Description:
During their weekly boxing lesson, Maggie learns that Herman's fiancée, Vera Kowalski, has dumped him and tasks Maggie with finding out why.
Brief description: Ms. Johnson's first novel, Beat Until Stiff, was nominated for the 2003 Agatha Award for Best First Novel and was a Booksense pick. Her second book in this series, Roux Morgue, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Fog City, her noir crime novel set in Prohibition-era San Francisco featuring Maggie Laurent, P.I., debuted in July 2024 from Level Best Books. This book, the first in the Fog City Noir series, has been nominated for both a Shamus and a Macavity Award. City Lights is the second book in this series, and Crookedest Street in the World, the third book in this series, will debut in the summer of 2026. Ms. Johnson was past-President of the Mystery Writers of America's Northern California Chapter.
Review Quotes:
"Pairing the best of San Francisco's noir traditions with the moxie of quick-witted detective Maggie Laurent, Claire M. Johnson's second offering in the Fog City Noir series delivers in spades. Here's hoping there will be many more cases to come." -Margaret Dumas, author of the Movie Palace mystery series, Speak Now, How To Succeed in Murder, and The Balance Thing
"Johnson had me with the setting of City Lights: San Francisco after the 1929 Stock Market Crash. Spunky heroine Maggie Laurent learns to defend herself-just in time-as her latest case propels her into the dangerous world of union busting. Johnson's smooth writing, laced with noir patter, sails the plot along in this delightful continuation of the Fog City Noir Mystery series." -Vinnie Hansen, author of the Carol Sabala Mystery Series, One Gun, and Crime Writer
"Claire Johnson's City Lights brings the labor unrest of the early 20th century to vivid life. In this rough and tumble setting Maggie Laurent is coming into her own as a smart, independent woman who is determined to live life her way. Highly recommended." -Terry Shames, Macavity-award winning author of the Samuel Craddock Series and the Jessie Madison thriller series