Staff Picks

Booked to Die

Booked to Die
$6.97

First published in 1992, this book was an instant sensation and an instant classic of the mystery genre.  Booked to Die is, like its protagonist, energetic, ornery, passionate and a true original.  Full of insider detail about the world of antiquarian bookselling, the novel builds to an elegant and satisfying solution.  We have a limited number of remainder copies at a bargain price.  Don't miss out!

- Jim Huang, BMC Bookshop Director


 

Booked to Die, the first book in John Dunning's bestselling, award-winning Cliff Janeway series, is "a joy to read for its wealth of inside knowledge about the antiquarian book business and its eccentric traders" (The New York Times Book Review).Denver homicide detective Cliff Janeway may not always play by the book, but he's an avid collector of rare and first editions. Bobby Westfall is a local bookscout, a gentle and quiet man who has sold enough valuable books to keep himself and his cats fed and housed. When Bobby is murdered, Janeway would like nothing better than to rearrange the suspect's spine. But the suspect, local lowlife Jackie Newton, is a master at eluding the law, and Janeway's wrathful brand of off-duty justice costs him his badge. Turning to his lifelong passion, Janeway opens a small bookshop--all the while searching for evidence to put Newton away. When prized volumes in a highly sought-after collection begin to appear, so do dead bodies. Now Janeway's life is about to change in profound and shocking ways as he attempts to find out who's dealing death along with vintage Chandlers and Twains. "One of the most enjoyable books I've read" (The Denver Post), Booked to Die is the first in the Cliff Janeway series. It is "a standout piece of crime fiction...Compelling page-turning stuff" (The Philadelphia Inquirer).
ISBN/SKU: 
9781501147258
Publication Date: 
February 7, 2017
Author: 
Publisher: 

Mexican Gothic

Blind Date With a Book
$17.00

Mexican Gothic is reminiscent of classics such as Rebecca and Wuthering Heights. It is a dark tale that speaks to the effects of colonization on families and the strength it takes for them to survive. I enjoyed this book as it reads like a psychological thriller with tones of magical realism, evoking similar themes to gothic films of the 1940s and 50s.

-- Taylor W., BMC '23


NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "It's Lovecraft meets the Brontës in Latin America, and after a slow-burn start Mexican Gothic gets seriously weird."--The Guardian

 

IN DEVELOPMENT AS A HULU ORIGINAL LIMITED SERIES PRODUCED BY KELLY RIPA AND MARK CONSUELOS - WINNER OF THE LOCUS AWARD - NOMINATED FOR THE BRAM STOKER AWARD

 

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, NPR, The Washington Post, Tordotcom, Marie Claire, Vox, Mashable, Men's Health, Library Journal, Book Riot, LibraryReads

 

An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets. . . . From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes "a terrifying twist on classic gothic horror" (Kirkus Reviews) set in glamorous 1950s Mexico.

 

After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She's not sure what she will find--her cousin's husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.

 

Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She's a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she's also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin's new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi's dreams with visions of blood and doom.

 

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family's youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family's past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family's once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

 

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.

 

"It's as if a supernatural power compels us to turn the pages of the gripping Mexican Gothic."--The Washington Post

 

"Mexican Gothic is the perfect summer horror read, and marks Moreno-Garcia with her hypnotic and engaging prose as one of the genre's most exciting talents."--Nerdist

 

"A period thriller as rich in suspense as it is in lush '50s atmosphere."--Entertainment Weekly

ISBN/SKU: 
9780525620808
Publication Date: 
June 15, 2021
Publisher: 

Pachinko

Pachinko
$18.99

Pachinko is so soapy! I went through it so quickly and cried my eyes out toward the end. It is the book I recommend to anyone and everyone!

- Angelica C., Book Associate

 



A New York Times Top Ten Book of the Year and National Book Award finalist, Pachinko is an extraordinary epic of four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family as they fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan (San Francisco Chronicle).

NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2017 * A USA TODAY TOP TEN OF 2017 * JULY PICK FOR THE PBS NEWSHOUR-NEW YORK TIMES BOOK CLUB NOW READ THIS * FINALIST FOR THE 2018DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE* WINNER OF THE MEDICI BOOK CLUB PRIZE

Roxane Gay's Favorite Book of 2017, Washington Post

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER * USA TODAY BESTSELLER * WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER * WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER

There could only be a few winners, and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones.

In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant--and that her lover is married--she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son's powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations.

Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters--strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis--survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.

*Includes reading group guide*

ISBN/SKU: 
9781455563920
Publication Date: 
November 14, 2017
Author: 

Right Sort of Man

Right Sort of Man
$9.99

Allison Montclair (pseudonym of Alan Gordon, author of the beloved Fool's Guild mysteries) has a deft touch with this lively cast of characters, spinning a entertaining tale of love of murder in London just after World War II.  This novel, first in a series, is a lovely lark, but there are also post-war and familial undercurrents that are surprisingly affecting.

- Jim Huang, BMC Bookshop Director


 

From debut author Allison Montclair comes an engrossing historical mystery novel set in post-war London, The Right Sort of Man.

In a London slowly recovering from World War II, two very different women join forces to launch a business venture in the heart of Mayfair--The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. Miss Iris Sparks, quick-witted and impulsive, and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, practical and widowed with a young son, are determined to achieve some independence and do some good in a rapidly changing world.

But their promising start is threatened when their newest client is found murdered and the man arrested for the crime is the prospective husband they matched her with. While the police are convinced they have their man, Miss Sparks and Mrs. Bainbridge are not. To clear his name--and to rescue their fledgling operation's reputation--Sparks and Bainbridge decide to investigate on their own. Little do they know that this will put their very lives at risk.

*BONUS CONTENT: This edition of The Right Sort of Man includes a new introduction from the author and a discussion guide

ISBN/SKU: 
9781250621412
Publication Date: 
July 28, 2020
Author: 
Publisher: 

Art of Violence

Art of Violence
$20.76
$25.95
You Save:
$5.19
Sale 20% off 1 item

My favorite hardboiled writer working today.  S.J. Rozan's Lydia Chin/Bill Smith novels feature characters you'll love, snappy banter, and intricate, beautifully constructed plots.  Art of Violence offers all this plus sharp observations about the New York art scene. Tragically, Rozan's publishers have worked overtime to make earlier titles in this series difficult to find -- we'd stock, recommend and sell all of them if we could -- but you can pick up this thirteenth in the series without missing a beat.

- Jim Huang, BMC Bookshop Director


 

In the latest mystery from S. J. Rozan, Bill Smith and Lydia Chin must track down a serial killer stalking women in New York's contemporary art scene.

Former client Sam Tabor, just out of Greenhaven after a five-year homicide stint, comes to Bill Smith with a strange request. A colossally talented painter whose parole was orchestrated by art world movers and shakers, Sam's convinced that since he's been out he's killed two women. He doesn't remember the killings but he wants Smith, one of the few people he trusts, to investigate and prove him either innocent or guilty.

NYPD detective Angela Grimaldi thinks Sam's "a weirdo." Smith has no argument with that: diagnosed with a number of mental disorders over the years, Sam self-medicates with alcohol, loses focus (except when he's painting), and has few friends. But Smith doesn't think that adds up to serial killer. He enlists Lydia Chin to help prove it.

Smith and Chin delve into the world surrounding Sam Tabor, including his brother, two NYPD detectives, and various other artists, dealers, collectors, curators, and art connoisseurs. No answers appear. Evidence is found and lost again. And more bodies turn up.

Sam Tabor might be just a crazy artist. But someone is killing people in his orbit. If not Sam, who? Why? And who will be next?

ISBN/SKU: 
9781643135311
Publication Date: 
December 1, 2020
Author: 
Publisher: