Lisa will be touring this Spring to support her newest Spellman book, Trail of the Spellmans (Document #5). She'll be on both coasts, and places in the middle of the US too. Check out the Appearances page for details. And check back regularly for additional events.

I’m very excited about the new jacket designs for the Spellman series. As a friend of mine put it: “They’re all like visual puns.” Because the Spellman series doesn’t neatly fit into one genre, it’s been difficult to figure out the right look for the novels. I, for one, think we’ve finally found it. The illustrator behind these brilliant, but spare designs is Noma Bar. If you’d like to learn more about him, please check out more of his artwork.

While the new covers and website might take some getting used to for the Spellman readers who have been with me from the start, I hope you grow to like the jackets as much as I do.

You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but we inevitably do and I’m really proud to have these images represent my novels.

For 2 weeks only the ebook version of The Spellman Files will be discounted to $1.99 wherever ebooks are sold. That's cheaper than a beer at happy hour. Although we're not suggesting that you forgo the beer. The Spellman Files and beer make an excellent book/booze pairing. To buy, visit the following retailers:

• iBook format at iTunes
• Nook format at Barnes & Noble
• Kindle format at Amazon
• Google Books format

Or visit your favorite bookstore at IndieBound (many local bookstores sell eBooks through Google books).

Until the end of the week, I will be answering questions on Goodreads in the Ask Lisa Lutz! Group. Feel free to post questions after Friday (the response just won't be as fast). You can find the Goodreads Discussion Group here.

Head on over to Goodreads today and enter to win one of 25 copies of Curse of the Spellmans (book #2 in the series). Hurry though, the giveaway ends on August 31st. Also, congratulations to the 25 winners of The Spellman Files in the Goodreads giveaway from last month.

You can find Lisa (with or without Heads You Lose co-author David) at these upcoming events. Wednesday September 14, 2011 - 7:00 pm. Suspense Night at the St. Louis County Library EVENT DETAILS Friday, September 16, 2011, 10am St. Louis, MO - "Still She Cries" Bouchercon panel "Still She Cries," a Bouchercon panel also featuring Colin Cotterill, Linwood Barclay, Alafair Burke, Bill Crider, and Elaine Viets EVENT DETAILS Friday, September 16, 2011, 1pm St. Louis, MO - "Anything You Can Do" Bouchercon panel "Anything You Can Do," a panel discussion also featuring Stanley Trollip, Matthew Clemens, A.J. Hartley, and David Hewson (also David Hayward) EVENT DETAILS Saturday, September 24, 2011, 10am - 4pm Santa Rosa, CA - Sonoma County Book Festival Join David and Lisa at Old Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa. EVENT DETAILS

It's still six months from publication (2/28/12!), but I wanted to share the new design for TRAIL OF THE SPELLMANS. Look for a redesign of all the Spellman books in the coming months.

Visit Goodreads and enter to win one of 25 copies of the first in the Spellman series: The Spellman Files.

For eBook fans out there you can now get the first four volumes of the Spellman series in one nifty eBook. That's four books for the price of a very nice coffee table book. You can find / buy them at:

• Amazon.com (for the Kindle)
• BN.com (for the Nook)
• iTunes
• Simon & Schuster

Check out the interview with NPR's Scott Simon on the Weekend Edition: No Love Lost In Crime Authors' New Story.

Crime fiction author Lisa Lutz and poet David Hayward were once a couple. They've gotten back together, but this time to write a new crime novel called Heads You Lose. Host Scott Simon talks with the authors, who also created a kind of parallel book within their novel by sharing the e-mail exchanges between the two of them as they wrote, including japes, zingers and even the occasional compliment.

Listen here.

While Lisa and David were in Seattle last week, they signed copies of Heads You Lose at the Seattle Mystery Bookshop, along with promotional boxes including the book that the fine folks at the Seattle Mystery Bookshop are auctioning to benefit Japan.

The Seattle Mystery Bookshop (blog) writes:

Their publisher sent us two promotional boxes. Each includes a hardcover copy of the book (signed and dated), a pack of bookmarks promoting the book, a small easel stand promoting the book (signed by both) and a tin of special M&Ms—red, yellow and blue, the same colors as the book—decorated to tie in with the book (sorry, they're a bit too small for two signatures…). Oh, and the tops of the boxes are signed by Lisa and David as well.

As before, the winning bids will go directly to the American Red Cross to Benefit Earthquake and Tsunami Relief in Japan, checks will be made out to the Red Cross and mailed to us before boxes are shipped out. Since these contain hardcover, we'll start the bidding with the price of a new book, $24.95.

Bids will be accepted until noon, Seattle time, Friday April 15. Yes, that's income tax time but think of the deduction you'll be able to declare in 2012!

To bid, call the Seattle Mystery Bookshop at (206) 587-5737 or email staff@seattlemystery.com. For more information, visit their blog, and to find out more about the shop, visit their website.