The Official Site of

Rachel Howzell Hall

 

A Passion for Telling Untold
Stories

Rachel Howzell Hall is the author of thirteen novels, including the bestselling thriller What Fire Brings and The Last One, the explosive debut romantasy in her new series. A two-time nominee of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Rachel is also a former member of the board of directors for Mystery Writers of America and was a featured writer on NPR’s acclaimed Crime in the City series and the National Endowment for the Arts weekly podcast. Read More

  • Commendation from the City of Los Angeles

    Lou Norton Mystery Series

  • Finalist

    Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery & Thriller, WE LIE HERE

  • Nominated

    Anthony Award for Best Novel (And Now She’s Gone and They All Fall Down)

  • Nominated

    International Thriller Writers Award for Best Novel (They All Fall Down)

  • Nominated

    Lefty Award for Best Novel (And Now She’s Gone and They All Fall Down)

  • Finalist

    Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery & Thriller, AND NOW SHE’S GONE

“Cements her as on of the strongest voices in crime fiction today — J.T.Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of A Very Bad Thing

PRE-ORDER NOW

She’s a new PI in a beautiful seaside town. It’s dirtier than it looks—and more dangerous too—in a twisting novel of suspense by the Anthony Award–nominated author of These Toxic Things.

After ten years on the force, LAPD cop Sonny Rush relocates with her elderly mother to peaceful Haven, California, to join her godfather’s burgeoning PI business. What crimes could possibly happen in a town nicknamed “Mayberry by the Sea”? Sonny’s first case: find Figgy, a missing goldendoodle last seen sporting a Versace collar. At least scouting out a dognapper gives Sonny a chance to get to know her new neighbors.

Forty-eight hours in town and Figgy’s disappearance entangles Sonny in an unwelcome reunion with her ex, one of Haven’s wealthiest citizens. And when the body of a teenage boy is found along a popular hiking trail, Sonny is drawn into a web of strange beyond anything she ever saw in LA.

Then comes a local’s warning: question everything. Haven hides secrets that could destroy its idyllic facade. Or destroy Sonny first.

Good Morning America Book Club's Pick for December 2024!

  • The Roomies Digest

    Last One Launch

  • Barnes and Noble

  • Rebecca Yarros

  • Kirkus Reviews

  • Publishers Weekly

  • Alex Segura

  • Jess Lourey

What People Are Saying

 

Los Angeles Times

“One of the best books of the year...whip-smart and emotionally deep, And Now She's Gone is a deceptively straightforward mystery, blending a fledgling PI’s first 'woman is missing' case with underlying stories about racial identity, domestic abuse and rank evil.”

 

S. A. Cosby
author of Blacktop Wasteland

“These Toxic Things is a master class in tension and suspense.”

Lee Child
author of Jack Reacher series

A fresh voice in crime fiction, fast, funny, heatbreaking and

 

New York Times Book Review

Trail of Echoes—“Lou…is a formidable fighter-- somone you want on your side.”

James Patterson,
author of Alex Cross series

They All Fall Down — “The twist start from page one and never let up…”

 

Washington Post

It’s a feat to keep high humor and crushing sorrow in plausible equilibrium in a mystery novel, and few writers are as adept at it as Rachel Howzell Hall.”

Attica Locke
author of Bluebird,Bluebird

They All Fall Down —“A riotous and wild ride.”

 

Walter Mosley

And Now She’s Gone — Smart, packed with dialogue that sings on the page, Hall’s novel turns the tables on our expectations at every turn, bringing us closer to truth than if it were forced on us in school.” ―Walter Mosley

Write Ups

 

L.A. crime novelist’s long road to writing one of best books of the year

By Paula L. Woods

Whip-smart and emotionally deep, “And Now She’s Gone” is a deceptively straightforward mystery, blending a fledgling PI’s first “woman is missing” case with underlying stories about racial identity, domestic abuse and rank evil. Along the way, we get a myth-busting tour of South L.A. neighborhoods too frequently confined to alarming headlines and helicopter journalism.

 

Sin and Punishment: An interview with Rachel Howzell Hall

By Karen Grigsby Bates

RACHEL HOWZELL HALL has had two jobs for years: one is as a writer for health care organizations, such as City of Hope and (currently) Cedars-Sinai; the other as a prolific novelist. Her police procedurals center on LAPD homicide detective Elouise “Lou” Norton, a brilliant, slightly brittle black woman who is intimately familiar with many neighborhoods even the police don’t want to work.

 

When personal isn’t good enough: Just keep the rejection letters coming

By Rachel Howzell Hall

Throughout my pregnancy, I’d been battling a rare kind of breast cancer. Three months after our daughter was born, my husband, a digital web designer, was laid off from his Hollywood dream job. I’d return to my full-time job after maternity leave and had insurance—but his insurance covered my ongoing cancer care.

I kept writing, though. Optimistic even as I received reams of rejection letters.