Jennifer McMahon

Island of Lost Girls is #17 on the New York Times trade paperback fiction list! It's posted on the website this week, and will be in the print edition June 1. I never dreamed one of my books would see this kind of success -- I am thrilled to pieces, and of course hugely grateful to my agent, the team at Harper, and of course to all of you who actually bought Island! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thursday, August 7 at 7pm
River Run Bookstore 20 Congress Street, Portsmouth, NH 603-431-2100
I'll be reading and signing Island of Lost Girls at this great independent bookstore.

Rowohlt Verlag bought the German rights for Island of Lost Girls! They did a beautiful job with the German version of Promise Not to Tell (aka Das Madchen Im Wald -- sounds spooky, yes?), which you can purchase for all your German-speaking friends at Amazon.de. Pints of pilsener all around!

I've got a new two-book deal with HarperCollins! The first book's working title is Dismantled and it's tentatively slated for release in May 2009. I'm very happy to be working with Jeanette Perez and the rest of the clever people at Harper again.

Someone at the Baltimore Sun is my new best friend. Listen to this:

"For Laura Lippman fans: The most common refrain among mystery readers who scarf down the backlist of a favorite author is, 'Who else writes books like this?' For those who have made their way through the complete works of Charm City's signature mystery writer the refrain's answer is Jennifer McMahon, author of Promise Not To Tell."

Yep, you read that right. Me! And Laura Lippman! Of whom I am a gigantic fan -- read my review of What The Dead Know here, if in doubt. To put it mildly, I am honored and thrilled.

Both of my books coming out in 2008 have brand new official titles! The young adult novel for Dutton, formerly called My LaSamba Blues is now My Tiki Girl; and the suspense novel for Harper, which had the working title Rabbit Island is now Island of Lost Girls. (I hope you're taking notes, these might be Jeopardy questions some day.)

Orion has bought the United Kingdom rights to Promise Not to Tell! Release is tentatively set for summer 2008. Orion is the UK publisher of many great writers, like Gillian Flynn, Ian Rankin, Harlan Coben and Laura Lippmann, so pints of lager all around!

Update: the UK version of Promise is coming out August 2008, and is available to pre-order at Amazon.co.uk.

Here are links to a few of the reviews of Promise Not to Tell that are available online, so you can read 'em yourself if you're so inclined.

Entertainment Weekly (They gave Promise an A-!)

Pop Culture Madness ("engrossing and disturbing... a chilling and haunting tale")

BookFinds ("a compelling work of literary suspsense")

Birmingham Public Library Blog (This one made me extra-happy because it's written by a librarian)

Sure Woman (Promise was one of 5 editor picks for summer reading)

BookBitch ("McMahon’s powerful debut is one that will shake readers to the core. A story of childhood betrayal and the loss of innocence... a brilliant mystery")

I Love a Mystery (Thanks, Sally Powers!)

Bookreporter.com ("Is it a mystery story, a ghost tale, a thriller, or a literary meditation on redemption? I can't decide, but I do know it's irresistible.")

Maximum Horrors (Wow, what a gracious review -- thanks, MH!)

Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind (Sarah Weinman, luminary of the crime fiction world, chose Promise as a Pick of the Week!)

Mystery Scene Magazine (How cool is it to be reviewed by MSM?)

Badger Books (check out the May 6 post)

Publisher's Weekly

Promise Not to Tell was mentioned on NBC's Today Show Saturday (June 2) morning! I missed it, but apparently John Searles of Cosmopolitan listed ten suggestions for "sizzling beach reads" for this summer, and Promise made the cut! Here's the web version of the list. Update: they posted the video clip! It's at the same link.

Promise Not to Tell is now officially a bestseller! It hit the USA Today list
(which combines fiction, nonfiction, hardcover & paperback) for the week ending April 29 at # 132. A fourth print run has been approved, to keep up with demand. Heartfelt thank yous to every soul who has parted with their hard-earned money to buy my little book!