Benjamin LeRoy, publisher of Tyrus Books in Madison, Wis., and McKenna Jordan, owner of Murder By The Book bookstore in Houston, Tex., announced that Busted Flush Press will not merge with Tyrus after all. Busted Flush is the publisher of out-of-print hardboiled crime novels founded in 2005 by Jordan’s husband, the late David Thompson. Thompson, the assistant manager at Murder By The Book, died unexpectedly in September, the day before a contract between him and LeRoy was to be signed. Thompson was to continue as publisher of Busted Flush after the merger.

According to both LeRoy and Jordan in phone interviews with PW, settling Thompson’s estate is taking longer than expected, with probate preventing Tyrus Books from assuming any legal authority over Busted Flush’s operations or obtaining access to any revenue. Jordan terminated the agreement, and will assume full legal and financial control of Busted Flush.

“I appreciate everything Ben has done,” Jordan said. “Right now, though, the best option for Ben and for me is for me to keep it. Ben has enough work on his shoulders without trying to run two companies.”

Jordan said that the 13 titles scheduled for release between January and August are on “a temporary hold for the next few months,” while she “sorts everything out.” Her first priority, she said, is to wait for revenue to come in, so that she can pay off all of the company’s debts, before she resumes publishing books again. She expects to resume operations in five or six months, and insists that the fall 2011 releases will be on schedule. “My intention is to honor all author contracts and publish all the books – just at a slower pace,” she explained.

Busted Flush “may or may not be” put up for sale again. For now Jordan will continue in her new role as publisher, as she feels she can “move forward with the press with [Thompson’s] intentions at heart.” Jordan is considering making the press an imprint of the 30-year-old bookstore that she’s owned for the past two years.

Jordan requests that those in the book industry seeking more information contact her through mckennabfp@gmail.com, rather than through her Mystery By The Book e-mail