Book Passage

Mystery Writers Conference 2022 -- Faculty

Cara Black - Hallie Ephron - Rachel Howzell Hall - Laurie King - Tim Maleeny - Kelli Stanley   - 

The Faculty List

This is the list of faculty members for the MWC as of now. Please check back for later additions as the Conference gets closer.

Cara Black
Conference Co-Chair
Bestselling author of the Aimée Leduc mysteries set in Paris. Hr latest in the series is Murder at the Porte de Versailles, Publisher's Weekly describes her new book this wasy: “In bestseller Black’s riveting 20th Aimée Leduc investigation, tensions are high in Paris two months after 9/11 . . . Rich with detail about life in Paris, this entry illuminates the complications that friends and family can unwittingly create." She is a member of the Marais Societe Historique and received the Medaille de la Ville de Paris, bestowed on those supporting French culture. She is a San Francisco Library Laureate. The New York Times says "If the cobblestones could speak they might tell a tale as haunting as the one Black spins." Mystery Conference Alum. 

Susan Breall

San Francisco Superior court judge. When she was in the District Attorney's office, she supervised the prosecution of violent crimes against women, children, and the elderly.

Tony Broadbent

Writer of acclaimed mystery novels and short stories. His novels include The Smoke and The One After 9:09: A Mystery with a Backbeat Mystery Conference Alum. 

Kimberley Cameron
Literary agent and President of Kimberley Cameron and Associates. She has been successful with many different genres, and especially loves the thrill of securing representation for debut authors. Cameron represents both fiction and nonfiction manuscripts

Joe Clifford
The author of the soon-to-be-released The Shadow People. Clifford's previous books including The One That Got Away, and Junkie Love. He is the editor of the anthology Trouble in the Heartland: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Bruce Springsteen. 

Hallie Ephron
The Chicago Review of Books says '[Hallie] Ephron’s novels are hyper-contemporary, engaging with our very of-the-moment fears about family life and the modern world." Ephron is an acclaimed writer and teacher whose contemporary suspense novels include Careful What You Wish For, You'll Never Know Dear, and Night Night, Sleep Tight. 
George Fong
Spent twenty-seven years as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, investigating all facets of violent crimes, including kidnapping, extortion, serial killings, crimes against children, bank robbery, drug trafficking, fugitives, and Asian gangs. He was a member of the FBI's Evidence Response Team and a certified undercover agent. Fong is now the Director of Security for the world-wide sports television network, ESPN, and author of the thrillers The Coldness of Night and Fragmented.

Rachel Howzell Hall
Author of the acclaimed Lou Norton series, including Land of Shadows, Skies of Ash, Trail of Echoes, and City of Saviors, as well as They All Fall Down, a standalone thriller, and the co-author of The Good Sister with James Patterson, which was included in the New York Times bestseller The Family Lawyer. Her latest novels include And Now She's Gone. She is on the board of directors for Mystery Writers of America.

Laurie R. King
The bestselling author of twenty-seven novels, including the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes stories. That series began with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice and continued with Island of the Mad, which is set in Mussolini’s Italy. Her latest books iinclude Riviera Gold.

James L’Etoile
Author of novels, short stories, and screenplays influenced by his 29 years behind bars. He is a former associate warden in a maximum security prison, a hostage negotiator, and director of California’s parole system. His published novels include At What Cost, Bury the Past, and Little River. Bury the Past was a Silver Falchion award finalist for best procedural mystery of the year.

Tim Maleeny 
Conference Co-Chair
Author of the award-winning Cape Weathers mysteries including Boxing The Octopus, Stealing The Dragon, Beating The Babushka, Greasing The Piñata and the bestselling comedic thriller Jump, which Publishers Weekly called "a perfectly blended cocktail of escapism." Tim's short fiction has won the prestigious Macavity Award and appears in several leading anthologies.

Vilaska Nguyen
Felony trial attorney at San Francisco Public Defender's Office. For over a decade, he has tried cases ranging from drug sales to homicide. He guest lectures at USF School of Law and facilitates the mock-trial workshop at 826 Valencia, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting under-resourced youth in San Francisco. His short stories have been published in NANO Fiction, Blue Fifth Review: Blue Five Notebook Series, Squawk Back and As It Ought to Be. His story "Wardship" was nominated for Best Small Fiction of 2016 in the Queen's Ferry Press.

Otto Penzler
The famed proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop in New York, and founder of the Mysterious Press. He is currently the publisher of Penzler Press. He has also hosted a series on mystery films for Turner Classic Movies.

Susan C. Shea
Author of Dressed for Death in Burgundy as well as Love & Death in Burgundy, and the Dani O’Rourke mystery series. She is past-president of the Northern California chapter of Sisters in Crime and secretary of the national SinC board, a member of MWA, and blogs on CriminalMinds.

Luisa Smith
Editor of the Scarlet mystery series from Penzler Books. Luisa Smith is also the head book buyer at Book Passage.

Kelli Stanley
Critically-acclaimed, multiple award-winning author of crime fiction (novels and short stories). She is best known for the Miranda Corbie series of historical noir novels and short stories set in 1940 San Francisco. She's the author of City of Sharks.

Robin C. Stuart
Veteran cyber crime investigator and contributing author to Fault Lines: Stories by Northern California Crime Writers and Handbook for Information Security. She consults on all things cyber security for Fortune 100 companies, television shows, and media outlets, including BBC and NowThis News. She was a significant contributor to the Tech Museum of Innovation's acclaimed Cyber Detectives interactive installation, one of the museum's most popular permanent exhibits, which earned praise from the Obama Administration.