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SANDRA JORDAN is an award-winning writer and editor. She is Consultant and First Reader of Adult Mysteries for the Nancy Gallt Literary Agency-Mysteries.

MOST RECENT
Magpie Recommends LISTINGS

Susan Witting Albert
Kelly Armstrong
Harlan Coben
Elly Griffiths
Brian Haig
Frances and Richard Lockridge
Victoria Thompson

Magpie Recommends Authors

Susan Wittig Albert
Lisa Black
Lawrence Block
Linda Castillo
Lee Child
Harlan Coben
Michael Connelly
Robert Crais
Deborah Crombie
Ariana Franklin
Robert Galbraith (aka J. K. Rowling)
Jason Goodwin
Elly Griffiths
Brian Haig
Charlaine Harris
C. S. Harris
Stephen Hunter
William Kent Krueger
Donna Leon
Frances and Richard Lockridge
Margaret Maron
Eliot Pattison
Thomas Perry
John Sandford
C. J. Sansom
Michael Sears
Daniel Silva
Victoria Thompson
Jacqueline Winspear

Magpie Mystery Lounge is Reading…

Sandra Jordan, Proprietor and Main Writer (with a little help from her friends)

Welcome to MAGPIE READS :: Nancy Drew was my gateway drug. Since the day I found those chunky, blue-bound volumes in the boxes of my mother’s childhood books I’ve been a mystery fan. From Nancy it was a short leap to my parent’s bookshelves crammed with Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, John D. MacDonald, Agatha Christie, Eric Ambler, Dorothy L. Sayers, Phyllis Whitney, Dick Francis, Josephine Tey, Leslie Charteris, and Mary Roberts Rinehart. A great Aunt’s downsizing added the Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle and E. Phillips Oppenheim. And then there were books of history, biography, poetry and best selling novels, often dropped off in cartons by friends and relatives. We really didn’t have what you would call a library—it was more of an orphanage for books. I read everything happily, indiscriminately, the beginning of a life long obsession.

No matter how well you think you’re hiding it, word of your addictions gets around. Friends began sitting me down to ask for suggestions about what to read next. Giving advice is almost as addictive as reading and combining the two is irresistible. About six years ago I began keeping lists of mystery writers, and one thing has led to another, as things so often do. The books and writers here are all ones I enjoyed reading for one reason or another. There is no attempt to be fair or to review award winners and best sellers. If it’s here I like it. If you don’t find a book you are looking for on these lists it might be that I didn’t get around to writing about it yet. I have held back some favorites to add as I go along. On the other hand, I find some very popular writers completely resistible. Reading is pretty subjective, isn’t it? Of course, I might never have heard of the writer or the series. That happens all the time. New books always are turning up, and isn’t that a good reason to get up in the morning. Please take a minute to make recommendations of your own. I’m always looking for my next great read.

MAGPIE READS

Without Mercy by Jefferson Bass

Without Mercy (Dr. Bill Brockton)

Image / November 28, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Forensic Mystery

Written by Jefferson Bass FORENSIC MYSTERIES. Dr. Bill Brockton is called to consult on a strange death in the woods of Cooke County Tennessee, a place he describes as “notorious for its frontier mentality and outlaw entrepreneurs.” Bill and his feisty doctoral student and assistant Miranda, drive up twisty roads into the Great Smokey Mountains, […]

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Dr. Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson

Jefferson Bass

Image / November 28, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Forensic Mystery / No Comments

(co writers Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson) FORENSIC MYSTERIES, DR. BILL BROCKTON. Full disclosure, I am content to watch reruns of CSI Las Vegas and Bones for mindless hours at a time, so not surprisingly I find the gruff slightly awkward central character of these books, Dr. Bill Brockton to be very winning for […]

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Night School

Image / October 18, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Thriller / No Comments

Written by Lee Child THRILLER. It’s 1996. Major Jack Reacher, still in the army, has been awarded his second Legion of Merit in a private ceremony “It was a transaction. A contractual token. Take the bauble and keep your mouth shut about what we asked you to do for it.” As Reacher leaves the ceremony […]

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Bouchercon 2016

Bouchercon 47: The Anthony Awards

Image / October 17, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Magpie Events / No Comments

The Anthony is an award named for the critic and writer Anthony Boucher (August 21, 1911 to April 29, 1968). It is one of the most prestigious awards in the mysery field and is voted on by the attendees at the convention, this year including me, Nancy Gallt, and you, if you were there. (If […]

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Bouchercon 2016

Notes from Bouchercon 47, continued

Image / October 12, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Magpie Events / No Comments

New Orleans 2016 – Blood on the Bayou Nancy Gallt and I got up early on Friday to be at the 7:30 New Author Breakfast at Bouchercon. Twenty-four first-time authors got three minutes each to stand up and talk about themselves and their books while their semi-hungover audience eats very good eggs, sausage, and biscuits. […]

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Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben: the Myron Bolitar series

Image / September 29, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Amateur Sleuth, Suspense Mystery / No Comments

Written by Harlan Coben AMATEUR DETECTIVE. Myron Bolitar, Coben’s hero, is a former basketball star derailed from a big career by a crippling knee injury. Now he’s a sports agent, with a sideline in solving mysteries – mysteries often associated with one of his athletes. If you haven’t read them it’s hard to explain the […]

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Bouchercon 2016

Notes from Bouchercon 47

Image / September 25, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Magpie Events / No Comments

New Orleans 2016 — Blood on the Bayou Nancy Gallt and I attended Bouchercon in New Orleans, to see some friends and do a little business. Also, we’re always on the lookout for a new writer who needs representation. I love hanging out with book people. The Opening Ceremonies featured the guests of honor in […]

