Kelli Stanley discusses her new novel, The Reckoning, with Jim L'Etoile

This event is free to attend. Seating is first come, first served. (RSVPs are optional, but encouraged for our planning purposes.)

Meet the author, find out about a terrific new book, ask questions and hear directly from the author, and get personalized signed books!

Bookshop West Portal is delighted to welcome Kelli Stanley, multiple award-winning author of the Miranda Corbie series, to celebrate her new novel, The Reckoning. Kelli will be joined for an evening of conversation with Jim L'Etoile, author of River of Lies and Sins of the Father. Stumble with us into a world of intrigue in Humboldt County back in the 80s...

You don't need to have read the book beforehand to enjoy the event, but we do recommend reserving your copy ahead of time: https://bookshopwestportal.com/book/9781448317547

There will also be a live raffle!

ABOUT THE BOOK:

She killed a man. He deserved it. But justice isn't yet done.

California, Southern Humboldt County, 1985.

Renata Drake steps off a Greyhound bus and into small-town Garberville, hoping to disappear. She checks the papers. She's not headline news. Not yet.

But she's made a mistake. The FBI have the cannabis-producing "Emerald Triangle" town-- and its corrupt residents--in their sights. Even worse, a teenage girl is missing, and when she turns up dead, the third in three years, it's clear a serial killer is living among them.

Renata knows about murdered girls and the burning desire for justice--and for revenge. Her younger sister Josie is gone, and now, so is the man who killed her. Renata didn't stay in Washington, D.C. to be arrested for executing a murderer, and she shouldn't stay here either. But Renata decides to investigate, and what she uncovers will trigger a final reckoning: For herself, for a killer, and for all of Southern Humboldt.

This powerful, page-turning thriller explores the human cost of corruption and the psychological toll that violence takes on women.

Kelli Stanley is the multiple award-winning and critically acclaimed creator of the Miranda Corbie series (City of Dragons, City of Secrets, City of Ghosts, City of Sharks), noir novels set in 1940 San Francisco and featuring "one of crime's most arresting heroines" (Library Journal). Kelli has also written an award-winning "Roman Noir" series set in Roman Britain (Nox Dormienda, The Curse-Maker), and has published numerous short stories and essays. A winner of the Macavity, Bruce Alexander, Golden Nugget and Anthony awards, she was also a Shamus and Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, while the City and County of San Francisco awarded her a Certificate of Merit for her contributions to literature. She was named a literary heir of Dashiell Hammett by his granddaughter in a Publisher's Weekly article, and critics have compared her work to her icons Raymond Chandler and Norman Corwin. Kelli was chosen to be the Historical Mystery Guest of Honor for the Bouchercon Mystery Conference in 2024.

Her next novel, The Reckoning, is a tense and haunting mystery-thriller set in Humboldt County, CA in 1985--the heart of the "Emerald Triangle" during a fraught and frightening era of unsolved disappearances, serial killers and the intense criminalization of marijuana. The Reckoning is the first of a series featuring protagonist Renata Drake. Kelli holds a Master's Degree in Classics, and when she's not reading or writing, loves nature walks, jazz, classic film, travel, and, with her spouse, taking care of their two rescue cats. (www.kellistanley.com).

James L’Etoile uses his twenty-nine years behind bars as an influence in his award-winning novels, short stories, and screenplays. He is a former associate warden in a maximum-security prison, a hostage negotiator, and director of California’s state parole system. His novels have been shortlisted or awarded the Lefty, Anthony, Silver Falchion, Macavity, and the Public Safety Writers Award. River of Lies and Sins of the Father are his most recent novels. Look for Illusion of Truth coming in 2026. James also serves as the Executive Vice President of Mystery Writers of America. You can find out more at www.jamesletoile.com.

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