Claudia Bishop

1 - What's your latest?

Claudia Bishop: TOAST MORTEM, a Hemlock Falls mystery featurin Meg and Sarah Quilliam. The two sisters run a 27 room Inn in upstate New York. Guests check in, but they don't check out.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Claudia Bishop: It is very very funny.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Claudia Bishop: She's better at the job of Innkeeping than she thinks she is.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Claudia Bishop: The denouement, where she discovers who the murderer really is.

5 - What's next?

Claudia Bishop: I am working on the fifth Mary Stanton title--a Beaufort & Company mystery.

Barry Eisler

1 - What's your latest?

Barry Eisler: INSIDE OUT, a thriller about the real nature of the "War on Terror," out on June 29.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Barry Eisler: Because it's so topical and real, it's both more gripping and more important than an ordinary thriller. If you want to understand what the "War on Terror" really is and how it works, this is your book.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Barry Eisler: My black ops insider, Ben Treven, is under so much pressure he might do something irrational -- something he won't be able to revoke.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Barry Eisler: Oh, man, there are so many... I love the sex scene, which has proven a bit controversial; I love when my antagonist goes on a rampage in San Jose, Costa Rica, against the Blackwater operatives who are setting him up... and then there's this bit of dialogue, which encapsulates what's at the heart of the story: "The Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers... that’s all just window dressing now, the artifacts of an ancient mythology, the vestments of a dead religion. We need something different now, something suited for the modern world. We need realists, men like us. We are the change we’ve been waiting for."

5 - What's next?

Barry Eisler: A sequel, naturally -- there's more to this story than can be told in a single book.

Janet Evanovich

1 - What's your latest?

Janet Evanovich: SIZZING SIXTEEN, out on June 22.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Janet Evanovich: It's a face paced thriller with kidnapping, polygamy, a toilet paper bandit and an alligator named Jr. Jingles.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Janet Evanovich: She's always getting in over her head.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Janet Evanovich: I like when the Hobbits storm the castle. Why? Because they're Hobbits storming the castle, for crying out loud!

5 - What's next?

Janet Evanovich: TROUBLEMAKER, my first attempt at a graphic novel. It's out on July 20.

Blake Crouch

1 - What's your latest?

Blake Crouch: SNOWBOUND, coming June 22nd ... here’s the jacket flap:

For Will Innis and his daughter, Devlin, the loss was catastrophic. Every day for the past five years, they wonder where she is, if she is—Will’s wife, Devlin’s mother—because Rachael Innis vanished one night during an electrical storm on a lonely desert highway, and suspected of her death, Will took his daughter and fled. Now, Will and Devlin live under different names in another town, having carved out a new life for themselves as they struggle to maintain some semblance of a family. When one night, a beautiful, hard-edged FBI agent appears on their doorstep, they fear the worst, but she hasn’t come to arrest Will. “I know you’re innocent,” she tells him, “because Rachael wasn’t the first ... or the last.” Desperate for answers, Will and Devlin embark on a terrifying journey that spans four thousand miles from the desert southwest to the wilds of Alaska, heading unaware into the heart of a nightmare, because the truth is infinitely worse than they ever imagined.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Blake Crouch: Um, because it’s like, good and stuff? And because you just admitted you hadn’t and should feel very guilty. Also for one scene: see response to question no. 4.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Blake Crouch: That his name, Will, is actually my first name (William Blake Crouch).

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Blake Crouch: When my psychopath, Javier, goes into a Starbucks to order a simple cup of black coffee and gets stuck in line behind this woman who wants some skinny chai latte bullshit drink. It’s my favorite scene because I love how Javier handles the situation, and wish I could do the same. Of course, I would probably spend the rest of my life in prison if I did.

5 - What's next?

Blake Crouch: A novella in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and a super-secret collaboration project coming mid-summer.

Rebecca Cantrell

1 - What's your latest?

Rebecca Cantrell: A NIGHT OF LONG KNIVES, second in the Hannah Vogel mystery series (after A TRACE OF SMOKE).

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Rebecca Cantrell: You find out what happened to Hannah and Anton and get thrust into another historical era: 1934 Germany. It's set during the purge known as The Night of the Long Knives, when Hitler's forces killed up to 1000 people, including his best friend, and examines the purge from the point of view of the wives and mothers and sisters of the men killed. Plus, it starts with a zeppelin jacking.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Rebecca Cantrell: She's determined that no death go unnoticed, that the stories of the men who died be recorded.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Rebecca Cantrell: I hate favorite questions. But there is an interrogation scene where Hannah discover that everything she thought she knew about someone is false. I love that moment.

5 - What's next?

Rebecca Cantrell: A GAME OF LIES comes out in June 2012. It's set in Berlin during the 1936 Olympics.

Linda Castillo

1 - What's your latest?

Linda Castillo: PRAY FOR SILENCE, St Martin’s Minotaur, June 22, 2010

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Linda Castillo: PRAY FOR SILENCE is the second book in my Kate Burkholder series. You should read it because it offers a fresh take on the urban thriller. Sort of….JUSTIFIED meets WITNESS…..

