Kelli Stanley - City of Dragons

Start: February 27, 2010 - 7:00pm

Join us as we welcome award-winning author of crime fiction, Kelli Stanley, as she reads from her highly acclaimed new book CITY OF DRAGONS on Saturday, February 27th, 7:00 pm.

Set in San Francisco in 1940, Stanley's stunning first in a new series introduces a gutsy, independent heroine who isn't always likable. As the city celebrates the Chinese New Year with the Rice Bowl Party, a three-day carnival to raise money for China's war relief, PI Miranda Corbie sees Eddie Takahashi, a young Japanese numbers runner, shot dead in front of her on a crowded, fireworks-filled Chinatown street. When the police tell her to forget about Takahashi (Chalk him up to Nanking), the outraged Miranda decides to seek justice on her own. In her quest for Takahashi's killer, she encounters racism and sexism at nearly every turn. A former escort who's reinvented herself as a detective, the 33-year-old Miranda isn't taken seriously by the cops, who enjoy rehashing her past. Stanley aptly describes San Francisco as a city redolent and glistening with sin and lamplight, forever a girl you didn't take home to Mother.

“A powerful crime novel that perfectly captures the noir mood of San Francisco in the 40's. Stanley's dialogue bristles with attitude, the atmosphere is thick as the bay fog, and her protagonist is a great new dame in crime fiction. A smart, stunning thriller”- Linda Fairstein

“Evocative and taut…bursts with dark atmosphere. Fans of Raymond Chandler and Megan Abbott should add Stanley to their list of must-read authors."

- Tasha Alexander

"Stunning, pitch-perfect noir...conjures forth a lost, poignant, and darkly luminous San Francisco in which Hammett - and LA's Chandler - would feel immediately at home."

- Cornelia Read, author of A Field of Darkness

“One of my favorite novels of all time. Watch out, Sam Spade, Miranda Corbie is a woman hardboiled and feminine enough to keep you in line!”

- Rebecca Cantrell, author of A Trace of Smoke

“An explosive, important book...imbued with the colors, sounds, emotions and excitement of true history. The best part is an ending that will blow you away.”

- Laura Benedict, author of Isabella Moon