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
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Commendation from the City of Los Angeles
Lou Norton Mystery Series
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Finalist
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery & Thriller, WE LIE HERE
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Nominated
Anthony Award for Best Novel (And Now She’s Gone and They All Fall Down)
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Nominated
International Thriller Writers Award for Best Novel (They All Fall Down)
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Nominated
Lefty Award for Best Novel (And Now She’s Gone and They All Fall Down)
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Finalist
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery & Thriller, AND NOW SHE’S GONE
Rachel Howzell Hall is a master of the psychological suspense thriller.
— Melinda Leigh, #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author
NOW AVAILABLE
A writer’s search for her missing friend becomes a real-life thriller in a twisting novel of suspense by the New York Times bestselling author of These Toxic Things.
Bailey Meadows has just moved into the remote Topanga Canyon home of thriller author Jack Beckham. As his writer-in-residence, she’s supposed to help him once again reach the bestseller list. But she’s not there to write a thriller—she’s there to find Sam Morris, a community leader dedicated to finding missing people, who has disappeared in the canyon surrounding Beckham’s property.
The missing woman was last seen in the drought-stricken forest known for wildfires and mountain lions. Each new day, Bailey learns just how dangerous these canyons are—for the other women who have also gone missing here…and for her. Could these missing women be linked to strange events that occurred decades ago at the Beckham estate?
As fire season in the canyons approaches, Bailey must race to unravel the truth from fiction before she becomes the next woman lost in the forest.
IN YOUR REALM
DECEMBER 3, 2024
Join me for the launch party on 12/4/24 in Culver City! Click for more details.
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.