Q&A with Lee Goldberg

 

Lee Goldberg is the author of the new novel Bone Canyon, the second in his series featuring Detective Eve Ronin, which began with Lost Hills. He is based in Calabasas, California.

 

Q: This is the second novel featuring your character Eve Ronin--did you know you'd be writing another book about her when you were working on the first one?

 

A: No, I didn't, but I was certainly hoping that I would. Lost Hills was meant to be a "pilot" for a series of books and, thankfully, it worked. 

 

Q: Do you think Eve has changed from the first book to the second?

 

A: Definitely! She will be changing with each book, learning from hard-earned experience from her mistakes and her successes. But she also faces new obstacles along the way, revealing new aspects of her character to us and to herself, and that shapes her. She's not going to be one of those characters who stays frozen in time in age and attitude. She will evolve, for better or worse, with each book.

 

Q: How did you come up with the plot for Bone Canyon?

 

A: It's ripped from the headlines. While I was editing the galleys of Lost Hills, a horrible wild fire roared through Calabasas and the Santa Monica mountains, mirroring the fire in my book.

 

In the aftermath of the flames, which cleared a lot of dense brush…skeletons were discovered... not from victims of the fire, but from people who were "lost" years ago and bodies that had been dumped by gangs after executions. It felt like the perfect, and natural, story to tell in the aftermath of Lost Hills, too. 

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?

 

A: I'm not trying to impart any great message in my books. They are meant to be simply good entertainment, a distraction from your troubles for a few hours. I just hope readers enjoy the book, like Eve, and want to read more about her in the future

 

 Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I've just delivered the third, untitled Eve Ronin novel and am already thinking about the fourth. I've also co-written new Mystery 101 and Darrow & Darrow movies for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries that I hope will go into production soon up in Canada. They were supposed to shoot back in April, but the pandemic delayed things. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I get mistaken for Daniel Craig all the time.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Lee Goldberg.