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Linda Castillo: One word that very closely describes Kate Burkholder is flawed, but in a very human way. Perhaps the book’s Publisher’s Weekly review summed up Kate’s persona best: “A gun-toting, cursing, former Amish female chief of police...."”

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Linda Castillo: As a writer I really do love imperfect characters. And I love pushing the envelope. In PRAY FOR SILENCE, those two elements go hand in hand. The scene I enjoyed writing the most illuminates some of Kate’s more human moments. Suffice it to say there are times when she reacts to the events being thrown at her in ways that could be construed as self destructive.

5 - What's next?

Linda Castillo: Kate and John Tomasetti will return next summer in the third installment of the series. Without giving away too much, I can tell you Kate is once again faced with a terrible and wrenching case that hits very close to home for her. There are some surprises in the book and some twists that might shock a few readers.

Tarquin Hall

1 - What's your latest?

Tarquin Hall: THE CASE OF THE MAN WHO DIED LAUGHING. It's the second of my Vish Puri Most Private Investigator novels. It's set in Delhi, India and the murder takes place at an early morning Laughing Club (yes you guessed it a club where people get together and laugh). A scientist attending the session is killed by an apparition of the Hindu goddess, Kali. This is not the sort of thing you would generally expect to happen, even in India. Consequently, the public believe a miracle has happened. But Punjabi sleuth Vish Puri, lover of all things spicy, is not so easily fooled.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Tarquin Hall: Because it's got everything -- suspense, colourful characters and plenty of mouth-watering references to Indian food. There's humour as well -- Puri's interfering Mummy-ji works her own case on the side. Plus the book givev a lot of insight into modern India. With a population of 1.2 billion and an economy that could soon be as large as America's, it's a good idea to know more about the place.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Tarquin Hall: Hmmm. Hard one. I guess I'd say that if he carries on eating all those paranthas and chicken frankies then he's going to drop dead from a heart attack and then what am I going to do?

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Tarquin Hall: I like the very end. It's touching. My editor shed a tear when she read it and that made me happy.

5 - What's next?

Tarquin Hall: I think I'm going to call it THE CASE OF THE DEADLY BUTTER CHICKEN. It's going to be about corruption in cricket and the murder of a Pakistani player's father. But as with THE CASE OF THE MAN WHO DIED LAUGHING and THE CASE OF THE MISSING SERVANT (A New York Times notable crime book), I'll weave in a couple of sub-plots. Vish Puri's bread and butter work is matrimonial investigations (i.e. looking into the backgrounds of prospective brides and grooms entering into arranged marriages) which is a good way of highlighting the changes taking places in Indian society.

Alan Furst

1 - What's your latest?


Alan Furst: SPIES OF THE BALKANS, out 15 June.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Alan Furst: Very moving real story of Greece '41

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Alan Furst: My main character is "a senior Police official" who handles political cases in the Macedonian Greek city of Salonika.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Alan Furst: I have a character called The French King because he looks like Louis the 14th in profile and is the crookedest character I ever wrote. I like the scene with him in the back of a car so deluxe that the hero has no idea what it is and neither does the reader. (And neither do I!)

5 - What's next?

Alan Furst: Another book--just signed a new two-book deal with Random House.

Catherine Coulter

1 - What's your latest?

Catherine Coulter: My latest is the 14th FBI thriller, WHIPLASH, out June 15th.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

Catherine Coulter: Because I go after the drug companies and you've got to know how good that would make you feel.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

Catherine Coulter: It changes her life.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

Catherine Coulter: My very favorite scene is between Sherlock and the big bad guy -- it's got grit and good triumphs, something very nice to experience in this bad old world, even if only in a novel.

5 - What's Next?

Catherine Coulter: The 15th FBI is SPLIT SECOND, out this time next year. I think it's really cool because Ted Bundy's involved in it.

CJ West

1 - What's your latest?

CJ West: THE END OF MARKING TIME, a thriller about our society after the supreme court releases 2,000,000 felons at the same time.

2 - Assuming I haven't read it, why should I?

CJ West: THE END OF MARKING TIME is a unique look at an ultra-modern criminal justice system. The novel puts you (the reader) in the jury box while Michael O'Connor asks you to spare his life. Mystery surrounds Michael, his fate,and even who he is really telling his story to.

3 - What can you tell us about your main character that you hadn't realized until you answered the question?

CJ West: I wrote a blog post today and realized that Michael O'Connor is the result of years of thought about families, education, and social justice. The first draft burst forth in six short weeks, but the seeds of the story had germinated long before I began pressing the keys.

4 - What's your favorite scene and why?

CJ West: The ending is my favorite part of the book. I remember my excitement when the idea first came to me and when I have talked to readers, I see that same excitement in their eyes when they talk about the ending.

5 - What's next?

CJ West: I'm waiting for news on SIN & VENGEANCE, the movie. In the meantime I'm keeping myself busy writing ADDICTED TO LOVE, which is a love story/thriller due out in 2011.