Ever since the first popular article on the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits was published in Sunset magazine in 1908, this amazing Ice Age fossil site has captivated the imaginations of countless people from all over the world. This "death trap of the ages" and its population of saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, and other extinct animals, now displayed in the stunning George C. Page Museum, continues to be one of the most popular tourist attractions in Los Angeles. George Allan Hancock donated the 26-acre site to the County of Los Angeles in 1924 to preserve this scientific treasure trove for research and the enjoyment of future generations.

When Detective Kate Delafield and her partner, Detective Joe Cameron, get the call to investigate a homicide in the secluded, old-money neighborhood of Hancock Park, Kate has the feeling it’s not going to be murder as usual. Her hunch is correct. A cultured, refined mother of three, Victoria Talbot is the last person you’d expect to die by gunshot, execution-style. At first the finger of guilt seems to point at the victim’s ex-husband Douglas, and everyone involved—from the authorities to his own children—are more than willing to suspect him. But for Kate, the easy way has rarely been proven the right way, and there are too many unanswered questions that suggest not all is at it seems with this dysfunctional family. Now, Douglas Talbot is on trial for his life, Kate’s lover Aimee has disappeared to God-knows-where, and Kate must piece together a deadly puzzle of secrets and lies…

Hancock is a 19th-century mining boomtown in the heart of Michigan's Copper Country. Situated on the northern shore of Portage Lake, it grew into a regional center of shipping and commerce. Hancock's early residents were predominantly emigrants from Prussia, Ireland, and England (largely Cornwall) who came to work in area mines. Germans and French Canadians were also part of the diverse ethnic mix, and they were later joined by Finns, Scandinavians, and Italians. The harsh winter climate and geographic isolation, with limited means of transportation for roughly half the year, required a hardy citizenry. The pioneer inhabitants were resolute achievers, forging a community that with each generation grew less dependent on mining and its ancillary industries. Hancock became the Copper Country's first city in 1903 and remains Michigan's northernmost city to this day. It is also home to the only private university in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Ken Bernstein, the City Planner for the City of Los Angeles and a national advocate for historic preservation shares how Los Angeles has led the nation in historic preservation and shares how other cities can do the same. Los Angeles has an image as the "City of the Future"--a city always at the cutting edge of change--but also as a "throwaway metropolis" that cares little about its history or architectural legacy. Yet thereality is quite different. Over the past decade, the City of Los Angeles has developed one of the most successful historic preservation programs in the nation, culminating with the completion of the nation's most ambitious citywide survey of historic resources. All across the city, historic preservation is now transforming Los Angeles, while also pointing the way to how other cities can use preservation to revitalize their neighborhoods and build community. Preserving Los Angeles:How Historic Places Can Transform America's Cities, authored by Ken Bernstein, who oversees Los Angeles' Office of Historic Resources, tells this under-appreciated L.A. story: how historic preservation has been transforming neighborhoods, creating a Downtown renaissance, and guiding the future of the city. While it is younger than many East Coast cities, Los Angeles has a remarkable collection of architectural resources in all styles, reflecting the legacy of notable architects from the past 150 years. As one of the most diverse cities in the world, Los Angeles is also breaking new ground in its approach to historic preservation, extending beyond the preservation of significant architecture, to also identify and protect the places of social and cultural meaning to all of Los Angeles's communities. Preserving Los Angelesilluminates a Los Angeles that will surprise even longtime Angelenos--highlighting dozens of lesser-known buildings, neighborhoods, and places in every corner of the city that have been "found" by SurveyLA, the first-ever city-wide survey of Los Angeles' historic resources. The text is richly illustrated through images by a prominent architectural photographer, Stephen Schafer. Preserving Los Angelesis an authoritative chronicle of Los Angeles' urban transformation-- and a useful guide for citizens and urban practitioners nationally seeking to draw lessons fortheir own cities.