“How did you plan the murder?” isn’t everyday conversation for most people. But then again most people aren’t best-selling Los Angeles crime novelists.
Former L.A. Times reporter and author Michael Connelly will interview Calabasas resident and author Lee Goldberg at an event sponsored by the City of Agoura September 21.
Goldberg’s latest novel centered in Calabasas will debut September 1. Malibu Burning is a thriller tracking both a master thief with a conscience and the dogged investigators out to stop him from pulling off the ultimate heist in the middle of a raging wildfire.
In the book he uses the same fire featured in his novel Lost Hills, but from a different point of view.
“I wanted to do a different kind of police procedural,” he told Valley News Group. “I miss doing big, bold heist novels with an elaborate con. You can have the most brilliant heist planned in the world, but have no clue about what might destroy your plans.”
Goldberg has previously written a series of novels based in the Calabasas area saying, “There are so many cop novels about L.A. No one has written about Lost Hills, an island unto itself in my own backyard. We’ve got it all here – rich, poor, urban, suburban, beach, mountains. It’s too good to pass up.”
His detective Eve Ronin came out of a homicide investigator’s conference for law enforcement, where they presented a case where you walk into a homicide scene as a virgin – forget everything you think you know. “I came up with a cop who gets the job done with no experience, and has to prove herself – working here in Lost Hills,” he said.
In addition to novels Goldberg has written news stories, scripts and screenplays. His TV writing and producing credits have covered a wide variety of genres, including sci-fi (seaQuest), cop shows (Hunter, The Glades), martial arts (Martial Law), whodunits (Diagnosis Murder, Nero Wolfe), the occult (She-Wolf of London), kids shows (R.L. Stine’s The Nightmare Room), comedy (Monk) and more.
His two careers, novelist and TV writer, merged when he wrote the eight books in the Diagnosis Murder series of original novels, based on the hit CBS TV mystery that he also wrote and produced. He followed that up by writing 15 bestselling novels based on Monk, another TV show that he worked on.
Connelly is the author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. His newest book, Resurrection Walk, comes out November 7.
The two authors became friends when Connelly was working the police beat at The Times and Goldberg was working for UPI. “The mystery writing community in Los Angeles is a very small, close-knit community. We run into each other at literary events. We picket together now each week at Warner Bros. But if you had ever told me Michael Connelly would ever blurb my book I wouldn’t have believed it. What a thrill to be on the same stage as a seasoned crime writer.”
Connelly and Goldberg will be in conversation at 6 pm September 11 at the Agoura Hills Recreation and Event Center, 29900 Ladyface Court. The event is free but RSVPs are recommended at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-with-lee-goldberg-in-conversation-with-michael-connelly-tickets-695691190077.
695691190077?aff=oddtdtcreator.
