Election Season Thrillers Redux

by | Jul 7, 2026 | Bones in the Wash, Wasted

As election season heats up, I’ve been percolating on relaunching my first two books, both of which unfold as Election Day approaches.

Bones in the Wash: Politics is Tough. Family is Tougher, my first novel, and — don’t tell my other books — my favorite, is set during the 2008 presidential campaign in New Mexico.

Albuquerque Mayor Tomas Zamara  is charged with doing “whatever it takes” to deliver the state’s electoral votes for John McCain, including suppressing voter registration efforts, though those efforts will seem tame compared to today. Zamara’s also grappling with a fierce opponent, a volatile new woman, and a demanding family. When a flash flood unearths the skeleton of his long-missing wife, investigators zero in on him as a suspect.

Wasted: Murder in the Recycle Berkeley Yard is set in the gritty and malodorous world of garbage and recycling, and explores rich and resonant themes of reinvention, transition, and discarding that which no longer serves us. Wasted is part mystery, part love triangle, and part political satire, plus it’s a gentle mocking of Berkeley, where I lived for thirty years.

Berkeley reporter Brian Hunter investigates the “recycling wars,” finds the body of his friend Doug crushed in an aluminum bale, and hunts down the murderer, all the while trying to win the heart of Barb, Doug’s former lover, now a suspect in his murder.

 

 

I hosted more than a dozen book launch events in 2014, 2015, and 2016, when these two books were published, but that was years ago, and times have changed. I wrote those books as “contemporary” novels, but now they’re practically historical novels. About times that seem innocent by today’s standards. Like watching “West Wing” reruns — oh how sweet, the president cares about integrity.

I imagine one or more events in Marin, where I live, and one or more in the East Bay.

I recently helped a friend with his book launch and one of his events was a house party, hosted by friends of his in Lafayette, open to friends of the author as well as the hosts, and that was a lot of fun.

Let me know what you think of this relaunch idea. Might you come to an Election Season Thrillers book launch event? Would you like to host one?  Let me know by email or in the comments below.