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…

Becky Miller lives in the best neighborhood, goes to school with the children of movie stars, and has her psychiatrist on speed dial. She may live in the City of Angels, but this sixteen-year-old's life is far from perfect. By day, Becky navigates the halls of one of L.A.'s most elite schools, where the mean girls are a special breed of mean, and at night, she deals with sparring parents, a grandmother who is man-crazy, and a younger brother, Jack, who answers only to J-zizzy. As Becky's life comes crashing down around her, she struggles to put it back together and learn to grow up while trying to stay sane. Isabel Kaplan dishes the dirt on the children of Hollywood's elite—from Spago delivered to campus at lunch and shrinks who dole out psychotropic drugs as though they're candy to parent-free parties at the Four Seasons—the lives of Becky and her creator, Isabel Kaplan, are like no other, and yet strangely, just like everyone's.

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.