Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Fresh Pick | TO FETCH A THIEF by Spencer Quinn
Fresh Pick / April 7, 2011

Chet and Bernie #3 October 2010 On Sale: September 28, 2010 320 pages ISBN: 1439157073 EAN: 9781439157077 Hardcover $25.00  Add to Wish List Mystery Pet Lovers Buy at Amazon.com Who says all road trips involve only humans? Chet’s journey home is remarkable. To Fetch a Thief by Spencer Quinn In the third book in the brilliant New York Times bestselling series featuring a lovable and wise dog narrator, Chet and Bernie go under the big top to solve the most unlikely missing persons (and animals!) case ever. “We were outnumbered, some big number against two. When it comes to numbers, two is as far as I go, but it’s enough, in my opinion…. ‘Sit,’ Bernie said. I sat. Bernie would think of something—he always did. That was one of the things that made the Little Detective Agency such a success, except for the finances part…” Chet has smelled a lot of unusual things in his years as trusted companion and partner to P.I. Bernie Little, but nothing has prepared him for the exotic scents he encounters when an old fashioned traveling circus comes to town. Bernie scores tickets to this less-than-greatest- show-on-earth because his son Charlie is crazy about elephants….

Josh Lanyon | Writing Them Like They Used To
Author Guest / April 7, 2011

I was listening recently to writers wailing on a historical mystery discussion list about readers who say they find historical fiction boring. Among the theories proposed was these readers are themselves boring, which I guess might be true, but I think it’s more like…just as some readers can’t get into fantasy, some readers can’t relate to historical fiction. In fact, for some readers, historical fiction might as well be fantasy! I’m not sure what sales are like for regular historical fiction, but I write mystery and romance, and to my way of thinking there are two schools of thought, and possibly two sets of readers for that kind of historical genre fiction. One set favors the romantic historical — the kind of thing where history is altered as needed to make for a “better” story — and the other set favors historical romance — where the writer works as hard to get every detail accurate as would a writer of non-fiction. Of the two schools, the romantic historical typically sells better. That probably doesn’t come as a shock to anyone. Dessert is generally more popular than broccoli. In my opinion, the very best historical fiction combines all the elements we…