
Other shows, Sat 4/17 -- 2:00, 5:00, 8:00 ... Sun 4/18 -- 2:00, 5:00 ... Mon 4/19 thru Thu 4/22 -- 8:00

Something for everyone in March best sellers

The March MLB Best Sellers list is up and running and we're happy to see Pittsburgh author atop the hardcover list with Our Lady of Immaculate Deception, the first in her Pittsburgh set series with Roxy Abruzzo. At number 2, no surprise, was Lisa Scottoline with her latest thriller, Think Twice. With the momentum of her visit Lisa's collection of Philadelphia Inquirerer columns, Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog, also landed on the list at No. 5.

The number 3 spot went to Assassins of Athens by Jeffrey Siger, a local boy who made good as an attorney in New York and now spends a good part of his time in Greece--thus the setting for his series.

Another March visitor, Joanne Fluke, put Apple Turnover Murder on the list as did Alafair Burke with 212, her latest for NYPD detective Ellie Hatcher, and Jo Nesbo with Devil's Star, latest for his Oslo sleuth Harry Hole. The Nesbo event was very well-attended with a cross-section of fans including many from various Scandinavian countries.

In the paperback arena, local writer Heather Terrell edged out Stieg Larsson with Brigid of Kildare, a fascinating historical about the early church and a woman Bishop who defied Rome. Larsson's entry was The Girl Who Played With Fire, the second in his Millenium trilogy, just out in paper. The first, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, is still on the list nearly a year after its publication.

Two book club picks made the list: The Art of Racing in the Rain, a tale narrated by the dog, and One Thousand White Women, a historical novel based on actual events in which the US government provided wives for Indian men in the 1880's.

Paperbacks had several titles from authors coming to the Festival of Mystery on May 3. Heather Webber had Truly, Madly, a series debut with psychic matchmaker Lucy Valentine and Sheila Connolly's Red Delicious Death. Hank Phillippi Ryan's Drive Time, Agatha-nominated fourth in her Charlotte McNally series, is also on the list.

There's something new on our website

OK, I've got to say I'm a little miffed about the complete non-response to the little change we made the mysterylovers.com website. I know it's no big deal but we thought it was kinda cute and hoped it would bring a little chuckle.

Have you got a favorite set of mysteries with a theme?

Most mystery readers have a set of favorite mysteries set in Italy or perhaps with a forensic anthropologist sleuth. You might have five favorite Roman mysteries or any other category you might enjoy.

We'd like to know what your Five Favorite... list is. You can pick any five mysteries that share some common characteristic or theme. If you send us your list we'll put it up on the website under our Five Favorite... category.

Here's how to get your Five Favorites up on the website:

  1. Pick five mysteries with a common theme: setting, sleuth, time period, etc.
  2. Check each of your favorites against the website to see if it's still around
  3. Use our Five Favorites form to tell us about each of your favorites and what it is that you like about it

Take a look at our Five Favorite... section to get an idea of what other readers have come up with.

David Corbett on April 10

A favorite author will be making his first trip to MLB on April 10. David Corbett will be out guest for a Coffee & Crime author breakfast on Saturday, April 10 at 10 am.

Corbett began his writing career with the Anthony-nominated The Devil's Redhead about a man who gets out of prison and finds that his former girlfriend's life has taken a new and deadly direction. More recently Corbett has turned his attention to El Salvardor, first with Blood of Paradise, a powerful crime novel that portrayed the corruption and criminality rampant in that country as the US deports thousands of Salvardoran gang members.

Corbett's new book, Don't They Know I'm Running, is a complex tale told on both sides of the border. It begins when the uncle of a young man is deported as an illegal alien. This begins a trek across the border, back to El Salvador in a desparate attempt to bring the Uncle back to his family. I guarantee that you will never look at the immigration issue the same way after reading this book.

Cost of the Coffee & Crime breakfast is $5 and reservations are necessary.

Fifteenth Annual Festival of Mystery on May 3

Yes, Virginia, there is a Festival of Mystery. We're pulling out all the stops for our 15th Annual Festival of Mystery on Monday, May 3.

Complete details are available on the website and will be in the upcoming April-May issue of the MLB News. We've got 44 authors coming this year with 15 of them here for the very first time.

Tickets are available now and can be ordered through the website.

April Staff Picks are here

From espionage to Japanese best sellers; from fictitious authors to the reincarnation of classic writers you'll find something for every taste in our Staff Picks for April.

Signed first editions: here's what's coming

We've just learned that we'll be getting signed copies of The Double Comfort Safari Club, the latest No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency novel. Expected late April.

Other books signed by popular authors that we have or expect include:

Nancy Martin - Our Lady of Immaculate Deception, here now

Lisa Scottoline - Think Twice, here now

Alafair Burke - 212, here now

Rita Mae Brown - Cat of the Century, expected mid-April

Jonathan Kellerman - Deception, here now

Anne Perry - Sheen on the Silk, here now

Elaine Viets - Half-Price Homicide, after Festival May 3

John Sandford - Storm Prey, around May 18

As always, supplies of these signed books are limited so please order early.

We're on Facebook, become a fan (593 already are)

Please stop by our Facebook for Mystery Lovers Bookshop and become a fan. We're starting to see more posting about author events and other topics. We're happy to hear about what you're reading, authors yhou discovered and other mystery news.

If you've already signed up we encourage you to post your thoughts. Read a good mystery, looking for suggestions, our fan page is a great place to post.

We'll be using Facebook to notify fans about events in the store and other developments at MLB.

All of our upcoming events are also listed and we would love for customers to post comments or photos about events that they attend.

A book club on Facebook?

A few folks have posted comments about a book club on Facebook, especially for customers who don't live in the greater Pittsburgh area.

If you are interested in this idea, please post a comment on our Facebook page to let us know.

I don't have the slightest idea how this would work so I'm open to suggestions.

New Arrivals

As promosed a big list of April arrivals showed up on the New Arrivals page last week.

Meanwhile, here are some notable new arrivals:

Carolyn Hart's 20th book in the Annie and Max Darling series, Laughed 'Til He Died is here.

Borderline by Nevada Barr is the latest in paper for park ranger Anna Pigeon.

A grad student takes on the disposal of her late grandmother's house and finds herself drawn into a mystery that goes back to the Salem witch trials in The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane.

An urbane stroll through the South of France is on tap with Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker

News books arrive every day check our New Arrivals page often for everything new at MLB.

What's on the website now

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

Upcoming Events

Apr. 10 - David Corbett
Apr. 16 - Pittsburgh premier of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
May 3 - Festival of Mystery
May 22 - Peter May

More events...

Think Spring-like thoughts
Richard, Mary Alice and the MLB Staff

Did we mention that we won a Raven Award?

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