Murder: Knowing Why

My second murder mystery has been published, titled Rip-Off. People ask why you write one kind of book and not another. Why whodunit murder mysteries in my case? Why not literary family fiction? I worked decades as an academic researcher at the University of Southern...

Too Rosy a View of Cops?

Derek Pacifico’s recent Crime Writer’s Homicide School was another sizzler. This is my third session with Sgt Pacifico, a law enforcement trainer for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. I didn’t need to worry about being bored...

I’m Surprised When Nobody Dies

Because I’m immersed in my third murder mystery set in Santa Monica, I read other murder mystery authors almost exclusively. Why? I’m interested inthe dark trappings of murder and death. It’s the puzzle. It’s keeping violence and mayhem at a...

What You Don’t Know

What happens when an idea for a book strikes and won’t leave you alone? What if  it’s something you know nothing about? Such as organized crime in Santa Monica as in my second Dave Mason mystery titled Rip-Off? I read Chechen newspapers in English for...

Mystery Writers I Enjoy

Here’s a few of my current favorites: Donna White Glaser: The Enemy Within I read Donna White Glaser’s The Enemy We Know with great pleasure.  The cover with its bloody knife stood out, particularly the circle with A Letty Whittaker Mystery and the words...