All Things introduced us to the Episcopalian priest, Reverend Alma Lee, vicar of St. Giles, in San Francisco’s Mission District. Her beloved Mission deals with the effects of gentrification while still sheltering the economically fragile and unhoused. Alma is surprised to get a call from the Right Reverend Ronaldo Vasquez, Bishop of California, who tells…

Brian Panowich’s Hard Cash Valley is a violent crime narrative with an undeniable sense of place and a series of unlikely protagonists that somehow coalesces into a tense, fast-paced slice of Southern grit. Dane Kirby has a decent job and a loving girlfriend, but he’s a broken man haunted by the ghosts of his dead…

The world of academia has always been ripe fruit for the fictional plucking, as it often leaves a mark everyone who endures it, as student and teacher. And as it serves as the day job for many writers, they have a fresh perspective. Lawrence Block’s latest anthology, the fifth—at least—since he announced his retirement, is…

Parker Valentine is about to realize her dream of opening her own winery in her hometown of Boulder, Colorado. Sure her parents don’t seem enthused enough to drop in on opening day, but at least her brother Liam and his good-looking friend Reid Wallace are there to show their support—along with a decent-sized crowd of…

Let’s raise a glass of vino to Coloradan Kate Lansing’s Killer Chardonnay and Parker Valentine, an ambitious and talented vintner. Valentine’s first name is unisex but her career choice is not: in California, America’s premier wine region, only around 10 percent of winemakers are female. Parker has been obsessed with wine making since her year…

Stories to the Rescue Why I Wrote A Killing in the Hills A few years ago I was sitting at my desk in the newsroom of the Chicago Tribune, armed with the two essentials of my craft, in order of importance: a cup of coffee and a computer. I was checking out the competition, clicking…

In the third Santero and Rein thriller, Bernard Schaffer reunites detective Carrie Santero with manhunter Jacob Rein—to plumb the depths of a madman’s obsession… There’s just something so meaty and delectable about Bernard Schaffer’s writing. Every book of his goes down so quickly, leaving me feeling entirely sated. Blood Angel, the third in his terrific…

The Fire Thief by Debra Bokur is the first book in the new Dark Paradise Mystery series featuring Detective Kali Māhoe, where the Maui scenery may be beautiful, but dangerous secrets are buried beneath paradise. Oh, to be on gorgeous Maui in times like these—especially if you live in an area where the weather is…

Murder, She Wrote: The Murder of Twelve by Jessica Fletcher & Jon Land is the 51st entry in the USA Today bestselling series, where Jessica Fletcher finds herself stranded in a hotel during a blizzard with twelve strangers and a killer in their midst. Jon Land is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than 50…

Prologue When the car bypassed the main terminal building and pulled up next to a sign that said PRIVATE JET CENTER, Emily breathed in so fast she almost choked. “You’re kidding me,” she said to her driver (her very own driver!), who smiled and opened the door for her like she was Cinderella. A security…