The Perfect Socialite in Pacific Heights


Book Description

The Perfect Socialite in Pacific Heights 1976 is the second novel in the Hill Series trilogy, with the first being The Perfect Tenant in Nob Hill. Cassandra Nelson and Captain Daniel Fritz attend a swanky soiree in a Pacific Heights mansion of a local politician, only to discover later that a murder occurred during the course of the party. Dan is the lead detective on the case. Several more husbands are murdered at Pacific Heights parties with their wedding bands missing, prompting the police to announce that it is the work of a serial killer. The police are baffled as to how the killer gets in and out of parties without detection, so they begin to conduct stakeouts, undercover, and sting operations in Pacific Heights. Wives in Pacific Heights are up in arms and fearful of losing their husbands to the Wedding Band Killer. Meanwhile, amateur sleuth Cassandra assists her fianc, Dan, with undercover operations but suddenly begins to be taunted herself in uncanny ways. She also becomes the target in a company affirmative action grievance for getting an advanced position that she has to defend on her own, even getting accosted at work by activists. A femme fatale is arrested as the Wedding Band Killer with evidence of trophies. Despite this arrest, Cassandra continues to be tormented and ultimately attacked. Has the real Wedding Band Killer been adjudicated, or will Cassandras intuitions thrust her into a kill-or-be-killed challenge?




The Perfect Contractor in Russian Hill


Book Description

When ten-year-old Mollie Trisk disappears on her way home from school, it shakes up the small town of Petaluma, California. When she turns up deceased a week later in San Francisco’s Russian Hill it becomes a case for the SFPD to solve. After two more girls are abducted with the same signature, Captain Daniel Fritz has a serial kidnapper case to solve. Eerily, he notices a connection to the recent abductions and his fiancée Cassandra’s new job as the first woman hired by a road construction company in Sonoma and Marin. The Perfect Contractor in Russian Hill, which takes place from 1977 to 1979, is the final novel in a trilogy. This gripping psychological thriller is sure keep you guessing till the end.




The Summer House


Book Description

When seven murder victims are found in a small town, the homicide investigation shakes a small-town sheriff to her core in James Patterson's tense thriller. Once a luxurious southern getaway on a rustic lake, then reduced to a dilapidated crash pad, the Summer House is now the grisly scene of a nighttime mass murder. Eyewitnesses point to four Army Rangers—known as the Night Ninjas—recently returned from Afghanistan. To ensure that justice is done, the Army sends Major Jeremiah Cook, a veteran and former NYPD cop, to investigate. But the major and his elite team arrive in sweltering Georgia with no idea their grim jobs will be made exponentially more challenging by local law enforcement, who resists the Army's intrusion and stonewall them at every turn. As Cook and his squad struggle to uncover the truth behind the condemning evidence, the pieces just won't fit—and forces are rallying to make certain damning secrets die alongside the victims in the murder house. With his own people in the cross-hairs, Cook takes a desperate gamble to find answers—even if it means returning to a hell of his own worst nightmares . . .




Oh the Glory of It All


Book Description

“In the beginning we were happy. And we were always excessive. So in the beginning we were happy to excess.” With these opening lines Sean Wilsey takes us on an exhilarating tour of life in the strangest, wealthiest, and most grandiose of families. Sean's mother is a 1980s society-page staple, regularly entertaining Black Panthers and movie stars in her marble and glass penthouse. His enigmatic father uses a jet helicopter to drop Sean off at the video arcade and lectures his son on proper hygiene in public restrooms. When Sean, "the kind of child who sings songs to sick flowers," turns nine years old, his father divorces his mother and marries her best friend. Sean's life blows apart. His mother has a "vision" of salvation that requires packing her Louis Vuitton luggage and traveling the globe, a retinue of multiracial children in tow. Follow Sean as he candidly recounts his life growing up in a wealthy family all while discovering who he is amongst San Francisco's social elite.