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Bouchercon 2016

Magpie Going to New Orleans

Image / September 13, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Magpie Events / No Comments

We’re excited to be heading to Bouchercon in New Orleans. If you don’t know about this mystery conference, their website will give you a glimpse: bouchercon.com . I hope to be too busy to have time to post anything from the meeting, but I’ll take lots of notes. Probably. You can’t visit New Orleans without […]

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Quiet Neighbors: A Novel

Image / September 10, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Amateur Sleuth / No Comments

Written by Catriona McPherson Half way through Catriona McPherson’s Quiet Neighbors I felt compelled to go to Goodgle and find out if Wigtown is a real place. I’m happy to report that the small Scottish village full of second hand bookstores does exist. We could all go there though I doubt the experience will be […]

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Little Pretty Things

Little Pretty Things

Image / August 10, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Amateur Sleuth / No Comments

Written by Lori Rader-Day AMATEUR SLEUTH. What happens to the girl who always comes in second? Juliet “Jules” Townsend was a brilliant high school track star who broke state records. Unfortunately that was not good enough to win. Her best friend Madeleine “Maddy” Bell beat her in every race. The silver cups in the lobby […]

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Seeds of Deception by Linda Castillo

Seeds of Deception

Image / July 21, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Suspense Mystery

A Kate Burkholder Short Story | Written by Linda Castillo This short tale of 14-year-old Kate Burkholder offers an interesting glimpse of the heroine of Linda Castillo’s mystery series. Kate is now Chief of Police in Painter’s Mills, Ohio, but she grew up Amish. Here we meet the young teenage Kate before she has made […]

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Susan Wittig Albert Blood Orange

Blood Orange

Image / July 12, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Amateur Sleuth

Written by Susan Wittig Albert AMATEUR SLEUTH. China Bayles doesn’t like her best friend Ruby’s sister Ramona—she privately refers to her as Ruby’s evil twin. But China’s herb shop Thyme and Seasons is right next door to Ruby’s new age store The Crystal Cave, and the two women share a tea room and a catering […]

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Susan Wittig Albert

Susan Wittig Albert: The China Bayles Series

Image / June 30, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Amateur Sleuth

Written by Susan Wittig Albert AMATEUR SLEUTH. Albert writes a traditional/cozy-ish series set in Pecan Springs, a fictional small town in the Texas hill country. China Bayles, her heroine, is a former criminal attorney who decided she’d had enough of the justice system. She now owns a store, Thyme and Seasons, that sells herbs. In […]

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Elly Griffiths Woman in Blue

The Woman in Blue

Image / June 18, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Amateur Sleuth

Ruth Galloway, 8th book in series | Written by Elly Griffiths AMATEUR SLEUTH. Anthropologist Ruth Galloway shares the spotlight with the other recurring characters in the eighth book in the series, most particularly D. I. (Detective Inspector) Nelson her sometime lover and her good friend Cathbad the Druid. Cathbad is cat sitting in the village […]

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Nadia Stafford Mystery Series

The Nadia Stafford series

Image / May 23, 2016 / Sandra Jordan / Suspense Mystery, Thriller / No Comments

Written by Kelley Armstrong HIT WOMAN. As Nadia Stafford, the heroine of this three book series (with an additional novella published in e-book this spring), is an ex-Canadian cop who owns and operates a wilderness lodge. As Dee she is a contract killer for the Thomasetti’s, a small traditional Mafia family from Boston. Dee’s mentor […]

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Magpie Archives

Without Mercy (Dr. Bill Brockton)

November 28, 2016

Jefferson Bass

November 28, 2016 / 0

Night School

October 18, 2016 / 0

Bouchercon 47: The Anthony Awards

October 17, 2016 / 0

Notes from Bouchercon 47, continued

October 12, 2016 / 0

Harlan Coben: the Myron Bolitar series

September 29, 2016 / 0

Notes from Bouchercon 47

September 25, 2016 / 0

Magpie Going to New Orleans

September 13, 2016 / 0

Quiet Neighbors: A Novel

September 10, 2016 / 0

Little Pretty Things

August 10, 2016 / 0

Seeds of Deception

July 21, 2016

Blood Orange

July 12, 2016

Susan Wittig Albert: The China Bayles Series

June 30, 2016

The Woman in Blue

June 18, 2016

The Nadia Stafford series

May 23, 2016 / 0

Extreme Prey (A Lucas Davenport mystery)

May 16, 2016 / 0

Murder in Morningside Heights

May 5, 2016

Magpie at the KGB Bar

April 26, 2016

Murder on Astor Place

April 22, 2016 / 0

Journey to Munich

April 17, 2016 / 0

Mr. and Mrs. North Series

April 13, 2016 / 0

The Sniper and the Wolf: A Sniper Elite Novel

March 31, 2016 / 0

The Waters of Eternal Youth (Commissario Guido Brunetti)

March 27, 2016

Saving Jason

March 25, 2016 / 0

100 Deadly Skills: The SEAL Operative’s Guide to Eluding Pursuers, Evading Capture, and Surviving Any Dangerous Situation

February 23, 2016

Review: Michael Connelly mystery The Crossing (Harry Bosch)

February 19, 2016 / 0

When Falcons Fall (A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery)

February 17, 2016 / 0

Reacher Said Nothing: Lee Child and the Making of Make Me

January 21, 2016 / 0

Long Upon the Land (A Deborah Knott Mystery)

January 18, 2016 / 0

Career of Evil

January 2, 2016 / 0

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