12.21, Dustin Thomason

On the second week in December a deadly insomnia hits Los Angeles. Prion researcher Dr. Gabe Stanton and his team are quick to figure out how the disease spreads but powerless to contain it. Could the answer lie in a black market artifact recently smuggled across the border from Guatemala?

Cast out by the CDC after a disastrous failed attempt to cure the disease Stanton teams up with Chel Manu, a curator at the Getty Museum and one of only a handful of descendents of the old Maya civilization to attempt to translate the pages of the artifact as the state is placed on lockdown.

According to the Mayan calendar the world ends on December 21st 2012. . .

Off The Grid, P.J.Tracy

The Monkeewrench crew are a team member short. Grace MacBride was last seen sailing into the Florida sunset with retired FBI agent John Smith and honorary members Magozzi and Rolseth are tracking murderous people traffickers in Minneapolis. Then Grace turns up on Magozzi’s doorstep and all hell breaks loose.

Who is killing bad men before they can carry out unspeakable acts? What is the significance of Halloween this year and will it be explosive? Monkeewrench is on the run, with John Smith, heading for a violent showdown on a remote Indian reservation and not everybody’s coming back alive.

Sentinel, Matthew Dunn

‘He has betrayed us and wants to go to war’ is the message that sends spartan agent Will Cochrane deep into the heart of Russia. His contact has one final piece of advice, ‘Only Sentinel can stop him.’

Will finds himself working with Sentinel, the first product of the spartan program and the man he may well one day become. The pair hope to stave off an attack that could leave the rest of the free world reeling but they may both have been compromised. This action-packed sequel to Spycatcher will have you turning the pages long into the night.

Dreamland, Adventures in the strange science of sleep, David K Randall

When the author went from sleep-talking to sleep injuring himself, his long-suffering wife sent him to a sleep clinic. Here they diagnosed a problem but admitted to having no idea how to fix it.

Feeling cheated by science Randall set out to learn more about sleep and why we need it. What he discovers will surprise you and like Randall you may learn to start treating shut eye with more of the respect it deserves.

Hollow Man, Oliver Harris

Nick Belsey is a good detective but his career like his finances are in the red. That’s when Nick contemplates the unthinkable, taking on the mantle of Alex Devereau, a recently deceased financial snake charmer with a project that has the City salivating.

He takes the plunge into the rented fiction of Alex’s life but is unable to stop investigating a case that seems a little off. What he uncovers could change London irreversibly, it could also put him in the path of sniper’s bullet.

New for August

Yes, I know it's still July but barely and there's lots of good stuff for August, including a clever police procedural about identity theft, one apocalyptic read from one of the co-authors of The Rule of Four. The new P.J. Tracy, new Matthew Dunn (he wrote the brilliant Spycatcher) and a fascinating non-fiction on the science of sleep. Enjoy

Help! Someone superglued me to a book

Sometimes, a title will elbow its way into my stack of to-be-reads. Hand for a Hand by T. Frank Muir is one of those, I suffered missing time over the weekend because of it. Comes out in November, full review then.

A New York state of mind??

One of the things I love about being an indie bookseller is that when a recommendation sticks you get people coming back wanting to read more of what you like. I love to chat with these customers because they can recommend new authors to me and also a chance comment can spur me on to do a bit of research.

In this case mysteries set in New York. I came up with a few on the spot but, just like last year when I researched mysteries set in Chicago none sprang into my mind. Now I have not only a serious amount of new (to me) reading material but for the next update of the mystery menu a section entitled 'Cosmos' or 'Appletinis' All of these authors have books set in NY

SJ Rozan

Jean Zimmerman

Walter Mosley

Amanda Cross

Lawrence Block

Linda Fairstein

Tim McLoughlin

Jed Rubenfeld

Caleb Carr

Harlen Coben

The founding of a new tradition

Just back from my first ever writers weekend. The main thing I learned is that the weekend or however many days away is what you make it. Lay down some ground rules before you go, we did.

