The Bellini Card by Jason Goodwin

The Bellini Card

by Jason Goodwin

Trade Paperback Published

March 2010

I was working on a Recommended page this morning and trying to remember a historical mystery that was written by Jason Goodwin that I had given as a gift. It was thoroughly enjoyed by the recipient, a persnickety reader obsessed with Italy - The title was The Bellini Card.

From the Publisher -

Detective. Polyglot. Chef. Eunuch. Investigator Yashim Returns in this Edgar® Award-Winning Series

Istanbul, 1840: the young sultan Abdülmecid believes that Gentile Bellini's vanished masterpiece, a portrait of Mehmet the Conqueror, may have resurfaced in Venice. But it's not Yashim, our eunuch detective, who takes a ship across the Mediterranean. Instead, it's his Polish ambassador friend, Palewski, disguised as an American art dealer.What begins as a simple inquiry soon turns into a murderous game of deception and suspense, played out among the faded palazzi and sluggish canals of the decaying city. Dealers, forgers, and aristocrats become fatally involved, as the search for the Bellini portrait uncovers a threat to the stability of the Ottoman throne, and the peace of Europe.

Jason Goodwin's Yashim Togalu series - The Janissary Tree (2006), The Snake Stone (2007), The Bellini Card (2009)

Read the first chapter of The Bellini Card here.

Book Review - The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag
A Flavia de Luce Mystery
by Alan Bradley
Published March 2010

An Advanced Reader's Copy was provided by Delacorte Press through the early reviewers program at LibraryThing.

Flavia de Luce is back and cheeky as ever when she decides to help the local constabulary solve the murder of Rupert Porson, the BBC’s star puppeteer, who was electrocuted while giving a performance at St. Tancred’s parish hall.

The brilliant eleven year old Flavia, an ardent chemist with an unhealthy fixation on death by poison, possibly prompted by her two overbearing older sisters, recognizes a murder when she smells one.

Astride her trusty bike Gladys, Flavia insinuates herself into the backdoors and kitchens of Bishop Lacey’s key witnesses and suspects if not by outright flattery then by some straightforward breaking and entering. Once again Flavia is left to connect the disparate pieces by outwitting the adults, breaking the rules, and applying her scary knowledge of chemistry.

If you have been avoiding the traditional cozy genre try The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag. Flavia is the snarky eleven year old we all secretly wanted to be and she is so much cooler than Nancy Drew. Miss Marple you’d better watch your back too Flavia de Luce has arrived!

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie the first book in the Flavia de Luce series has been nominated for a 2009 Agatha Award in the ‘Best First Novel’ category.

The BBC and the Aurelio Zen Mysteries by Michael Dibdin

Mystery News has announced that BBC Begins Production on Series based on the Aurelio Zen Mysteries by Michael Dibdin

I am a huge fan of Michael Dibdin and recommend his books to any one who'll listen to me. The BBC indicates that production will begin this Spring on the first three books in the series Ratking, Vendetta, and Cabal.

I encourage you to track down these books and introduce yourself to the cynical Zen, a man just trying to placate Italian Police bureaucracy and keep out of the fray. There are eleven books in the Aurelio Zen mysteries and despite his best efforts to remain on the outskirts of crime Zen continually finds himself embroiled in complicated cases which he solves despite himself.

Agatha Award Nominees

The Agatha Awards, honoring traditional mysteries, are presented each year for "materials first published in the United States by a living author" during that calendar year.

The winners are chosen from the list of nominees by attendees of the Malice Domestic Convention. This year the convention will take place April 30 - May 2 and the winners will be announced on Saturday, May 1, 2010. Mark your calendars!


Here is the Agatha Award Nominee list for this year's awards-

All links are to IndieBound - buy a book for yourself or how about your local library...just a thought.

Best Novel:
Swan for the Money

by Donna Andrews
Bookplate Special

by Lorna Barrett
Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen
A Brutal Telling

by Louise Penny
Air Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Best First Novel:
For Better For Murder by Lisa Bork
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
Posed for Murder by Meredith Cole
The Cold Light of Mourning by Elizabeth Duncan
In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff

Best Non-fiction:
Duchess of Death by Richard Hack
Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James
Blood on the Stage by 1925-1950 by Amnon Kabatchnik
Dame Agatha’s Shorts by Elena Santangelo
The Talented Miss Highsmith by Joan Schenkar

Best Short Story:
“Femme Sole” by Dana Cameron, Boston Noir
“Handbaskets, Drawers and a Killer Cold” by Kaye George, Crooked ezine
“The Worst Noel” by Barb Goffman, The Gift of Murder
“On the House” by Hank Phillippi Ryan, Quarry
“Death Will Trim Your Tree” by Elizabeth Zelvin, The Gift of Murder

Best Children's/Young Adult:
The Morgue and Me by John C. Ford
The Hanging Hill by Chris Grabenstein
The Case of the Poisoned Pig by Lewis B. Montgomery
The Other Side of Blue by Valerie O. Patterson
The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer

Book Clubs - Discussion Guides

Starting a Mystery Book Club?

