Meet the staff of Murder By The Book!

Martha Farrington, owner
she opened Murder By The Book in 1980
Against the advice of many industry specialists (who felt a store devoted exclusively to mystery, detective, and thriller fiction was a bad idea), Martha (with her husband, Les) opened Murder By The Book in 1980. It has since become one of the largest mystery bookstores in the country. In 2004, the store won the coveted Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Frequently voted Best Bookstore in Houston by the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Press, Murder By The Book was nominated for Publishers Weekly's 2007 Bookseller of the Year. In March 2008, Frommer's will release a guide to the best shopping in the world -- Where to Buy the Best of Everything: The Outspoken Guide for World Travelers & Online Shoppers -- and Murder By The Book was chosen as one of the best bookstores.

Some of Martha's favorite authors: Robert Barnard, Gladys Mitchell, Ruth Rendell, Leslie Ford, Louise Penny, Henning Mankell.

McKenna Jordan, manager
at Murder By The Book since 2003
McKenna has her Bachelor's Degree in English and a Master's in Violin Performance from University of Houston. She's concertmaster for Houston's Opera in the Heights.

Some of McKenna's favorite authors: Megan Abbott, Cara Black, Ken Bruen, Kerry Greenwood, Charlaine Harris, Carolyn Haines, Peter Lovesey, Daniel Silva, Jacqueline Winspear.

David Thompson, assistant manager
at Murder By The Book since 1989
David is also the owner of Busted Flush Press, which he founded in 2005 with the intent of publishing original crime anthologies and reprints of some of our store's favorite (though, sadly, out-of-print) mysteries, including David Handler's Edgar Award-winning Hoagy & Lulu novels. Damn Near Dead, edited by Duane Swierczynski, was nominated for five mystery awards, including the Edgar!

Some of David's favorite authors: Ken Bruen, Robert Crais, Martin Limón, Victor O'Reilly, Randy Wayne White, Joyce Porter, Peter Lovesey, Val McDermid, Lee Child, Barry Eisler.

Megan Bladen-Blinkoff
at Murder By The Book since 1986

Edith Brown
at Murder By The Book since 1981

Barbara Douglas
at Murder By The Book since 1983

Terry Farmer
at Murder By The Book since 2008
Terry has been coming to MBTB since 1990 when a friend from graduate school dragged her into the store. Reading mysteries was all that kept her sanity intact through graduate school, post docs, and the last job. Terry is currently "on sabbatical" and started working part-time at MBTB in March 2008.

Favorite authors: Mark Schweizer, Craig Johnson, Lee Child, Megan Abbott, Dean James, Dick Francis, Harlen Coben, Robert Crais, Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Elizabeth Peters / Barbara Michaels, Minette Walters (and I could go on and on...).

Dean James
at Murder By The Book since 1984
Our former store manager, Dean now works full-time at the Texas Medical Center Library (in addition to a Ph.D. in History from Rice, he has a Master's in Library Science) and part-time (every other Saturday) at Murder By The Book. He's also an award-winning author of both mystery non-fiction -- including By a Woman's Hand and Killer Books (both co-written with Jean Swanson) -- and mystery fiction, including the Wanda Nell Culpepper novels (written as Jimmie Ruth Evans) and the "Bridge Club" mysteries (written as Honor Hartman).

Some of Dean's favorite authors: Margery Allingham, Elizabeth Peters / Barbara Michaels, Anne Perry, Charlaine Harris, Carolyn Haines, Carolyn Hart.

Anne Kimbol
at Murder By The Book since 2008

A research professor in health law by day, Anne spends some of her afternoons and evenings at the store helping with signings, mailings, and otherwise disguising being around great books and great people as "work."

Her favorite authors include: Charlie Huston, Dennis Lehane, Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Megan Abbott, among others.

Michelle McNamara
at Murder By The Book since 2007

Some of her favorite authors: Daniel Silva, Megan Abbott, Connie Willis, Kathryn Neville, Jasper Fforde, Carolyn Haines, Charlaine Harris.

Cindy Patton
at Murder By The Book since 1997

Kathryn Priest
at Murder By The Book since 2007
Kathryn was the counselor at the High School for Performing and Visual Arts for many years.

Some of her favorite authors: Leslie Ford, Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Louise Penny.

Wick Rowland
at Murder By The Book since 1992
Wick has a bachelor's degree in organ performance and was a middle school math and music teacher for 15 years. Her main interests besides reading are cooking and needlework. She has 3 dogs, 5 cats and a very large parrot.

Some of her favorite authors: Michael Connelly, Peter Lovesey, Lee Child, Ian Rankin, Stephen Hunter, Rex Stout, Robert Crais.

Eric Wilde
at Murder By The Book since 2007
Eric attends Rice University where he's working on a degree in psychology. You'll find him working several of our thriller signings.

Some of his favorite authors: Clive Cussler, Randy Wayne White, Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, Douglas Preston / Lincoln Child, Ian Rankin, Barry Eisler, Matthew Reilly.