Litquake: Murder at the Museum

Sunday October 19, 2025, 6-8pm

Spend a special evening with award-winning crime fiction writers Cara Black, Marcie Rendon, Domenic Stansberry, and Jody Weiner, all spinning murderous tales starring dramatically different protagonists. In her forthcoming historical novel Huguette, Black introduces the grandfather of her famed Paris detective Aimée LeDuc, while in Rendon’s Broken Fields, Native American amateur sleuth Cash Blackbear investigates a farmer’s mysterious death in northern Minnesota. In The Lizard, Stansberry takes his noir stylings to the next level with former investigative reporter S.E. Reynolds; at the other end of the spectrum, Weiner’s Archie and Lora Krafter bring a touch of romantic comedy to a double homicide in Raise Your Other Right Hand.

Your attendance also gains exclusive entry to the Counterculture Museum. Located at the corner of Haight and Ashbury, this new exhibition space is a repository for historical markers of the times, aide-mémoires to a deeper understanding of American social movements from the Beat Generation to the hippies, civil rights, women’s liberation, LGBTQ+ rights, and beyond. Doors at 6:00pm for museum touring; conversation starts near 7. $15 includes museum admission

Book sales for this event coordinated by Books Inc.

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Moderator:

Jody Weiner

Jody Weiner is the current board president of the Litquake Foundation. He wrote the novel Prisoners of Truth, drawing from his experiences defending criminal cases in Chicago. He also co-authored Kinship With Animals, in which he writes about serving as attorney to Koko the signing gorilla, and Peoplescapes, My Story From Purging To Painting, an illustrated memoir by Nancy Calef. His new novel Raise Your Other Right Hand was published March 11, 2025. Jody’s been collaborating with his wife and partner for thirty-five years: American figurative painter, Nancy Calef.

Authors:

Cara Black

Cara Black is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 21 books in the Paris PI Aimée Leduc series, and two World War II–set novels featuring American markswoman Kate Rees. Cara has received a Washington Post Book World Book of the Year citation, the Médaille de la Ville de Paris—the Paris City Medal, which is awarded in recognition of contribution to international culture.

Domenic Stansberry

Domenic Stansberry is an internationally praised San Francisco crime novelist known for his innovative noir fiction that skirts the edges of the genre while exploring the intricacies of criminal consciousness. The Lizard, released in spring 2025, is the latest of his award-winning novels. Others include The White Devil, a sultry, decadent thriller that received the Hammett, and The Confession, which received the Edgar for its controversial portrait of a Marin County psychologist suspected of murder. He is also author of the Pelican Novels—featuring investigator Dante Mancuso—widely praised for their portrayal of the ethnic and political subcultures of San Francisco. His work has been translated into Spanish, Italian, French, Polish, Japanese, and numerous other languages.

Marcie Rendon

Marcie Rendon is an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation, a Pinckley Prize–winning author, playwright, poet, freelance writer, and community arts activist. Rendon was awarded the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award for 2020. She is a speaker on Native issues, leadership, and writing. Her second novel in her Cash Blackbear mystery series, Girl Gone Missing, was nominated for the Sue Grafton Memorial Award. Rendon was recognized as a 50 over 50 Change-maker by Minneapolis AARP and Pollen in 2018. She lives in Minneapolis.

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