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Weekly Special - crime in L.A.

This week's special is the latest in a popular series that matches a child psychologist with an LA cop. This time, the pair take on a grisly double homicide. You can find out whodunnit, save 20% and get free shipping with This Week's Special.

October-November MLB News is here

The October-November MLB News is available for download. The printed version is in the mail but you can download your own copy right now.

If you would prefer to print a copy of the News you can do that but remember to use the Adobe Acrobat Reader print button.

Best Sellers for September

We've compiled our Best Sellers for September and we're happy to report that Hardball by Sara Paretsky is at the top of the list. A wonderful book all about Chicago history and politics with the added bonus of V.I. Warshawski. Sara beat out Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, which was followed by a variety of other hardcover best sellers including Susan Wittig Albert, John LeBeau, Louise Penny and Ian Rankin.

Trade paperback sales were topped by local writers Kathryn Miller Haines and Barbara Cloud followed by Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. September also features strong sales by a number of non-mystery fiction titles popular with book clubs.

If you're looking for something new to try please take a moment to check out our September Best Sellers.

Our staff picks for October

Find out what the staff recommends for this month with the October Staff Picks. As always, you'll find the diverse tastes of our booksellers reflected in the assortment of books in different genres of mystery.

New Arrivals

Another big week for New Arrivals as October continue to arrive in large numbers. New books by Marcia Muller, Deborah Crombie, Henning Mankell, Reginald Hill and many others.

Among the new arrivals is the DVD of the first season of the HBO production of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series based on the books by Alexander McCall Smith. We simply loved this when it showed earlier this year. The cast, settings and screenplays are all a pefect reflection of the spirit of the books. Please note that free shipping does not apply to orders of the DVD.

On the British import side I wanted to note the arrival of The Mysterious Affair of Style by Gilbert Adair. Several years ago Adair published a charming mystery called the Acts of Roger Murgatroyd which was a Golden Age mystery set in a country house and featuring a classic locked room puzzle. Little did we realize that this was the first book in a series featuring mystery writer Evadne Mount, who reappears in the second volume.

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

Remembering Bill Tapply

One of the mystery writers that Richard and I both read and love is William Tapply. This summer on vacation at Lake Ontario, I hid the new Dark Tiger: A Stoney Calhoun Novel from him so that I could read and enjoy in one gulp. The skilled bait shop owner and fishing guide with a memory zapped by lightning finds himself out to solve new problems by going undercover as a guide at the upscale Loon Lake Lodge. There to investigate the death of a federal agent and a 16 year-old local girl, he finds time to uncover motives and breathtaking vistas in Maine’s streams. Another treat from the gifted mystery writer for all to savor. Returning home I was saddened to learn of Bill Tapply’s death. Miss you already Bill and your gifts as a storyteller who embraced life and flummoxed mystery lovers with your elegant plotting. Rock on.

Coffee & Crime with John LeBeau, Oct. 10

Our Fall Coffee & Crime season starts off tomorrow with John LeBeau. LeBeau spent 25 years as an analyst with the CIA and since retirement has taught at the George Marshall Center for Security Studies. He's also had time to pen a debut thriller, Collision with Evil, set in the Bavarian Alps, an area familiar to LeBeau through his long posting in Germany.

He'll be in the US for a short tour and he'll be stopping at MLB tomorrow for a Coffee & Crime breakfast at 10 am. Cost is $5 and reservations are necessary.

Book Club Dinner with Charles & Caroline Todd, Elena Santangelo and Robin Hathaway, Oct. 12

We've got a spectacular book club dinner planned for Monday, Oct. 12 at 6 pm. Charles and Caroline Todd, the mother and son team that write as Charles Todd will be joined by Elena Santangelo and Robin Hathaway at a dinner catered by Girasole Restaurant of Shadyside.

Seating is limited at this event so don't delay in getting in your reservations. Cost is $20.

Keith Donohue publication party

Duquesne alumni Keith Donohue will celebrate publication of his second novel, Angels of Destruction, with a publication party at MLB on Friday, October 23 starting at 7 pm. Please join us for some wine and cheese along with some low-key fundraising for Duquesne University.

Coffee & Crime with Elizabeth Zelvin, Oct. 24

New York psychotherapist Elizabeth Zelvin returns to MLB with her second book, Death Will Help You Leave Him. Recovering alcoholic Bruce Kohler returns to some sleuthing assisted by his eccentric band of friends in this second book in the series.

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

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 (or are here) in the next few months. Quantities are limited so please place your order now to avoid disappointment.

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

What's on the website now

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

Upcoming Events

Oct. 10 - John LeBeau
Oct. 12 - Charles Todd, Elena Santangelo & Robin Hathaway
Oct. 23 - Keith Donohue
Oct. 24 - Elizabeth Zelvin
Oct. 31 - Halloween Birthday Bash

More events...

Fall is here, bundle up with a good book.
Richard, Mary Alice and the MLB Staff

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