Mystery Writers Have an Alibi This Weekend

A handful of mystery authors will help kick off the opening this weekend of the new Borders Books and Music in Costa Mesa.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the bookstore, built on the site of the old Mesa Theater at 1890 Newport Blvd., will be at 9 a.m. Friday. At 3 p.m. Saturday, Maxine O’Callaghan (“Only in the Ashes”) and Patricia Guiver (“Delilah Doolittle and the Careless Coyotes”) will read and sign; at 3 p.m. Sunday, T. Jefferson Parker (“Where Serpents Lie”), Martin J. Smith (“Shadow Images”) and Philip Reed (“Bird Dog”) will sign and read from their works in progress.

The 25,000-square-foot store is the fourth Borders Books and Music in Orange County.

* Academy Award-winning actor Charlton Heston will sign “Charlton Heston Presents the Bible” and his latest book, “Charlton Heston’s Hollywood,” at 2 p.m. Friday at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace, 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda. The signing is free, but only books purchased in the library gift shop will be signed. Autographed books may be ordered by calling the library at (714) 993-5075.

* Patricia Guiver, author of “Delilah Doolittle and the Careless Coyote,” and Dani Shapiro, author of “Slow Motion,” will discuss their books on Barbara DeMarco Barrett’s “Writers on Writing” program from 5:30 to 7 p.m. today on KUCI (88.9 FM) in Irvine.

* Children’s book author Leonard Bernard, author of “Pelican Paradise” and “The Fruit Tree Mutiny,” will sign at 2 p.m. Saturday at Martha’s Bookstore, 308 1/2 Marine Ave., Balboa Island.

* Presidential speech writer and historian James Humes, author of “The Wit and Wisdom of Winston Churchill,” will speak at 7 p.m. Monday at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace, 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda. Admission: $8. A free book-signing will follow at 8. For information, call (714) 993-5075.

* Poet Curt Last will read at the Factory Readings at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Gypsy Den Cafe and Reading Room in the Lab, 2930 Bristol St., Costa Mesa. Free.

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Send information about book-related events at least 10 days before event to: Dennis McLellan, O.C. Books & Authors, Life & Style, The Times, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.