Most important fact, a change of scenery inspires creativity. I wrote more in the last few days than I have in the last month. I averaged roughly ten pages a day (that doesn't sound like much but when two pages a day is what you usually manage...)

Don't forget to take regular breaks, a quick hike or a run across to the general store or even a tea break will do.

Get up as early or late as you like. Ditto going to bed.

A minimum of one bottle of wine per guest. If you have dietary requirements bring what you need as well as stuff to share with the others. Oh and lots and lots of chocolate.

Stay in contact but don't be ruled by your devices.

Take a notebook and a pencil so that you can still write while your laptop recharges.

Name the Mystery Character #1

This is the first in a weekly (hopefully) quiz. All I need from you is the name of a character. To be fair, the character will be from a three book plus series. The first person to comment with the correct answer will get their name printed on the blog. Who knows if we get enough people I might start providing prizes but that's down the line.

This character was an NYPD homicide detective.

He was retired to the Catskill mountains by his wife.

His first case in print involved an X. Arybdis

Disclaimer, this competition is not run in junction with King's English. It is just a bit of fun for all you mystery buffs.

Updated Mystery Menu coming your way

Those of you who have seen the mystery menu in TKE's mystery room will know that it is sore need of an update and it's just had one! New authors, new categories, being printed as we speak. It will also have monthly specials on the back. This month's are Paris Directive, The Key and Skeleton Picnic.

I have been writing my little cotton socks off which is why there haven't been many posts, but I do want to do at least a couple a week because the reading is good at the moment people.

Hypnotist follow-up The Nightmare by Lars Kepler great sophomore book! Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd (the arc finally came my way), Alif the Unseen (Arabic hacker, present day, currently half way through, little bit Potter-esque).

I also want to do a mystery character quiz. I'm testing this out and I would prefer answers on the blog rather than in the store but whatever makes you happy. I will give you three clues, every Monday (apart from the first one which follows this post) and you have to use your massive mystery knowledge to name the character. I'm thinking there might be prizes down the line if we get enough people taking part. Oh and this is a mystery girl exclusive, I'm doing the quiz, not TKE. Disclaimer will follow every quiz.

Let the Devil Sleep, John Verdon

Tinnitus, withdrawal, the constant need to be armed. Dave Gurney’s wife can see him pulling away from the world. He needs something to engage his mind, draw him out of himself which is just what Connie Clark gives him. Her daughter Kim is doing a TV show for the RAM news network. The project, titled The Orphans of Murder has Kim interviewing families of murder victims. She has picked a sacred cow in the law enforcement community The Good Shepherd Murders. Ten years ago blanket coverage of the case catapulted RAM to the top of the media ladder, cemented many professional reputations and destroyed more than just the victim’s families.

Against his better judgement Gurney agrees to Kim hiring him as an advisor. The Good Shepherd was never caught and when Gurney starts to investigate the house of cards that the FBI calls a case he does more than raise the ire of the FBI, he awakens a killer.

Broken Harbor, Tana French

Mick ’Scorcher’ Kennedy has the best solve rate in all of the murder squad and he doesn't go for the easy cases-but this one could prove his undoing. The family have been attacked in their own home on an exclusive but unfinished housing development now known as Brianstown.

Scorcher can remember when it was Broken Harbour an isolated, but beautiful strip of land dotted with caravans, close to the sea, loaded with memories Scorcher thought he’d buried forever. On the face of it this seems to be an open and shut domestic, but both Scorcher and his wet-behind-the-ears partner Richie sense that this is going to be a tough one.

Was someone stalking the family? Why does the house have holes knocked in the walls and baby monitors everywhere and what’s with the mantrap in the loft?

Scorcher and his partner not only have to contend with hostile witnesses, but interference from family and colleagues. They’re just a rookie mistake away from getting busted back to traffic division and to save his case Scorcher may have to sacrifice his most prized possession.