This Storm by James Ellroy is a massive novel of World War II Los Angeles—when torrential rainstorms hit the city, a body is unearthed in Griffith Park. The cops rate it a routine dead-man job. They’re grievously wrong. I’ve been reading the Demon Dog of American Literature since I stumbled across The Black Dahlia in…
When I moved to Los Angeles two and a half years ago, it was with the (possibly naive) intention of capturing the city’s dusky underbelly for my next novel. In Sins As Scarlet, I wanted my Japanese-American detective, Inspector Iwata, to drift through the unvarnished tranches of L.A.—the industrial, the suburban, the impoverished—neighborhood kingdoms so…
Sins as Scarlet by Nicolás Obregón brings Kosuke Iwata to Los Angeles where he now works as a private detective. Crime stories are often about metaphorical underworlds populated by hapless underdogs and vicious, powerful elites. Our tour guides on these stories are usually detectives whose quests for truth, justice, and/or vengeance force them to navigate…
Sins as Scarlet by Nicolas Obregon is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Blue Light Yokohama, where Inspector Iwata investigates a murder case in his new home of Los Angeles—take a visual tour with GIFnotes! After a brutal investigation ripped apart his life, Kosuke Iwata quit both his job as a detective with the Tokyo Police Department……
Always Running Luis J. Rodriguez This book is L.A. canon as far as I’m concerned. A thrilling, moving, poetic, and ultimately human memoir of redemption from a young gang member growing up in East L.A. In fact, this was actually one of the books recommended to me by a former gang member I met in…
Southland Nina Revoyr I’m a big fan of stories driven by unexpected detectives: characters drafted in from other walks of life who happen to have a particular emotional or familial stake in figuring out who is to blame for a crime. Jackie Ishida, law student, is one such character. Very few writers explore the varied…
City of Angels by Kristi Belcamino is an edgy, gritty, mature YA mystery about a young woman's struggle to not only belong—but survive. One reason why I'm drawn to crime fiction is that it shows so-called “bad” people at their best and “good” people at their worst. That nuanced look at humanity and the forces out…
Trail of Echoes is the latest Elouise Norton mystery novel from critically acclaimed writer Rachel Howzell Hall (Available May 31, 2016). On a rainy spring day in Los Angeles, homicide detective Elouise “Lou” Norton is called away from a rare lunch date to Bonner Park, where the body of thirteen-year-old Chanita Lords has been discovered.…
Sayonara Slam by Naomi Hirahara is the 6th Mas Arai Mystery featuring the most unlikely of sleuths (Available Now!) At Dodger Stadium, it’s Japan vs. Korea in the World Baseball Classic, but before the first pitch is thrown, Mas Arai finds himself in the middle of a murder. Who is that unusual woman throwing knuckleball…
Design for Dying by Renee Patrick is the 1st in the new Lillian Frost & Edith Head series (Available April 19, 2016). Los Angeles, 1937. Lillian Frost has traded dreams of stardom for security as a department store salesgirl . . . until she discovers she's a suspect in the murder of her former roommate,…
