Most of the readers who know my work probably follow the
Indianapolis-based Deets Shanahan series. It’s been around awhile and it’s been
popular in the libraries. The newer series is set in San Francisco and features
an eclectic group of investigators in an office South of Market Street.
There are 10 Shanahans. The last six have been published by
the UK’s Severn House, a quality publisher for many high-quality writers. Severn House also introduced the first two in
the Carly Paladino/Noah Lang San Francisco mysteries at a time when the
publishing industry was in the first throes of horrendous disruption. I say first throes because there appears to
be continuing throes or, at least a bunch of after shocks of the e-book
explosion. So, not inappropriately
considering San Francisco’s familiarity with quaking disruptions and eruptions
as well as finding a way to survive them, the San Francisco series adapted to
the changing environment. The series is still alive and delivering fresh
stories. But let’s start at the
beginning.
Death in Pacific Heights — This double-barreled mystery wasn’t
my first book outside the Shanahan series.
But it is the first of a second series. I wanted to use my 20 years in San Francisco
as a backdrop for some new stories and new characters. Private eyes Carly
Paladino and Noah Lang meet for the first time and have to relate to each
other’s very different approaches to the investigation business. Carly is from a prestige security firm and
Noah picked up his knowledge from life on the streets. In this book there are two different murders,
two different P.I.s, two different stories — yet somehow the two main
characters must learn to get along. This
is a full-length novel that takes place in the wealthiest San Francisco
neighborhoods. It was published as a
hardback to good reviews. The trade
paperback version sold out quickly. Unfortunately,
e-book versions aren’t available at this time. This first in the series was published
by Severn House in 2009 and is currently available in hardback.
Death in North Beach — This was Carly’s and Noah’s second
adventure. It’s a little quirky. My attempt at a light-hearted homage to the
kind of ending that gathered all the suspects in the parlor was meant to be
fun. While a number of reviewers liked the book, some found the end
unsatisfying. I was also chastised by a
fellow panelist at a national mystery conference in front of hundreds of
attendees because Carly slept with a gigolo. The public takedown wasn’t as good
as being banned in Boston, but it was interesting just the same. The panel
discussion was about the place of women protagonists in mysteries. Are there different standards for male
detectives and women detectives? How tough can a woman P.I. be? How many womanizing heroes are there in the
P.I. genre? How many “manizing”
women? Much like all the books in the
series, there is a strong sense of place. In this case, the legendary North
Beach is a prominent character. Readers who only know the standard tourist
spots in the City by the Bay will learn a little more about this exciting world
destination. Death in North Beach was
published by Severn House in 2010 and is available in hardback, paperback and
ebook.
Mascara, Death in the Tenderloin — This was actually the first
book I’d written featuring Noah Lang. Because
it was released later, it acts as a prequel. Tenderloin
goes back a few years. This is Noah’s story. It’s also about how he met his
good friend Thanh and made an enemy of a tough San Francisco homicide
inspector. Long out of work, the P.I.
gets two cases at the same time, both life threatening. The setting is one of
the toughest neighborhoods in San Francisco, but moves throughout the city.
Because few publishing houses wanted mysteries in novella-length forms at the
time and because I had always wanted to be a publisher I took advantage of the
new, relatively inexpensive technology and my background in communications to
publish it myself. I formed a small
publishing company, worked with talented designers and used this as the first
book of five, so far, from Life Death & Fog Books. Death in the Tenderloin was published late last year. It is available in trade paperback at $13.99
and in ebook formats at $3.99. Even
though this book came out third, if I were choosing a first book to sink my
teeth into, this would be the one.
Death in the Haight — The edge can be taken off the thrill of
self-publishing when one discovers that marketing your own work is a challenge. There are many benefits of having a publisher
where there is a full staff of talented people to support your efforts. Because
my brush with the mystery novella was exhilarating even if I had to do it
myself, I was thrilled to learn that the novella was born again among
traditional publishers. They see the need to be flexible and some of the old
firms are indeed limbering up. Penguin
Group announced they were reviving Dutton’s Guilt Edged Mysteries — a fine,
vintage label from the ‘40s and ‘50s — and that they were looking for short
stories and novellas in particular. I sent them Death in the Haight and they wanted it as the third book under
their new imprint. This is also a Noah
Lang mystery. I hope to follow up with a novella focusing on Carly next time
around. Meanwhile, Death in the Haight
has just been released (2012) in all ebook
formats at $2.99.
If you like San Francisco and private-eye novels, take a look at
one of these. Start small, if you
like. Small is good.
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