If you experience any difficulty reading this email see mail20100416.htm

Our very weekly email - special April-May News Edition

Free Shipping: read all about it.

Dear %%First Name%%,

This week's special--a clever literary mystery

This Week's Special is a complex literary mystery about a man who finds himself on trial for the murder of his own father, an Oxford don. Discvoer a satisfying mystery from an author with quite a pedigree and enjoy 20% savings with free shipping.

This week's kid's special--a very punny tale

Although This Week's Kid's Special is a picture book its use of puns and more elaborate humor would make it ideal for kids from 6 to 9 although our staff, who are chronologically older, certainly found this one laugh-out-loud funny. Save 20% on this clever gem with This Week's Kids Special.

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

Celebrate our anniversary in style

Be the first on your block to get your hands on the spectacular new MLB 20th Anniversary/Raven Award mug. This 8 oz. beauty is spectacular in resplendent red with black and white imprinting on both sides. Side one features our regular logo and notice of our 20th Anniversary in October of 2010. On the other side, a special Raven version of our logo to mark our receiving the Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

Important Note: We cannot offer free shipping on orders that include mugs. We must send these Priority Mail and will have to charge you $4.50 shipping regardless of these amount of your order.

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.

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.

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 are in the 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 (618 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 you 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

Although the big group of April arrivals showed up last week, we also received a bunch of interesting New Arrivals this week.

Here's a sample:

Ace Atkins continues with his series of historical crime novels based on real events with Infamous. The main character is George Kelly but you probably know him better as Machine Gun Kelly.

Joanna Campbell Slan, who is one our 44 authors coming to the Festival of Mystery, has a new book in her scrapbooking series, Photo, Snap, Shoot.

Another Festival Author with a new book is Jane K. Cleland with Silent Auction, her latest for antiques appraiser Josie Prescott.

We're so glad to see a reissue of Cut to the Quick, the first in a truly delightful Regency mystery series from Kate Ross. Ross completed three books in the Julian Kestrel series before her untimely death and I have hopes that we'll see all of them reissued.

Diane Mott Davidson's latest, Fatally Flaky, is out in paperback.

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. 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?

To unsubscribe from our list, please click here.