The 8th Confession


Book Description

Join the Women's Murder Club on an exhilarating thrill ride as love and murder test their friendships like never before. Someone is killing the richest people in the city-and the Women's Murder Club will pay a high price for hunting him. At the party of the year, San Francisco's most glamorous couple is targeted by a killer-and it's the perfect murder. While Detective Lindsay Boxer investigates the high-profile killings, a saintly street preacher is brutally executed. Reporter Cindy Thomas inquires into this neglected case and discovers the victim may have had very dark secrets. As the search for two criminals tests the limits of the Women's Murder Club, Lindsay sees sparks fly between Cindy and Lindsay's partner, Detective Rich Conklin. The Club now faces its toughest challenge: Will love destroy all that the four friends have built?




"Our Crowd"


Book Description

The #1 New York Times bestseller that traces the rise of the Guggenheims, the Goldmans, and other families from immigrant poverty to social prominence. They immigrated to America from Germany in the nineteenth century with names like Loeb, Sachs, Seligman, Lehman, Guggenheim, and Goldman. From tenements on the Lower East Side to Park Avenue mansions, this handful of Jewish families turned small businesses into imposing enterprises and amassed spectacular fortunes. But despite possessing breathtaking wealth that rivaled the Astors and Rockefellers, they were barred by the gentile establishment from the lofty realm of “the 400,” a register of New York’s most elite, because of their religion and humble backgrounds. In response, they created their own elite “100,” a privileged society as opulent and exclusive as the one that had refused them entry. “Our Crowd” is the fascinating story of this rarefied society. Based on letters, documents, diary entries, and intimate personal remembrances of family lore by members of these most illustrious clans, it is an engrossing portrait of upper-class Jewish life over two centuries; a riveting story of the bankers, brokers, financiers, philanthropists, and business tycoons who started with nothing and turned their family names into American institutions.




Totlandia: The Twosies (Book 6 - Winter)


Book Description

IN BOOK 6 OF THE TOTLANDIA SERIES: Winter’s chill isn’t just in the air. It also runs through the veins of all the women in the Pacific Heights Moms & Tots Club. Besides dealing with the politics of the Pacific Heights Moms & Tots Club, Lorna discovers a secret that will scandalize the members—and perhaps have one one them leaving in disgrace; As for Jade, her new part-time job on the UC Berkeley campus allows Reggie to see her in a whole new light—one that will either make, or break, their relationship; Jillian is juggling too much—not just the twins, the growth of Life of Pie, and the details of her wedding, but the guardianship of the infant, Scotty. Will her fiancé, Caleb man up to fatherhood—or will he be scared off by threats of a lawsuit from Rona, the mother her deceased ex-husband, Scott? And Brady’s frustration over Ally’s refusal to commit to marrying him leads him down a slippery slope–into her past. And finally, Bettina's idea for a new mobile may get her out of hock—but will it keep her in the good graces of Daniel Warwick— the Federal agent chasing down, Art?







California Screamin'


Book Description

Turn on, tune in drop dead - June, 1967. In San Francisco, the summer of love is in full swing. In fact, it's about to hit its highest moment - or its lowest. Reporter Rennie Stride is covering the Monterey Pop Festival, where her two best friends will be appearing along with rock titans: Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, the Byrds, the Mamas & the Papas. And sharing the spotlight with blazing new comets: Janis Joplin, Jim Hendrix, Otis Redding, the Who - But not far from Monterey, an anti-festival is also happening - Big Magic. As both events unfold, Rennie encounters old friends and new enemies. And when people start turning up dead in the psychedelic crossfire, she goes looking for justice - or vengeance - for them all.




Fodor's San Francisco's 25 Best


Book Description

Top25 Must-See Sights Best bets for dining, lodging, sightseeing. Plus a full-color pullout map. Everything you need to experience San Francisco • Top lodging and dining picks for every budget • Quintessential sights, from the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz Island to an 18th-century Spanish mission • The best places for contemporary seasonal cooking, plus Italian trattorias, dim sum restaurants, and Mexican taquerias • Astounding art, from 20th-century masters at SFMOMA to Rodin sculptures at the Palace of the Legion of Honor • Splashy stores in Union Square, independent bookstores, the Ferry Building Farmers’ Market • Kid-friendly attractions for an hour or a day, from cablecar rides to the Exploratorium Insider tips • Expert Advice The author:Mick Sinclair has authored several other guidebooks to San Francisco and California.