Day Seven: I got a chance to interview Rita Mae Brown, one of the most popular mystery writers in American history. We talked about her then-recent Mrs. Murphy novel, Hiss of Death. And no, Sneakypie did not come with.

Day Six: Edgar-winner Tom Franklin is one of the most-respected writers of literary crime fiction in America. His third novel, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, was an Edgar finalist among many other honors. Race relations, friendships, and history converge into a story that will break your heart.

Day Five: A full-length Tale of True Crime today! Hampton Sides is a native of Memphis and an award-winning writer of non-fiction. I interviewed him upon the release of Hellhound on His Trail, which chronicles the movements of James Earl Ray prior to his assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his flight from the country afterwards.

Day Four: A couple of years ago, Tess Gerritsen stopped by the studio to talk about the eighth installment of her best-selling Rizzoli and Isles series, Ice Cold.

Day Three: Earlier this year, I interviewed Daniel Friedman about his debut novel, Don't Ever Get Old. Baruch "Buck" Schatz in an eighty-seven year-old retired homicide cop who gets dragged into a chase for Nazi gold. Damn, this book is funny.

The Second Crime of Christmas: I interviewed Heidi Julavits at the Arkansas Literary Festival in April earlier this year. She's the editor of The Believer, and her latest novel, The Vanishers, is guaranteed to screw with your head. It'll be out in paperback on January 8, 2013.

I'm taking a couple of weeks off from interviews, but Mysterypod listeners won't miss a thing. Over the course of the true Twelve Days of Christmas, I'll post an interview each day from my other show, Book Talk. For the first day, here's my interview from earlier this year with Patrick deWitt about his Gold Rush-era novel about a pair of hired killers known as The Sisters Brothers.

The Big Interrogation: Rhys Bowen has enjoyed much success with her historical mysteries. Over the years, she's won a couple of Agatha and Macavity awards, among others, and has been nominated for everything else. Fans still miss her Constable Evans series, but have warmed to the Molly Murphy Series. However, we'll be starting the conversation off with the latest installment in The Royal Spyness series, starring Lady Georgiana Rannoch. The New York Times Best Seller, The Twelve Clues of Christmas finds Georgie heading to an estate in Devon for the Yuletide season and finding strange deaths aplenty.

 
The Bonus Interview is a chat with Santa Claus. No, not THE Kris Kringle, but the man known as the most-photographed Santa in America, Sal Lizard. Sal has been dressing up as the jolly elf for more than 20 years. We talk about his memoir Being Santa Claus: What I Learned about the True Meaning of Christmas, which is available from Gotham Books.

The Big Interrogation: Leena Lehtolainen is one of the biggest crime fiction writers in her native Finland. Her Maria Kallio books have been turned into a television show and translated all over Europe. Finally, her books are being translated into English. The first in the series, My First Murder, was originally published back in 1993, but is brand new in paperback and it's available from Amazon Crossing.
 

The Big Interrogation: Molly Caldwell Crosby worked for National Geographic Magazine before scoring a critical and commercial hit with he first book, The American Plague about the scourge of yellow fever. Her next book was Asleep: The Forgotten Epidemic That Remains one of Medicine's Greatest Mysteries. I've only featured fiction in the Big Interrogation up until now, but Mysterypod listener Jared in Richmond, Virginia has told me how much he enjoys the Tales of True Crime segments, so here's a whole interrogation about a Tale of True Crime. Molly's newest book is The Great Pearl Heist: London's Greatest Thief and Scotland Yard's Hunt for the World's Most Valuable Necklace.    

Bonus Interview: I thought it would be nice to pair up Molly's interview with one I conducted with Jacqueline Winspear several years ago. Jacqueline's Maisie Dobbs series is set in England after the first World War, so it offers a nice follow up to the late Edwardian setting for The Great Pearl Heist. Jacqueline and I spoke about her fifth Maisie book, An Incomplete Revenge back in 2008. The ninth book in the series, An Elegy for Eddie, is new in paperback from Harper Perennial.