I've heard the toughest of my books to find has been Leavin' Trunk Blues. My second novel was published way back in 2000, taking Nick Travers up to Chicago to interview a jailed blues singer named Ruby Walker. The research on this novel also took me to Chicago a lot, much of it on the South Side. I had the fortune of hanging out in some of the city's best blues clubs -- seeing the late Honeyboy Edwards, Junior Wells, Hubert Sumlin, and Pinetop Perkins. You talk about hardboiled. Man, these guys lived the life. What a thrill as a young writer getting to see and hear the masters in person. I know I learned as much about writing from them as I did Chandler and Hammett. The novel was rereleased on kindle this week.

Operators are standing by now at Square Books down in Oxford, Mississippi. You can also reach the store at (662) 236-2262 to buy signed first editions of The Ranger and all titles. Ace will also be personalizing books from now until Christmas only at Square Books. **Disclaimer: book clerk may not resemble above image.

OK. Here we go for 2012. The good folks at G.P. Putnam's Sons have decided to release my next two novels in the same month: May! So we'll not only see the first return of Quinn Colson in THE LOST ONES but also the 40th return of Robert B. Parker's iconic private eye, Spenser, in LULLABY. Both novels are already available for pre-order on Amazon.com. But so far, no one outside my publisher knows what either book is about. So for you guys, the real insiders, here is some insight:

THE LOST ONES takes place the following year after THE RANGER. Quinn, now sheriff of Tibbehah County, tackles everyday small-town crime with Deputy Lillie Virgil by his side. Their investigation of a child's serious injuries uncovers a baby-selling ring rife with disturbing abuse (this is based on an actual case here in north Mississippi). Meanwhile, Quinn's high school buddy Donnie Varner returns home from the front with a dangerous plan to cash in on his time with the Army. Donnie brings a Mexican cartel -- and a obsessed federal agent -- to Jericho's doorstep.
LULLABY takes place the following spring after we last saw Spenser in SIXKILL. Spenser helps a tough 14-year-old girl from South Boston find justice for her mother, who was murdered four years ago. The girl, Mattie, believes the wrong man is doing life for the crime, because she saw two other toughs shove her mother in a car the night she died. Spenser finds those two toughs are connected to Gerry Broz, the screw-up son of  infamous crime boss Joe Broz, a man who's been missing for more than a decade and the top of the FBI most-wanted list.