Although Falls to Pieces is the shortest book I’ve ever written, the story took longer than any other to write. New to the psychological thriller genre, I intended for this pivot to stick and thus, studied the genre for years before daring to try my hand at it.
Unshackled, released on February 4, 2025, is a legal thriller about incarcerated women and the importance of them being reunited with their children. It’s the third book in my award-winning Camille Delaney series.
I’m often asked, “Why and how do you write about crime and detectives in the 19th century?” The answer, I think, lies in a combination of early influences and personal history.
I was in one of my favorite places – the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles – when I first learned about the murder of Cecil Wells in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1953. Flicking through the newspaper archives, I read that the prime suspect in the case, Cecil’s wife Diane, took her life in a Hollywood hotel a month before the trial.
The environment plays a role in every novel. When clouds darken the sky, they darken the mood of the story. Extreme temperatures drive people to act in ways they’d never imagine on a normal day. And a flash flood can turn an ordinary afternoon hike into a desperate race for survival.
When I moved to Seattle in the early eighties, it was called the Emerald City, and it was lovely. I lived in two separate condo buildings on Second Avenue at the north end of the Denny Regrade and worked downtown in an office building at Sixth and...
