Author: Mia Manansala

Title: Blackmail and Bibingka (A Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #3)

Date: December 17, 2022

Day: Saturday

Time: Noon - 2:00 PM

 

Description

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When her long-lost cousin comes back to town just in time for the holidays, Lila Macapagal knows that big trouble can’t be far behind in this new mystery by Mia P. Manansala, author of Arsenic and Adobo.
 
It’s Christmastime in Shady Palms, but things are far from jolly for Lila Macapagal. Sure, her new business, the Brew-ha Cafe, is looking to turn a profit in its first year. And yes, she’s taken the first step in a new romance with her good friend Jae Park. But her cousin Ronnie is back in town after ghosting the family fifteen years ago, claiming that his recent purchase of a local winery shows that he’s back on his feet and ready to contribute to the Shady Palms community. Tita Rosie is thrilled with the return of her prodigal son, but Lila knows that wherever Ronnie goes, trouble follows.
 
She’s soon proven right when Ronnie is suspected of murder, and secrets surrounding her shady cousin and those involved with the winery start piling up. Now Lila has to put away years of resentment and distrust to prove her cousin’s innocence. He may be a jerk, but he’s still family. And there’s no way her flesh and blood could actually be a murderer . . . right?

About the Author

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Mia P. Manansala is a writer from Chicago who loves books, baking, and badass women. She uses humor (and murder) to explore aspects of the Filipino diaspora, queerness, and her millennial love for pop culture.

INDEPENDENTS (BOOKSELLERS) BUSINESS DAY

*Local Authors Galore: Writers of Mystery, History & Biography throughout the day in two hour segments each.*

 *Not One Big Signing, but authors seated around the store with caddy tables   and a chair for                                                                                                                                                                                                    YOU  to sit and talk with the authors about their books and then buying them here a bringing them back to be signed by the authors.*                                                            

   *It’s the Literary Event of the Season, an Authors Soiree, Salon for Books…*   

    *Perhaps, you’ll even catch authors talking to each other about writing, their thoughts and methods.*       

    *It's like being a fly on the wall listening to great conversation, but you, if you’re here, you can even chime in the conversation.*                                                                           

   ***DON’T MISS  IT!***

INDEPENDENTS DAY’S TALENTED TWENTY -ONE BY TIME (November 26, 2022)

                                                         10AM-12PM:     Michael Black     Jack Fredrickson       Joe Rulli       Bob Goldsborough        David Witter

                                                          11AM-1PM:                                            Georgann Prochaska         Jim Elsener                                                    

                                                          NOON-2PM:   Raymond Benson     Diane Piron-Gelman     Kathryn Atwood      Mim Eichmann       Russell Fee

                                                          1:30-3:30PM:                                                      Patricia Camalliere

                                                          2:00-4:00PM:     Luisa Buehler                John Rice                   Lee Williams            Ed Letwenko     Kevin P. Kenealy

                                                          3:00-5:00PM:                          Allie Pleiter             George Tackes                 Val Gee  

 

           The Talented Twenty-One Authors For Independents Day 2022 at Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore

 

                       

             James Elsener            John Rice                       Russell F

                           

   Luisa Buehler           Michael A. Black           Robert Goldsborough

                                                                                                                                                          

 

                 

 

    Joseph Rulli               Patricia Camalliere       Allie Pleiter

      

 

 

      

   Valarie Gee       Kathryn Atwood Georgann Prochaska                                           

  

 

 

 

George Tackes     Edward Letwenko  Kevin P. Kenealy 

                                                               

          

 

     

 

 Raymond Benson       Mim Eichmann       Lee Williams

                                                                                                                                                                    

 D. M. Piron- Gelman    David Witter         Jack Fredrickson

 

                              

 

 

ZOOM Event with Leslie S. Klinger the Master of Annotation & Writing.

Title: The New Annotated Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from the pen of Robert Louis Stevenson

Date: November 17, 2022

Day: Thursday

Time: 7:00 PM For The ZOOM session. Questions accepted and answers given as possible.

