An Update on Hiro and Father Mateo!

An Update on Hiro and Father Mateo!

I’ve received quite a bit of (much appreciated!) email lately, asking about the next book in the Hiro Hattori/Father Mateo mystery series.

I’m delighted to announce that yes, there will be more books! I’m working hard on Book 9, which does not yet have a formal title or release date, but is definitely one of my favorites in the series to date.

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Hello, FIRES OF EDO !

Hello, FIRES OF EDO !

Edo, February 1566: When a samurai’s corpse is discovered in the ruins of a burned-out bookshop, master ninja Hiro Hattori and Jesuit Father Mateo must determine whether the shopkeeper and his young apprentice are innocent victims or assassins in disguise. The investigation quickly reveals dangerous ties to Hiro’s past, which threaten not only Edo’s fledgling booksellers’ guild, but the very survival of Hiro’s ninja clan. With an arsonist on the loose, and a murderer stalking the narrow streets, Hiro and Father Mateo must save the guild—and themselves—from a conflagration that could destroy them all.

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Back from Left Coast Crime!

The blog was more silent than usual last week; I was finishing up a project and out of town for the Left Coast Crime conference – a fantastic West Coast mystery convention, organized by volunteers, that takes place in a different location every year. This year’s conference, “Honolulu Havoc” — took place at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort in Waikiki (O’ahu, Hawaii) Later that morning, I spoke on the Historical Mystery panel with Rebecca Cantrell, Ovidia Yu, Ann Parker, and fantastic moderator Noel Hynd: Later in the weekend, I moderated a panel on Religion in Crime Fiction, attended even more

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Something To Crow About, by Larry D. Sweazy

Please welcome fellow Seventh Street Books author, Larry D. Sweazy, who’s taking over the blog today to talk about one of my favorite birds, which also features in his newest mystery, A Thousand Falling Crows (Seventh Street Books, 2016).   Larry D. Sweazy is the author of twelve novels, including A Thousand Falling Crows, See Also Murder, Vengeance at Sundown, The Coyote Tracker, The Devil’s Bones, and The Rattlesnake Season. He won the WWA (Western Writers of America) Spur award for Best Short Fiction in 2005 and for Best Paperback Original in 2013, and the 2011 and 2012 Will Rogers Medallion

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The Nazi Chocolate Caper (by K.B. Owen)

Please Welcome mystery author K.B. Owen, who’s taking the reins today…and be sure to read all the way to the bottom (and leave a comment) for a chance to win a great prize package!   photo by John Loo (creative commons) The Nazi Chocolate Caper By K.B. Owen This being the day before Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be fun to talk about a chocolate-related case of intrigue. The year was 1943, and those crafty Nazis had come up with yet another plan to assassinate Winston Churchill.  They decided to prey upon the Prime Minister’s fondness for expensive chocolate, and

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Era and Setting: Bringing Historical Forensics Alive

This post continues the Historical Forensics series I started last Monday.. Three cardinal facets of historical mystery are the era, a setting, and the detective, all of which have critical impact on the forensic information the author can utilize. Fortunately, story parameters generally require making these selections first. Let’s take a closer look at the way the author’s choice of an era and setting impact the story’s forensics: 1. Era: the time in which the story happens. The choice of historical era impacts every part of an author’s story, including forensics. Technology, a society’s reaction to murders, the murder methods

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News! January 19, 2013

This week in Spann of Time news: Shinobi news! The new author website is almost ready to launch, and I can’t wait to share it with the world. Also, I’m looking forward to seeing galleys of Claws of the Cat, which should be finished some time in February. I’ve finished polish edits on Book 2 of the Shinobi Mystery series, tentatively titled Blade of the Samurai, and I’ll be sending it to the publisher very soon. Upcoming Appearances 1. On January 24 I’m blogging at Chiseled in Rock. This week, we’re looking at grants of rights in publishing contracts. 2.

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