Would you describe the phrase “world’s first commodities exchange” as edgy and mysterious? What about the term “futures”?

Author David Liss manages to mesh finance and mystery into a real page turner in "The Coffee Trader." The setting is 1659 Amsterdam, home of the world’s first commodity exchange, a town where fortunes are won or lost in a blink of an eye.

Enter Miguel Lienzo, who must maneuver through a web of deceit and betrayal, where even friends hide secret agendas. Hoping to restore his wealth and reputation, Miguel concocts a plan to corner the market on an astonishing new commodity, “coffee.”

Filled with brash, devious and seductive secondary characters, an excellent sense of time and place, a twisting plot and a smooth writing style, "The Coffee Trader" will delight readers of mysteries and historical fiction.

David Liss received the Edgar Award for his first novel, "A Conspiracy of Paper," and recently published a sequel, "A Spectacle of Corruption."