Looking for a Washington crime novel? Check out my new book, Murder in Ocean Hall.
In this murder-mystery, the world’s most famous ocean explorer is killed at the Smithsonian. It’s up to a cynical detective to solve this high-profile case.
Murder in Ocean Hall takes place in the Washington beyond the monuments, the real neighborhoods of the city that most tourists don’t see. Set during the summer before the 2008 presidential election, we follow Detective Thomas across the city as he encounters the powerful and the powerless in his quest to solve this high-profile case. He’s grown bitter from decades of investigating bloody mayhem on city streets. Despite the new condos and gentrification, has the city really changed? Or is it doomed to dysfunction?
I’ve lived in Washington, DC, for almost twenty years. I know the neighborhoods, the conflicts and the personalities of this unique city. I’ve been behind the scenes at the Smithsonian and worked in the field of ocean exploration, where my murder victim comes from. The book is set in places I’ve lived in and is informed by that most universal DC experience, street crime. It features some real characters, including a brief appearance by Marion Barry (no book in DC would be complete without him).
A reviewer wrote about my book that it:
will take you behind the scenes of places you’ve been and tell you how they function then give you insights into people in power and how they fail to function.
Murder in Ocean Hall makes a great gift for anyone who likes a good mystery or wants to uncover the seedy underbelly of our nation’s capital.