On the shores of Venice Beach, eight strangers, staying in a rundown backpackers hostel, are all running from something-and have secrets they're more than willing to kill for.

Eric Jerome Dickey strides boldly over the minefield that is modern marriage. The central couple's biggest challenge is timing: He works days; she works nights. Instead of growing together, they're rapidly drifting apart, coexisting on stolen phone calls from work, punctuated by occasional bedroom encounters that leave them both feeling even emptier and more alone. When she finds out about his affair-and starts her own-the delicate fabric of their...

From the award-winning author of the Japantown Mysteries, trouble awaits rookie LAPD Officer Ellie Rush as she patrols the mean streets of Los Angeles on her bicycle . . . Bike cop Ellie Rush dreams of becoming a homicide detective, but it's still a shock when the first dead body she encounters on the job is that of a former college classmate. At the behest of her Aunt Cheryl, the highest-ranking Asian-American officer in the LAPD (a source of pride...

Michael Gideon and his police dog partner investigate a crucifiction.

Karen Grigsby Bates, a contributor to People magazine and the Los Angeles Times and an NPR commentator, delivers a slick mystery featuring sharp-tongued reporter Alex Powell. While attending the National Association of Black Journalists conference, Alex discovers the dead body of a publishing bigwig who was about to be toasted as journalist of the year. As Alex investigates, she uncovers deadly secrets-and puts her own life in danger.