            

 

 

Description

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 The definitive edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s immortal tale of depraved murder and unrelenting horror, introduced by Joe Hill, annotated by Edgar-winner Leslie S. Klinger, & illustrated with over 100 color images

There’s no question that The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one of the most influential texts of all time. The now-iconic tale, which has confounded and thrilled readers for more than a century, was described by one scholar as the only detective-crime story in which the solution is more terrifying than the problem. And even as its plot gets continually reinterpreted and reimagined in literature, film, and theater, the main themes persist, as do the titular characters, now so familiar as to have become a part of the English language.

This new edition gives the classic tale of depraved murder and unrelenting horror its most complete and illuminating presentation yet. Heavily illustrated with over a hundred and fifty full color images from the history of this cultural touchstone—including reproductions of rare books, film stills, theatrical posters, and the true-life people associated with the adventure—and extensively annotated by Edgar Award winning editor and noted Victorian literature expert Leslie S. Klinger, this thorough and authoritative approach is both an invaluable resource for scholars and a sumptuous treat for fans of the text.

Introduced by a compelling and erudite essay from bestselling novelist and short story writer Joe Hill, this complete illustrated and annotated edition of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the ultimate tribute to an enduring classic, combining revelatory and surprising information and in-depth historical context with beautiful illustrations and photographs. It is sure to please anyone interested in the Victorian era, mystery fiction, and horror tales.

 

About the Author

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Robert Louis Stevenson was a Victorian author born in Scotland in 1850. He is best known for his novels Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He died in Samoa in 1894.

Leslie S. Klinger

Leslie S. Klinger is considered to be one of the world’s foremost authorities on Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, H. P. Lovecraft and 19th-century genre fiction. Klinger is a long-time member of the Baker Street Irregulars, and served as the Series Editor for the Manuscript Series of The Baker Street Irregulars; he is currently the Series Editor for the BSI’s History Series. He served three terms as Chapter President of the SoCal Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America and on its National Board. He is also the Treasurer of the Horror Writers Association. He lectures frequently on Holmes, Dracula, Lovecraft and their worlds, including frequent panels at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Bouchercon, StokerCon, World Horror Convention, World Fantasy Convention, VampireCon, Comicpalooza, WonderCon and San Diego Comic-Con, and he frequently teaches courses on Holmes and Dracula at UCLA Extension.

Klinger’s work has received numerous awards and nominations, including the Edgar® for Best Critical-Biographical Book in 2005 for THE NEW ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES: The Complete Short Stories and the Anthony for Best Anthology in 2015 for IN THE COMPANY OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (co-edited with Laurie R. King) and two nominations for the Bram Stoker Award® for Best Nonfiction book. His introductions and essays have appeared in numerous books, graphic novels, academic journals, newspapers, the Los Angeles Review of Books and Playboy Magazine; he also reviews books for the Los Angeles Times. He was the technical advisor for Warner Bros. on the film Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) and served (without credit) in that role for Warner Bros.’ earlier hit Sherlock Holmes (2009). He has consulted on a number of novels, comic books, and graphic novels featuring Holmes and Dracula.

Les attended the University of California where he received an A.B. in English; he also attended the University of California School of Law (Boalt Hall), where he obtained a J.D. degree. He and his wife Sharon have five adult children, six grandchildren, and live in Malibu with their dog and three cats. By day, Klinger practices law in Westwood, specializing in tax, estate planning and business law.

 

 

 

Author: Michael A. Black

Title: Devil's Vendetta (The 5th in the Steve Wolf Military Thriller Series)

Date: October 29, 2002

Day: Saturday

Time: 2:00-4:00PM

 

Description

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You can't go home again...

Ex-Army Ranger Steve Wolf is wondering just that after receiving a desperate call home from his mother. His younger brother, Jimmy, is in trouble.

As Wolf heads back to North Carolina to set things straight, he realizes that things have changed-and not for the better. The name of the town is different, a recycling plant has replaced the old textile factory, and a new off-reservation Indian casino is the main attraction. To top it off, the bitter stench of a burgeoning crystal meth problem is hanging over the area, and Wolf's brother is heavily involved in the distribution process.

Jimmy and his friends have also secretly concocted a dangerous plan to rip off a violent drug kingpin. And Wolf's best friend and mentor, Jim McNamara, is working down by the Texas/Mexico border and is unable to offer his expertise.

