September 2026
Dale Berry – I will be working the MWA NorCal table for the San Jose Book Festival, Eastridge Center, 10 AM-5: PM Sept.12. Murder and mayhem, represent!
Claire Booth – Hidden Currents, the eighth book in my Sheriff Hank Worth mystery series, will be released Sept. 1.
I’ll be celebrating with a launch at Old Haunts Bookshop in Granite Bay, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 5 PM Join me for a fun evening talking about crime, plot twists, and more. You can RSVP here (just so the bookshop owner knows how many chairs he’ll need). And you can find out more about Hidden Currents here.
Randal Brandt – Calling all Cal alums. If you’re planning to attend Homecoming festivities at UC Berkeley this year, please join me for my lecture, “Only Murders in the Library,” on Saturday, Oct. 10, 3-4 PM, in Pauley Ballroom East.
I will be speaking about the history of the Bancroft Library’s California Detective Fiction Collection. Homecoming registration is required. Go Bears!
Mark Coggins – An excerpt from my Sam Spade story “Mockingbird” appears in the Omnium Gatherum Quarterly, the in-house journal for the Community of Writers.
Community of Writers is a writers’ conference held each summer in Olympic Valley, California with an alumni list that includes such writers as Michael Chabon, Ann Rice and Amy Tan.
Scotty Cornfield – A Crime Writers Meet-up, Saturday, September 26, from 2-4 PM at the Capitola Library, 2005 Wharf Rd, Capitola. We’ll be in the Brad McDonald Conference Room.
As a spinoff from the most recent Left Coast Crime Conference, a group of crime writers was formed, called Coast & Dagger Crime Writers. We wanted to get writers together who live between San Jose, Santa Cruz, and Monterey. Since the central point is roughly Santa Cruz, we settled on meeting somewhere in that area.
The basic idea is to get crime/mystery writers together to network and talk all things crime-writing related. Open to MWA’ers, SinC’ers or anyone else bitten by the crime-writing bug.
Note: Get there early. Parking can be … challenging.
Jack Erickson – Reading about how the U.S.-imposed oil blockade of Cuba has crippled the island’s ancient energy infrastructure recently made me recall an ebook I wrote a few years ago with a connection to Cuba. Rex Royale is a murder mystery that takes place near Mt. Shasta in northern California.
Rex Royale is the name of a charismatic Las Vegas casino owner, born in Havana, who wants to build a casino near Mt. Shasta. In the opening chapter, Royale’s body is recovered from Lake Britton. A second body, a woman, is recovered at the same time.
Rex Royale is about the unsolved murder but is also a romance between two reporters who investigate; Tyler, a San Francisco reporter who vacations at Lake Britton, and Hannah, a single mother with two teenage girls who writes for local newspapers.
Here is a link to the ebook.
Dwight Holing – The Thunder Head, the ninth book in my Nick Drake mystery series, clinched the Silver Falchion Award for Best Western at the Killer Nashville International Writers Conference on August 22. It marks back-to-back victories for the series, following a 2025 win for The Broken Blood.
Claire Johnson – I will have a table at the San Jose Book Festival on September 12. The festival will be located at the Eastridge Center in San Jose. Doors will open at 10 AM. Stop by and say hello!
Laurie R. King – My second Raquel Laing suspense novel, Those Who Are Gone, comes out September 8—wildly different from the Russell & Holmes series, a contemporary SFPD cold case investigation set in the San Francisco area. Excerpt & buy links are here.
Events include:
Sept. 5, 4 PM—Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, streaming on YouTube
Sept. 8, 6 PM—launch party at Book Passage, Corte Madera
Sept. 9, 7 PM—my local Bookshop Santa Cruz, always loads of fun!
James L’Etoile – September marks the release of Darkness Falls, the 5th book in my Detective Nathan Parker series. Immigration raids, ICE detention, corruption, and betrayal—couldn’t have planned the ripped from the headlines feel on this one. Stay tuned for an event and special giveaways.
- On September 13, at noon, I will present a session for Sisters-in-Crime Austin, on “What Authors Need to Know About What Happens in Prison.” Register here.
- On September 29, from 5:15 to 6:45 PM, I will take part in an Author Showcase at the El Dorado Hills Library, at 7455 Silva Valley Parkway. I will appear along with Jennifer Lama and Mark Wiederanders. Register here.
Jennifer Morita – I’ll be busy this fall with several events, including three in September.
I hope to see you there!
- Sept. 12 – San Jose Book Festival at Eastridge Center, 2200 Eastridge Loop. I’ll have a table next to MWA NorCal and will be on a panel, “Beneath the Surface: The Allure of Secrets in Crime and Mystery,” from 1 to 1:50 in BookSmart with Jude Berman, J.M. Tilbury, and Michelle Chouinard.
- Sept. 24 – Winters Friends of the Library Author Talk, 7:00 p.m., at Winters Library, 708 Railroad Avenue with Catriona McPherson and Laura Jensen Walker.
- Sept. 26 – Jan Ken Po Gakko Asian Arts & Crafts Fair, 9 AM to 3:30 PM at the Sacramento Asian Sports Foundation, 9040 High Tech Ct. in Elk Grove with local authors Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson and Akemi Johnson.
Gigi Pandian – My 10th Accidental Alchemist mystery, The Alchemist of All Hallows Eve, comes out on September 8. An eternally young alchemist. A gargoyle who fancies himself Poirot. A Murder House for sale the week before Halloween.
Victoria Zackheim – The second book in my Aria Nevins/Noah Roche trilogy, Murder at Hotel Gloriosa, will be published on September 15, 2026.
“Murder at Hotel Gloriosa is a pure delight! It ticks all the boxes for a fast-reading classic crime tale: a remote location (itself almost a character in the book), a cast of law enforcers of all stripes, nefarious wrongdoings and the return of a beloved duo of protagonists, Aria Nevins and Noah Roche (and, of course, their crew!). With Hotel Gloriosa, author Zackheim has worked her typical magic and seamlessly blended an intellectual puzzle mystery with the heart-pounded edge of a thriller. And, as always, she wraps up the whole package with her unique and captivating literary voice. Brava!”
—Jeffery Deaver, author of the Colter Shaw books, the basis for the hit TV show Tracker