San Francisco Kills

Murder has a long and distinguished history in San Francisco. The city and its Bay Area can stand proudly with Paris, London, and New York in the splendour of its misdeeds -- murders that have suspense, horror, audacity, and flair. The homicides chronicled in Murder by the Bay have been selected because a convergence of personality, circumstance, character, and geography makes them peculiarly San Franciscan. Each of these crimes illustrates an historic importance, each has impacted its times -- either in the course or application of the law or in the manner in which the affair revealed a shortcoming in society. They range from the Montgomery Street killing of James King of William, editor of the Daily Evening Bulletin, in 1856 to the sensational trial of early movie comedian Fatty Arbuckle who was accused of killing a showgirl at a party in the St. Francis Hotel to the shocking "City Hall Murders" in which former city supervisor Dan White killed Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. Most were solved, some were not. They are murders that fascinated the city and frequently the country, sometimes for weeks, often for years and even decades.

On a rainy San Francisco November day, a brutal murder and a missing document take David Moore away from his duties as co-owner and private investigator of Rothmore Securities. McCloud College, a long-respected city institution, is under an attack that threatens its existence. The San Francisco Police reluctantly work with Moore, a former colleague, to identify who is killing faculty members. A lovely widow, a mousey professor with a gun, a well-connected and handsome college president, a deadly chief of campus security, and a rogue priest quickly pull him into a storm as violent as the one battering the Northern California coast. When a recently fired faculty member is murdered, Moore turns to an unlikely ally for help. She is a seductive department secretary whose need for thrills drives her into the arms of some very dangerous company. Moore must also fight against the knowledge that the lovely widow has some damning marks against her, not the least of which is his growing fondness for her. He hasn't much time to solve this puzzle, because two hired killers want the same lost document and guess correctrly that he knows where it is.

San Francisco, known to residents as simply The City, is one of the most beautiful and colorful cities in the world. So why is someone trying to burn it down? The question drives newspaper columnist Ed Rosenberg to delve into the unseemly world of city politics, kinky sex, and family secrets. The morning after a huge arson blaze terrorizes San Francisco’s Mission District, Rosenberg finds his friend and colleague Ryan Duffy dead — naked, bound and gagged for S&M, with his head bashed in. The police investigate, but the case quickly hits a dead end. But Rosenberg won’t give up, even if it means putting himself in harm’s way. 'A Killing in Real Estate' is a gripping, intricately plotted mystery that makes San Francisco come alive. The action is fast, the characters memorable, and the writing as compelling as a house on fire.