August 2025
Daisy Bateman (Stacie Grey) – My second standalone thriller as Stacie Grey, She Didn’t Stand A Chance, will be out from Poisoned Pen Press on Tuesday, August 12th. Read all about it here.
The launch party will be at Book Passage in the Ferry Building on Thursday, August 14 at 5:30 PM with cake and probably a little chaos. Info here.
And we’ll be celebrating in my hometown of Alameda the following Thursday the 21st at 6:30 PM at Books Inc on Park St. Info here.
Hope to see some of you there!
Claire Booth – My latest Sheriff Hank Worth mystery, Throwing Shadows, hits stores on Tuesday, Aug. 5. You can pre-order it at the following links here at an indie bookstore here or on Amazon here.
And I’ll be throwing a book launch party on Saturday, Aug. 23 starting at 4 PM at Face in a Book, 4359 Town Center Blvd, #113, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762. Come by and enjoy a fabulous bookstore, some wine and snacks, and fun conversation.
I’ll be doing several things at Bouchercon in New Orleans.
- On Wednesday, Sept. 2, at noon, I’ll be a panelist on “How to Keep Your Series Character Interesting” in room Galerie 1-2
- On Sunday, Sept. 7, at 8:00 a.m., I’ll be a panelist on “It’s All About the Story: Deciding What Works and What Doesn’t” in Room Galerie 5-6.
Mark Coggins – My August Riordan short story “Country Comfort” appears in Better Off Dead Vol. 1: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, which will be published in August by Down & Out Books.
Michael Cooper – I will be in conversation with Sylvia Boorstein at Book Passage Corte Madera, Sat. Sept. 13, 11 AM. More information here.
Janet Dawson – I will be interviewing Brian Copeland at the Alameda Free Library on Saturday, August 16, at 2 PM. Brian has a new book out, Shadows of Justice. Link to the flyer on the library website here.
James Donzella – My first novel, The Dead Don’t Pay, was released in July. Published by Three Ravens Publishing.
Samantha Downing – My new thriller, Too Old For This, will be out on August 12. The book is about a seventy-five-year-old serial killer who is forced out of retirement.
I will be at Book Passage in Corte Madera to talk about it on Wednesday, August 20 at 6 PM.
Vinnie Hansen – Kings River Life has created a podcast of my story “Perfect Partner,” originally published in the anthology Hook, Line, & Sinker: 23 Original Tales of Grifters, Con Artists, and Their Marks.
Listen at your leisure to this twisty romance scam read by a pro here.
James L’Etoile – Join me on August 16 at 3 PM at Face in a Book in El Dorado Hills, CA for a celebration for the release of the 4th book in the award winning Detective Nathan Parker series, Sins of the Father. There will be desert-themed snacks, adult beverages, and crime fiction trivia. Please drop by for some bookish fun.
Audrey Lee – I just signed a contract with CamCat Books for my next novel, Never to be Told, out in Summer 2026.
And in The Mechanics of Memory news:
- On Wednesday, August 6 at 5 PM I will be doing an event at Book Carnival in Orange County. If you know anyone down south willing to brave the traffic, please let them know!
- On Tuesday, August 12 at 7 PM I’ll be participating in a Meet the Author Event for Capitol Crimes on Zoom, interviewed by Myra Jolivet.
- On Saturday, August 30 at 12:30 PM I will be at the Mill Valley Library on a panel called “Bringing Culture to Life Through Fiction,” with Jennifer K. Morita and D.M. Rowell.
- And of course, looking forward to seeing everyone at Bouchercon!
Claudia Long – I am super-excited to announce the publication of Truck a Duck, book two of the Simpato Mysteries. It comes out on August 22, 2025, from Sibylline Digital First (Sibylline Press.) The series is set in the wine-drinking town of Simpato, in Northern California, featuring bad duck puns, cannabis-cookie-selling nuns, and temporarily suspended lawyer Sal DeVine. Everyone loves tacos, but when the City Council allows the taco trucks to park downtown, someone is mad enough that a truck owner ends up dead. Sal has to find the killer before they’re all duck soup!
Jennifer Morita – I will be talking Diversity in Mystery with Audrey Lee and DM Rowell at noon Aug. 30 at the Mill Valley Library, 375 Throckmorton Avenue in Mill Valley.I will also be in conversation with Shelley Blanton-Stroud at the launch of Shelley’s latest historic mystery, An Unlikely Prospect, at 6 PM, Aug. 20 at Ruby’s Books, 724 Sutter Street in Folsom.
Stephen Murphy – I will be releasing Beneath the Gavel in August. It is published by Indies United Publishing House, LLC. It is my first standalone legal thriller and concerns a judge who is torn between justice and family, violating ethics to uncover the truth.
Janet Rudolph – Call for Author Essays:
The next issue of Mystery Readers Journal (41:3) will focus on Mysteries set in Northern California. We’re looking for author essays, reviews, and articles.
Author Essays: 500-1000 words, first person, up close and personal about yourself, your books, and the “NorCal” connection. Think of it as chatting with friends and other authors in the cafe, bar, or on zoom about your NorCal mysteries. Add title and 2-3 sentence bio.
Deadline: September 1.
Send to: Janet Rudolph, Editor, janet@mysteryreaders.org
For more information on past issues of Mystery Readers Journal, go here.
Mystery Readers Journal is in its 41st year.
Feel free to contact other writers and friends about this NorCal issue.
David Wolf – Not sure this qualifies as news, but I found an excellent freelance designer who redid my four crime book covers. The results can be seen on my website here. The first four books on view are the ones he designed. I found Akram Kammouch on fiverr.com.