Murder Can Be A Zoo

[Michael Allan Mallory]

That's the name of the New Book piece that was just published in the current issue of Mystery Scene Magazine. That's issue # 100, rather momentous, a nice bit of luck. The article refers to how animals are being used more and more in mystery stories these days. Not only does this reflect a greater senstivity toward animals by society at large, but a larger understanding of their importance not only to the planet but to the way they enrich our lives. This love of animals is why Marilyn Victor and I created the first zoologist sleuth in Lavender "Snake" Jones. She works at the Minnesota Valley Zoo along with her Aussie husband, Jeff, an over-the-top crocodile wrangler. In "Death Roll" Snake undertakes to clear her friend's name and use her knowledge of animal behavior to ferret out who really killed the director of the zoo.

The book's been out since late May and has already sold out the first printing---much to our surprise. We are with a small press, so the first printing wasn't in the thousands. Still, it went to a second printing in less than four weeks. That was totally unexpected---but nice!

The goal for the rest of the summer is to arrange book signings and library appearances, plus attend a few events or conferences. We've only just begun to seriously promote the book and we're already tired! Looking forward to my second wind...

Michael