Description:
P.I. Maggie Laurent takes on a case involving a young Chinese novitiate in danger. Her investigation leads into San Francisco's criminal underworld, putting her at odds with powerful gang leaders, the police chief, and the mayor himself.
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 is the first in the Fog City Noir series.. The second book in this series, City Lights, was published in July 2025, and the third book, Crookedest Street in the World, will debut in the summer of 2026. Fog City has been nominated for the 2025 Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel from the Private Eyes Writers of America and a Macavity Award for Best Historical Mystery by the Mystery Readers International. Ms. Johnson was the recent President of the Mystery Writers of America's Northern California Chapter.
Review Quotes:
"Johnson has captured the sights, rhythm, and foibles of the 1930s in this evocative and compelling noir tale. Maggie Laurent, a PI by almost accident, is up against corruption in Depression-era San Francisco. She's taking over for her boss, Nick, who's gone to Chicago and may not be back, but a woman PI? In a fractious relationship with DA Matthew Doyle, she's working to uncover large-scale political corruption set against the legendary San Francisco haunts of Chinatown and the Barbary Coast." - Michele Drier, Author of the Kandesky Vampire Chronicles and the Stained Glass Mysteries
"This series just keeps getting better. Johnson's prohibition-era San Francisco is a brilliant backdrop to the further investigations of secretary-turned-sleuth Maggie Laurent. Her PI boss may still be missing, but Maggie is on the case and everyone from local gang leaders to the nun who terrorized her in her school days had better beware." - Margaret Dumas, Author of the Movie Palace Mysteries, Speak Now, and How to Succeed at Murder
"Maggie Laurent is tough as nails and sharp as a tack, two traits that are either going to save her bacon or kill her as she traverses the perilous streets of San Francisco in the 1930s as a private investigator at a time when 'nice' women were getting married and starting families. Her Catholic upbringing is tested when a couple of suspicious accidents involving the church occur; her mettle is challenged when she finds herself enmeshed in a tong war; and her character is impugned by nefarious underworld figures. Maggie is scarred, both emotionally and physically, but never once fails to project an upbeat spirit that moves her forward through the most difficult of traumatic experiences, cloaked with veiled and unveiled threats. The Crookedest Street in the World by Clair Johnson is a serpentine path through fog-filled streets, whiskey-soaked speakeasies, underground tunnels of Chinatown, and corrupt political offices and police ranks. Read the book, get swept into another world and time, and you won't be sorry." - Matt Cost, Award-winning author of The Modern-Day Chronicles of Max Creed, the Mainely Mystery Series, six books in the Clay Wolfe Trap Series, and the Brooklyn 8 Ballo series