The venerable Martinez Roca has just published Haunting Bombay in Spain this month, launching from Madrid with the beautiful title La Casa De Los Aromas Sagrados.  I believe that this is translated as The House of Sacred Scents.  Additional lines on the book cover capture the essence of the book, “The secret of one family….A tale that evokes the magic of Bombay.” Doy las gracias a todo el mundo en Martinez Roca por su incansable dedicación a mi libro!

I attended the 7th annual Mystery on the Menu Luncheon at the Cerritos Library on January 29th.  It was a sold-out event of almost two-hundred attendees that mixed and mingled with mystery writers while enjoying a delicious lunch.  Click here for more details. (more…)

This Sunday’s West Hollywood Book Fair was a fantastic afternoon of books, writers, and readings. I was speaking with authors Tatjani Soli, Lucy Bledsloe, Tim Hallinan, and Other Voices Editor-in-Chief Stacy Berlein about the thrills and travails of fiction set in distant lands. It was an amazing journey to Thailand, India, Vietnam, and Antarctica.

ARTWALLAH, North America’s renowned festival of dynamic South Asian art is this weekend, June 18-20th in Santa Monica, CA.  This year ArtWallah partners with the venerable Highways Performance Space in presenting the freshest in Cultural-Art-Collision, food and family fun. Classically grass-roots in nature but modern in form and context, ArtWallah’s fringing of music, dance, solo performance/stand-up, literature, poetry, film and visual art, digs deeply into its ethnic roots: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to find its fusion in a uniquely American expressionism.  For more on ArtWallah, and to buy tickets, click here.

The venerable Piemme Publishing House in Italy has translated and published Haunting Bombay this month, titled La stanza degli spiriti, or The House of Ghosts.  I am indebted to everyone at Piemme for their enthusiasm, dedication, and the gorgeous cover, and also to my Italian translator Laura Pignatti.

Haunting Bombay was just released this month in paperback with a discussion guide tucked in the back for book clubs.  It’s been an amazing year since the publication of my hardback last April.  I’ve travel the country, met wonderful authors, signed books, and discovered fans.  I am thankful to all the bookstores who have invited me, the many book clubs who have hosted me (whether in person or on the phone), and the family and friends who have supported me.   (more…)

I drove into sun-drenched Tucson this weekend for the annual Tucson Book Festival held at the University of Arizona.  The weekend was kicked off by an Author’s Table cocktail and dinner to raise money for local literacy programs.  ”Untold stories are like stones on the heart,” quoted the Festival Chair.  Saturday morning, I spoke on a panel titled, “Other Countries, Other Crimes” with fellow Soho Press author Cara Black.  I caught the tail-end of a circus (no animals) in the children’s section of the Festival with acrobats and a contortionist.  Saturday evening concluded with a fete at Glen’s Brewery and, across the street, a free screening of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Click here for more on Saturday’s Mystery Panel. (more…)