Standing alone, Wolf is forced to confront the ghosts from his past as well as a host of new and vicious adversaries, and-in a last-ditch battle to save his brother-Wolf races against a ticking clock to avert the impending carnage from destroying the only family he has left.

Michael A. Black is the author of 36 books and over 100 short stories and articles. A decorated police officer in the south suburbs of Chicago, he worked for over thirty-two years in various capacities including patrol supervisor, SWAT team leader, investigations, and tactical operations before retiring in April of 2011.

A long-time practitioner of the martial arts, Black holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do from Ki Ka Won Academy in Seoul, Korea. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Northern Illinois University and a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction Writing from Columbia College, Chicago. In 2010 he was awarded the Cook County Medal of Merit by Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. Black wrote his first short story in the sixth grade and credits his then teacher for instilling within him the determination to keep writing when she told him never to try writing again.

Black has since been published in several genres including mystery, thriller, sci-fi, westerns, police procedurals, mainstream, pulp fiction, horror, and historical fiction. His Ron Shade series, featuring the Chicago-based kickboxing private eye, has won several awards, as has his police procedural series featuring Frank Leal and Olivia Hart. He also wrote two novels with television star Richard Belzer, I Am Not a Cop and I Am Not a Psychic. Black writes under numerous pseudonyms and pens The Executioner series under the name Don Pendleton. His Executioner novel, Fatal Prescription, won the Best Original Novel Scribe Award given by the International Media Tie-In Writers Association in 2018.

His current books are Blood Trails, a cutting edge police procedural in the tradition of the late Michael Crichton, and Legends of the West, which features a fictionalized account of the legendary and real life lawman, Bass Reeves. His newest Executioner novels are Dying Art, Stealth Assassins, and Cold Fury, all of which were nominees and finalists for Best Novel Scribe Awards. He is very active in animal rescue and animal welfare issues and has several cats. 

 

 

Date: December 11, 2022

Day: Sunday 

Time: 2:00-4:00PM

Bill Rapp, David Grogan and Michael A. Black will speak about their mysteries of International Intrigue, even some Espionage and Crime. Each in their careers have had experience in these areas of Global Intelligence and Domestic Delinquency.

        

About the Authors:

Bill Rapp recently retired from the Central Intelligence Agency after thirty-five years as an analyst, diplomat, and senior manager. After receiving his BA from the University of Notre Dame, an MA from the University of Toronto, and a PhD from Vanderbilt University, Bill taught European History at Iowa State University for a year before heading off to Washington, D.C. The Hapsburg Variation is the second book in the Cold War Spy series featuring Karl Baier. Bill also has a three-book series of detective fiction set outside Chicago with P.I. Bill Haberman, and a thriller set during the fall of the Berlin Wall. He lives in northern Virginia with his wife, two daughters, two miniature schnauzers, and a cat. Bill Rapp recently retired from the Central Intelligence Agency after thirty-five years as an analyst, diplomat, and senior manager. After receiving his BA from the University of Notre Dame, an MA from the University of Toronto, and a PhD from Vanderbilt University, Bill taught European History at Iowa State University for a year before heading off to Washington, D.C. The Hapsburg Variation is the second book in the Cold War Spy series featuring Karl Baier. Bill also has a three-book series of detective fiction set outside Chicago with P.I. Bill Haberman, and a thriller set during the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

David E. Grogan served on active duty in the United States Navy for over 26 years as a Navy Judge Advocate. During the course of his Navy career, he prosecuted and defended court-martial cases; negotiated agreements in capitals around the world; lived abroad in Japan, Cuba and Bahrain; deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf onboard the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise; and actively contributed to the fight against piracy and international terrorism. His experiences abroad and during the course of his career influence every aspect of his writing. His third novel, The Hidden Key, was released by Camel Press in April, 2020. His first two novels were Sapphire Pavilion and The Siegel Dispositions.

Michael A. Black graduated from Columbia College, Chicago in 2000 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Fiction Writing. He previously earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Northern Illinois University. Despite his literary leanings, he has often said that police work has been his life. A former Army Military Policeman, he entered civilian law enforcement after his discharge, and for the past twenty-seven years has been a police officer in the south suburbs of Chicago.

