California Crime

Jack Wade, a claims adjuster for California Fire and Life Mutual Insurance Company, is one of the best arson investigators around. He's a man who knows fire, who can read the traces it leaves behind like a roadmap. When he's called in to examine an unusual claim, the tracks of the fire tell him that something's wrong. So wrong that he violates his own cardinal rule - "You don't get personal, you don't get emotional. Whatever you do, you don't get involved" - and plunges into the case.

Between 1846 and 1873, California's Indian population plunged from perhaps 150,000 to 30,000. Benjamin Madley is the first historian to uncover the full extent of the slaughter, the involvement of state and federal officials, the taxpayer dollars that supported the violence, indigenous resistance, who did the killing, and why the killings ended. This deeply researched book is a comprehensive and chilling history of an American genocide.

Ben Adams is a former FBI agent who killed a DEA agent in a bad shoot. He did five years at Pelican Bay for his mistake. He now lives at the beach in a fog of surf and medium-grade alcoholism. A simple trip to Baja and a plane crash set his life on a dangerous collision course with the FBI and a drug cartel high in the Colorado Rockies. The second novel from former Special Agent Jeremy DeConcini takes readers high into the mountains and over the edge in the dead of winter. Bundle up because the full body count won't be known until springtime.

Raised in the suburb of Riverside, California, 20-year-old college student Jason Bautista endured for years his emotionally disturbed mother's verbal and psychological abuse. She even locked him out of the house, tied him up with electrical cord, and on one occasion, gave him a beating that sent him to the emergency room. On the night of January 14, 2003, Jason strangled his mother. To keep authorities from identifying her body, he chopped off her head and hands, an idea he claimed he got from watching an episode of the hit TV series The Sopranos.

On a beautiful October day in the San Fernando Valley, teenager Missy Avila was lured into the woods, beaten, tortured, and drowned. Missy's best friend, Karen Severson, publicly vowed to find the killer and even moved in with Missy's family to help. Three years later, a surprise witness exposed the murderers as Missy's two best friends—one of whom was Karen. New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury delivers a story full of twists, turns, betrayals, and confessions.

Delve into the hidden underbelly of crime as we unveil the secrets of the Los Angeles Mafia Crime Family. From its elusive origins to its far-reaching influence, prepare to uncover the tangled web of power, intrigue, and betrayal that defined this criminal empire.

Rachel Newhouse disappeared on the night of November 12, 1998. Only months later, in the same town, Aundria Crawford lost her life in an act of unimaginable violence. As authorities worked to find clues, parole officer David Zaragoza paid a routine visit to one of his charges - Rex Allan Krebs, a violent serial rapist who'd served only 10 years of a 20-year sentence. After sending Krebs back to jail for violating his parole, Zaragoza found a key chain belonging to one of the victims. An intensive search led to the gruesome discovery of buried remains near Krebs' secluded cabin.

This is Book 1 of The Jab Bone Murder Mysteries series. Leona Wilkes was a 15-year old daughter of a prominent NorCal family. Sheriff Bob Corman tried unsuccessfully in locating her. With a re-election looming and his approval rating dropping precipitously in the polls, he became more and more desperate for a solution. He enlists in Jab Boone's help to track her. Jab soon discovers that he is the hunted prey—by the same man responsible for killing his wife, Tiffin, along with three other influential women, in a Bay Area car-bombing. Jab discovers a connection between his wife’s murder ...

When two men meet in the gym - the ex-boxer Billy Tully and the novice Ernie Munger - their brief sparring session sets into motion their hidden fates, initiating young Munger into the "company of men" and luring Tully back into training. Fat City tells of their anxieties and hopes, their loves and losses, and the stubborn determination of their manager, Ruben Luna, who knows that even the most promising kid is likely to fall prey to some weakness.

Private investigator Jessica Shaw is used to getting anonymous tips. But after receiving a photo of a three-year-old kidnapped from Los Angeles twenty-five years ago, Jessica is stunned to recognize the little girl as herself. Eager for answers, Jessica heads to LA’s dark underbelly. When she learns that her biological mother was killed the night she was abducted, Jessica’s determined to solve a case the police have forgotten.

