Although my first book published (A Grave Talent) was a Martinelli story, in fact, it was the third book I wrote, after two Russell novels. Kate Martinelli had her beginnings with the idea of a world-rank woman artist–a female Rembrandt–that I could not see in the setting of one of the historical, and rather whimsical, Russell novels. So I took that seed and transplanted it to a time and a place I knew well: San Francisco in contemporary times.
There are currently five Martinelli stories, each of which has a common set of characters, but each also has a central character unique to that book: the artist Vaun Adams, Brother Erasmus the Holy Fool, a homeless teenager named Dio, the pastor of a gay church, Roz Hall, and… Sherlock Holmes.
That’s right, the fifth book, The Art of Detection, centers around a manuscript that purports to be by Holmes himself, from his 1924 visit to San Francisco (as described in Locked Rooms)–thus tying together the two series.
If nothing else, my books entertain their writer.
Click on any book cover to learn more.
The Art of Detection
(2006)
With the help of her partner, Al Hawkin, Kate must do her best to follow the convoluted mind of a killer, one who may have trained at the feet of the greatest mind of all times.
Night Work
(2000)
Feminism in San Francisco is like nowhere else. Here we begin with applying tasers and tattoos to abusers, and then we bring in Kali to clean up?
With Child
(1996)
(Edgar Award nominee; Orange Award nominee)
Kate’s SFPD partner is getting married, and Kate agrees to take his new step-daughter during the honeymoon. Only the girl, already caught up in a missing persons case, goes missing herself.
To Play the Fool
(1995)
A holy fool, in San Francisco? What is this remnant of another world doing among the homeless, and why does he converse only in quotations?
A Grave Talent
(1993)
(Edgar Award winner; Creasey winner)
New SFPD homicide inspector Kate Martinelli faces a hard case with layers of secrets. But then, Kate is a woman who understands secrets. First in the series.