The author of over forty articles on subjects ranging from police work to popular fiction, he has also had over thirty short stories published in various anthologies and magazines, including Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. His first novel, A Killing Frost, featuring private investigator Ron Shade, was published by Five Star in September 2002, with endorsements from such respected authors as Sara Paretsky and Andrew Vachss. The novel received universally excellent reviews, and was subsequently released in trade paperback.

Author: Michael Frutig

Title: Lincoln and Chicago

Date: October 23, 2022

Day: Sunday

Time: 2:00-4:00 PM

Description:

The Illinois Rail Splitter’s influence can be felt across the Land of Lincoln, but his relationship with Chicago was pivotal in his journey to the national stage. Lincoln first came to Chicago in 1847, a year before the Illinois-Michigan Canal opened and brought spectacular wealth to the region. The midwestern metropolis is where Lincoln met the backers who ultimately propelled him into the White House. Tens of thousands of Chicagoans viewed his coffin at its last stop before its final destination in Springfield. John Toman and Michael Frutig explore how the people of Chicago managed to get their man into power on the eve of the greatest crisis the nation had ever faced.

 

Author:

Michael Frutig is an historian with a passion for the early modern era. He is also an aspiring fiction writer, and has written epic poetry and other works. He graduated from the University of Iowa. He lives in Chicago.

Title: One Woman's World: The Columns of Lenora Mattingly Weber

Author: Betsy Edgerton

Date: December 4, 2022

Day: Sunday

Time: 2:00 - 4:00 PM

Description of the book:

Lenora Mattingly Weber (1895-1971) was best known for her mid-20th century girls book series, especially those about independent girls such as Beany Malone and Katie Rose Belford. Weber was an industrious widow with six children, who also had a lesser-known career as a magazine columnist. From 1946 to 1967, Weber wrote "Mid Pleasures and Problems" for Extension, a monthly Catholic magazine in the mold of the Saturday Evening Post. In her columns, she commented on the social issues of a large swathe of the 20th Century. In the 1940s, she described post-World War II life; in the 1950s she ruminated on the pros and cons of working mothers; and in the 1960s, she addressed Catholicism after Vatican II as well as racism and segregation. Her fans have brought her girls series books back into print, spurring a mini-Weber renaissance of her fiction. However, the 266 columns she wrote for Extension magazine have remained all but lost. Until now. This collection, curated and edited by Betsy Edgerton, contains 50 of Weber's best columns and showcases her most personal writing.

 

About the Author/Editor:

Betsy Edgerton is the editor of One Woman’s World: The Columns of Lenora Mattingly Weber. Weber (1895–1971) was best known for her girls-series fiction, but she was also a prolific magazine columnist. From 1946 to 1967, Weber wrote “Mid Pleasures and Problems” for Extension: The National Catholic Monthly, a magazine in the mold of the Saturday Evening Post. She used the column to comment on the social issues of the day. One Woman’s World, which contains 50 of Weber’s best columns from Catholic Extension, is published by Image Cascade Publishing.

Betsy is an associate professor of journalism in the Communication Department at Columbia College Chicago, specializing in magazine writing and editing. Her journalism career has focused on business writing, and she has deep experience as a book editor as well.  Her research focuses on the mid-century genre of "housewife writers" (also called "domestic chaos" writers), a group of women fiction writers who paid the bills by writing about their hectic home lives for magazines. She contributed a chapter to Cultivating Culture: How Twentieth Century Magazines Influenced America on the topic, titled Getting the Last Laugh: Domestic Chaos Writers Outlasted Their Critics. She is also a regular contributor to the Journal of Magazine Media, writing about magazines and culture. 

 

<<ZOOM>>     <<ZOOM>>      <<ZOOM>>

You can participate with a "Big screen" at Centuries & Sleuths, or on a little screen in the comfort of your own home!

The link for remote participants is:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84156594744?pwd=WWtmYVRyVDBHcE9oUGRRWnRtR2RkUT09

Join us!

Author: Dr. Moira Dolan, M.D.

Title: Title: Heroes and Scoundrels: #2 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Nobel Prize in Medicine

Date: September 27, 2022

Day: Tuesday

Time: 7:00 - 9:00 PM

About the Book:

Beware the pronouncements from medical authorities on high...