Alex Wright’s life as a surfing real estate appraiser in Laguna, California turns dark. In the months that follow the tiki torch march in Charlottesville, Virginia, first the wife of his dog grooming friend, Samantha, is brutally assaulted for no reason other than her same-sex marriage. Then two weeks later a seventeen year old high school student is murdered possibly because he is Jewish. Alex feels the need to deal with these crimes, and to attempt to end hatred in Orange County, California. Follow his path to solving these crimes and gather support for his newest crusade. This is the ...

City Developer Murdered at Historic Castle Anna's Cafe is flourishing. But the town of Dolphin Bay is in uproar as a city developer proposes new construction on the scenic Coastal Walk. Locals flock to the town meeting to protest. Hours later, the man is dead, stabbed to death in a room full of people. The police face a big challenge since everyone present had a motive to kill. When Anna’s friend and local resort owner Charlie Robinson becomes the top suspect, she reluctantly steps in to help. Can she ignore his sordid reputation and trust he is innocent? New secrets are revealed and ...

Cloning is a luxury for the wealthy. For Chance Harker, it’s a way of getting on with his lives. Five years ago, when he was sixteen, he and his brother, Marley, were murdered in a kidnapping gone wrong. Chance was revived—and his grieving parents met his existence with anger, neglect, and aversion. The public, though? They can’t get enough of the death-defying stunts he has parlayed into a social media spectacle. But after Chance’s latest “refresh,” he awakens to accusations that he’s killed Lee Conway, a stranger Chance has never met.

When someone disappears on Northern California’s lawless Murder Mountain, it isn’t news. The vast terrain for illegal marijuana harvests is also a notorious black hole for outsiders. But when that someone is the family friend of the persuasive and righteous Senator Steele, finding him becomes covert investigator Ryan Decker’s mission.

After ten long years as a private detective, Stockton native Jake Carter is finally closing his LA agency. In just a few days he’ll put the missing teens and cheating spouses behind him and join the city's corporate world full of cushy jobs and hefty paychecks. But when his former partner is found dead in a Stockton homeless camp, murdered by a ruthless serial killer who’s targeting the city’s most vulnerable population, Carter will put his dreams on hold and return to his hometown to find the madman responsible before he strikes again. But solving this case won’t be so easy. ...

Alex Wright, a 32-year old real estate appraiser in Laguna Beach, California, finds himself in the thick of a major bank fraud. While struggling to distance himself from the scam, he discovers the dead body of his luscious client, Colette. His surfing buddy, Detective Zackery Potrero of the Newport Beach Police Department, is watching his back and shaking his head at each turn wondering how Alex can get himself in so deep! Watch for future adventures of this duo and their assortment of family and friends.

Jaleesa, Kai, Ilya and Dani are online best friends, and superfans of the hit TV show City of Night. Fantasising about the show in their chatroom, they find an escape from their troubled small-town lives. Everything changes when Chloe, make-up artist to the show's star Alice Temple, enters the chat. When Chloe tells them Alice is in danger the four resolve to save her, and make their way to California. But fantasy is quickly overtaken by reality. Alice's troubles, they discover, will shine the spotlight on all of them. And not in a good way.

When Carol Montecalvo began writing to a man in prison through a program at her church, she considered it her Christian duty. But the letters soon became her lifeline, something she actually looked forward to sending and receiving. She fell in love with the man behind the letters and just before Dan was released, they wed in the prison chapel. Their marriage lasted nine years, until the fateful night when Dan stoically called 911 to report his wife's murder.

Just released from prison, Trip Walker’s hopes for a fresh start are shattered after finding his twin sister Rose has vanished without a trace. Determined to uncover the truth, Trip plunges into the dark past he left behind, only to find powerful forces are also hunting for Rose—with sinister intentions. Dodging hired killers and crooked cops, he races to find his sister, all while uncovering secrets of his own family’s past. With time running out and enemies closing in, Trip faces an impossible choice: abandon his search, or risk everything—including his newfound freedom—for the ...

A Tiffany Black Travel Caper A winery with secrets … Tiffany, Stone and Rosie are off to Vintner’s Haven, a luxurious boutique hotel in the heart of California wine country. This trip is all about wine-tastings, cocktail-making, hot air balloon rides… and murder! When a local connoisseur mentions he’d like to hire Tiffany to investigate something, but is murdered soon afterward, the trio feel compelled to look into his death. What secrets could be lurking behind some very expensive bottles of wine? Who could’ve wanted the connoisseur dead, and how far are they willing to go to ...