I’m not one to get excited about book covers. In my
opinion, book cover reveals, especially these days, are utterly meaningless.
But, when Angel City Beat: A Sisters in Crime Los Angeles Anthology
came out and I saw the cover, I was hooked. I thought it was a very cool cover
and would be a book of police procedural short stories. After all, with a
police badge prominently displayed on the cover, that was the visual impression
for this reader. So, I didn’t pay much attention to the synopsis when I picked
it up by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account.
To be fair, Angel City Beat: A Sisters in
Crime Los Angeles Anthology, edited by Barb Goffman, does have a few
police procedurals in it. But, the vast majority of stories are not. As made
clear in the introduction written by Naomi Hirahara, the goal was to go beyond
police stories and include stories that were reporter based, screenwriter
based, musician based, and other folks that have a “beat” in what they do. Set
in various places across the county of Los Angeles, the resulting anthology of
fifteen short stories is an interesting and entertaining read.
“The Missing Mariachi” by Aime Kluck starts off the
stories with a missing person’s case. In Boyle Heights, a woman has been
abducted. She is part of a mariachi band playing at a quinceañera and was taken
from a banquet hall. The description of the abductor is lousy, but they do have
a photograph of the vehicle the suspect was driving. For Isabella “Izzy” Zavala,
Major Crimes Unit Detective, LAPD, it is a start and not nothing.
A fellow member of the writers’ room for the show, Murder
Unjustified, is now dead in “Murder Unjustified” by Daryl Wood Gerber. Her
best friend, Suzy, is dead and Angelica might have been the last person to see
her alive before she was killed. There had been a lot of tension in the writers’
room and a lot of personal drama. Angelica was in charge, but had no knowledge
of the many things that were going on behind her back. Being a suspect pushes
her to investigate everything and everyone.
It is after 9 in the morning and yet the fog is
still hanging in when reporter Charie Walter shows up on the scene. Detective
Galuppo gives her a few details off the record. A finger was found by a hiker walking
his dog. Detective Galuppo believes, based on the finger and other evidence,
that the body is of a USC student who went missing ten years ago. If it is him,
thanks to the internet, she now knows the names of some folks she should hunt
down and talk to in “Getting Warmer” by Kate Mooney.
It is 1998 in “What’s Really Unforgettable” by Ken
Funsten, CFA. Quentin Kieper runs a hedge fund, Acorn Financial, in Greenwich Connecticut.
Detective Hank Chinaski calls with questions as a beaten and unconscious man
was found at a parking structure near LAX. The victim had nothing on him except
Mr. Keiper’s business card. As they talk, Mr. Kieper realizes that the man
could be Wyatt Hu. The same Wyatt Hu who was about to take his company public in
a deal would be worth a lot of money. Keiper has a lot of reasons to help the
LAPD and that means he has to go to Los Angeles and get directly involved in
the case.
It could easily be argued that Lace and Lisa are in
the wrong place at the wrong time even though all they are doing is their jobs.
It is Christmas Eve and they are in De La Rosa’s fish market selecting items
for the dinner party they are to cater for a wealthy client. That is if they
make it out alive in “The Feast of the Seven Fishes” by Gail Alexander.
As one who went through a very hard hospice
situation with my late wife, the next story was really tough for me to read.
Not that the story is a bad one. It certainly isn’t. It just brought up a lot
of very painful stuff. The people who work hospice are very special folks and I
don’t know how they do it.
Ella is a hospice nurse who usually works the night
shift in “Death Beat” by Meredith Taylor. Of course, this is hospice care, so
folks are going to die and soon. But, she has noticed that some patients seem
to be dying too fast. She has her suspicions and investigates.
It is a few years into the future and water scarcity
has become a huge problem in California. So much so there are distribution
centers, severe water rationing, armed guards, and desperate people in
“Everything’s Relative” by Jenny Carless. Blanca and Gemma each want more out
of life in this science fiction tale and are intent on getting it for their
family.
Somebody is killing in ingenuous ways those who
would become the lead conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in
“Settling The Score” by Anne-Marie Cambell. The outgoing music director,
Octavio Herrera, has culled the list of qualified applicants to take over from
him to a final four. Each person will perform an audition of sorts in public
with the full orchestra. Assuming they each live long enough to perform.
It is a day in early May of 2024 and a female grad
student is relaxing with a book when the diver’s body washed up on the Santa
Monica beach. She was there and watched it happen. For reasons soon detailed,
her life just got a bit better in “A Thesis On Murder” by Paula Bernstein. Her
life also got more complicated.
The movie Paige watched on television that evening
was very familiar as ‘Underbelly” by Jaquie Wilvers begins. It sure should be
as she wrote the screenplay. The version on her tv is slightly different in a
couple of spots, but clearly it is her stolen work. Thanks to the credits at
the end, she knows the identity of the thief. The question is what to do about
it.
Ken Funsten, CFA, has a second story in the book. “A
Dead Hire” is focused on a young guy working in a boiler room. Not only is the
gig a better deal than what his parents wanted him to do over the summer, the
entire room is filled with fellow high school students and they are all female.
Each person has a list of names to cold call and work and Brent figures it will
be fun and easy. Will it?
Michaela Franklin found the body in the library. Now
she is waiting for the police to arrive in “Fatal Return” by Sybil Johnson. She
knew what to do, and more importantly, what not to do when she found Library
Director Janice Appleton very much dead that morning. She also knows Detective
Ben Dewey who has questions for her and others on staff.
Two interconnected parts drive “Crime Doesn’t Pay”
by Norman Klein. The NYPD Detective is on vacation with his family when his
boss called the Beverly Hills Police Chief to offer the vacationing detective’s
services. After all, he is in the area. The two bosses know each other and the
case is getting massive media attention. The unconscious man in the hospital
needs help. That case will play a role in the second case in this story.
Daisy Campbell is a professional pet psychic. She
has been brought in to work with the exceptional race horse, Frontier Justice. His
jockey, Rob Cushing, died just days earlier after falling off the stallion
during a workout and getting trampled by the horse. Daisy Campbell has been
brought in to assess the mental state of the horse in “Unbeatable” by Melinda
Loomis. The Santa Anita Handicap is just days away and the wealthy owners need
to know what the horse is thinking about it all.
In the final story of the anthology, Barbie Bivens
and Madison McKay are reporters at the LA Times. It is fitting with her
name and her dad’s connections, that Barbie covers entertainment. Madison McKay
has general assignments for the main news section of the paper. It is 1998 and
actress Mimi Howards, Oscar winner, has been arrested for the murder of her
husband, Steve Sloan. Witnesses and evidence indicate she did it in “Byline For
Murder” by Nancy Cole Silverman. Editor Harry Simms wants the two reporters to
work together, no matter how they feel about it and each other, and cover the
story. Easier said than done.
Angel City Beat: A Sisters in Crime Los
Angeles Anthology, edited by Barb Goffman, is an
entertaining read. The fifteen stories presented here are all complex tales
that bring their settings alive while also providing, in each case, a mystery
or a crime well worth your time and attention. Showcasing a variety of writing
styles and perspectives, there is sure to plenty here for you to read and enjoy.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3X0uR2M
As noted, my digital ready copy came by way of an Amazon
purchase as the Dallas Public Library System was not going to carry it. I used
funds in my Amazon Associate account.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2025
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