The good, the bad, and the ugly of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine are explored in these entertaining biographies of the world's most highly recognized scientists. From unapologetic Nazis to dedicated humanitarians who carried out prize-winning research while being resistance fighters or peace activists, these engaging true stories reveal the depths of both the human strength and depravity of the people who forged medical progress in the twentieth century.

In Heroes & Scoundrels (Volume 2 in the Boneheads and Brainiacs series), author and medical historian Moira Dolan, MD, continues her fascinating exploration of Nobel Prize in Medicine winners, focusing on the years 1951-1975. The book's many biographies include the delightful discoveries of a honeybee researcher who persisted through the carpet-bombing of Munich, in-depth reflections on the nature of consciousness from Nobel neuroscientists, and even wild, hard-to-believe self-experimentation in the name of medical progress.

Heroes & Scoundrels also provides readers with an eye-opening "behind the scenes" look at what one Nobel winner described as "a few odd crooks" in the Nobel Prize business of the post-War era, including researchers engaged in medical research dishonesty and fraud, and self-important scientists who leveraged their notoriety to influence public health affairs. The role of Nobel Prize winners is revealed in public debates about everything from water fluoridation to "good genes" and "bad genes." One laureate wondered, "whether mad scientists should really be allowed to police themselves" in light of the lack of informed consent for vaccine research and modified viruses escaping from labs.

As put by another laureate, the medical "priesthood" is due for some critique, and Heroes and Scoundrels will get you thinking.

About the Author:

Moira Dolan, MD, is a graduate of the University of Illinois School of Medicine and has been a practicing physician for over 30 years in Austin, Texas. Dr. Dolan is a patient advocate and public speaker who educates patients on their rights, and the need for a healthy skepticism of the medical profession. She is the author of the Boneheads & Brainiacs series: Volume I is Boneheads & Brainiacs: Heroes and Scoundrels of the Nobel Prize in Medicine; Volume II is Heroes & Scoundrels: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Nobel Prize in Medicine; and look for Volume III to complete the series in 2024. Find out more at https://www.thenobelbook.com/.

 

Author: Daniel Stashower

Title: American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America's Jack the Ripper

Date: October 7, 2022

Day: Friday

Time: 7:00-9:00 PM

 

Description

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New York Times bestselling author and Edgar Award-winner Daniel Stashower returns with American Demon, a historical true crime starring legendary lawman Eliot Ness.

Boston had its Strangler. California had the Zodiac Killer. And in the depths of the Great Depression, Cleveland had the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run.

On September 5th, 1934, a young beachcomber made a gruesome discovery on the shores of Cleveland’s Lake Erie: the lower half of a female torso, neatly severed at the waist. The victim, dubbed “The Lady of the Lake,” was only the first of a butcher’s dozen. Over the next four years, twelve more bodies would be scattered across the city. The bodies were dismembered with surgical precision and drained of blood. Some were beheaded while still alive.

Terror gripped the city. Amid the growing uproar, Cleveland’s besieged mayor turned to his newly-appointed director of public safety: Eliot Ness. Ness had come to Cleveland fresh from his headline-grabbing exploits in Chicago, where he and his band of “Untouchables” led the frontline assault on Al Capone’s bootlegging empire. Now he would confront a case that would redefine his storied career.

Award-winning author Daniel Stashower shines a fresh light on one of the most notorious puzzles in the annals of crime, and uncovers the gripping story of Ness’s hunt for a sadistic killer who was as brilliant as he was cool and composed, a mastermind who was able to hide in plain sight. American Demon reconstructs this ultimate battle of wits between a hero and a madman.

About the Author

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Daniel Stashower is an acclaimed biographer and narrative historian and winner of the Edgar, Agatha, and Anthony awards, and the Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction.

He is the author of six nonfiction works including The Hour of Peril, The Boy Genius and The Mogul as well as the Edgar Award-winning Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle. He is also the author of five mystery novels, the most recent of which is The Houdini Specter.

Stashower is a recipient of The Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellowship in Detective and Crime Fiction Writing, and spent a year as a Visiting Fellow at Wadham College, Oxford. A freelance journalist since 1986, Stashower's articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, National Geographic Traveller and Connoisseur.

He lives with his wife and two sons in Washington, D.C.