Some authors -- like some tourists -- visit San Francisco just once or twice, or for special events such as Bouchercon 2010. In our final look at the city's mysteries, here are some authors who have set some intriguing novels in San Francisco before moving on to other venues. David Corbett: Done for a Dime -- The murder of an aged black saxophonist who used to play with the greats of blues music lays the foundation for a look at a community under siege, family ties, greed and lost ambitions in Done for a Dime (2003). While the search for the old bluesman’s killer alone could sustain an interesting mystery, Done for a Dime turns on a dime to explore the community of Rio Mirada, a multicultural suburb plagued by drugs and racism. Rio Mirada also occupies some prime real estate just north of San Francisco.
Rupert Holmes: Swing -- Holmes has mastered just about every entertainment medium. His plays and musicals include The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Accomplice, both Edgar winners, and Say Goodnight, Gracie. He created and wrote all four seasons of the Emmy Award-winning television series Remember WENN, set in a 1940s radio station. His first mystery novel, Where The Truth Lies, was made into a movie directed by Atom Egoyan and starring Kevin Bacon. And there’s a little ditty he wrote that was quite popular – Escape (The Pina Colada Song). The 2005 Swing is set during 1940 as a war rages in Europe; anti-German sentiments percolate in the United States and the San Francisco Golden Gate Exhibition on Treasure Island draws in visitors. Walter Mosley: Cinnamon Kiss -- Mosley is most associated with Los Angeles where his reluctant detective Easy Rawlins lifes. But in this 2005 novel, Easy leaves L.A., still reeling from the aftermath of the Watts Riots for San Francisco to find a prominent attorney who’s gone missing with his assistant and a suitcase filled with documents. Easy could not be more uneasy in the San Francisco of 1966 where the streets are filled with hippies, Vietnam protests and a new generation challenges the ways of the old guard.
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