We have put up a new page of discussion guides which might come in handy. Why reinvent the wheel? Below is a list of some local reading groups if you know of any others please drop us a line.

Connecticut

Durham: MYSTERY BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP meets on the third Tuesday of the month, 7:30 PM, at the Durham Public Library.

Farmington: FARMINGTON LIBRARY MYSTERY READERS GROUP meets on the second Thursday of each month, 7:30-9 PM, at the Farmington Library.

Ivoryton: TEA AND MURDER meets on the third Friday of the month, 4 PM, at the Ivoryton Library.

Simsbury: SIMSBURY LIBRARY MYSTERY READERS GROUP meets on the second Monday of the month, 12:00-1:30 PM, at the Simsbury Library.

Westport: THE USUAL SUSPECTS meets on the third Sunday of each month, 2:00 PM, at the Westport Public Library.

Windsor Locks: THE CHRISTIE CAPERS meets the 3rd Wednesday of each month, 7 PM, at the Windsor Locks Public Library.

On Shelves - The Red Door by Charles Todd

The Red Door

by Charles Todd

Published December 2009

Inspector Ian Rutledge Series #12

From the Publisher -

"New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd brings back Scotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge in another riveting mystery set in post–World War I England Lancashire, England, June 1920. In a house with a red door lies the body of a woman who has been bludgeoned to death. Rumor has it that two years earlier, she'd painted that door to welcome her husband back from the Front. Only he never came home.

Meanwhile, in London, a man suffering from a mysterious illness first goes missing and then just as suddenly reappears. He is unable to explain his recovery. His family, supposedly searching for him, give conflicting accounts of where they were and why. What is the secret that nearly drove one man mad and turned his brothers and sister against one another with such unexpected savagery?

Inspector Ian Rutledge, drawn into both cases and facing a wall of silence, must solve two mysteries before he can bring a ruthless killer to justice: Who was the woman who lived and died behind the red door? Who was the man who never came home from the Great War, for the simple reason that he might never have gone? And what have they to do with a man who cannot break the seal of his own guilt without damning those he loves most?"

For more about the authors visit www.charlestodd.com

The Inspector Ian Rutledge Series -
A Test of Wills (1996), Wings of Fire (1998), Search the Dark (1999), Legacy of the Dead (2000), Watchers of Time (2001), A Fearsome Doubt (2002), A Cold Treachery (2005), A Long Shadow (2006), A False Mirror (2007), A Pale Horse (2007), A Matter of Justice (2008), The Red Door (2009)

If you like mysteries set in this time period try - Jacqueline Winspear, Nicola Upson, and Anne Perry's Matthew Reavley series .

Currently Reading -The Wings of the Sphinx by Andrea Camilleri

The Wings of the Sphinx

by Andrea Camilleri

Published December 2009

Inspector Montalbano series #11

Need to escape to another country for awhile? Andrea Camilleri's The Wings of the Sphinx is set in Sicily. If you like Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti, Cara Black's Aimee Leduc, or JanWillem Van de Wetering's Grijpstra and de Gier, you might enjoy Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano. Disrespectful to his superiors, quarrelsome with his peers, and perplexed by his personal relationship Montalbano solves crime in a uniquely Sicilian way.

From the Publisher -

Food, love, and murder-Sicilian style-in the gripping eleventh installment of The New York Times bestselling Montalbano mystery series.

Things are not going well for Inspector Salvo Montalbano. His relationship with Livia is once again on the rocks and-acutely aware of his age-he is beginning to grow weary of the endless violence he encounters. Then a young woman is found dead, her face half shot off and only a tattoo of a sphinx moth giving any hint of her identity. The tattoo links her to three similarly marked girls-all victims of the underworld sex trade-who have been rescued from the Mafia night-club circuit by a prominent Catholic charity. The problem is, Montalbano's inquiries elicit an outcry from the Church and the three other girls are all missing.

If you can read Italian or just want to see some pictures visit Andrea Camilleri's website.

Andrea Camilleri's bibliography with the U.S. release dates-
La forma dell’acqua - The Shape of Water 2002, Il cane di terracotta - The Terra-Cotta Dog 2002, Il ladro di merendine - The Snack Thief 2003, La voce del violino -The Voice of the Violin 2003, La gita a Tindari - The Excursion to Tindari 2005, L’odore della notte - The Smell of the Night 2005, Il giro di boa - Rounding the Mark 2006 , La pazienza del ragno - The Patience of the Spider 2007, La luna di carta - The Paper Moon 2008, La vampa d’agosto - August Heat 2009, Le ali della sfinge - The Wings of the Sphinx 2009
Italian titles not currently available in the U.S. - La pista di sabbia (2007), Il campo del vasaio (2007), L’età del dubbio (2008), La danza de gabbiano (2009)