The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco: A Mystery

by Michelle Chouinard

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Murder runs in this family — albeit in different ways. The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco is a total winner, with the humor of Finlay Donovan is Killing It and the charm of Richard Osman.

In Michelle Chouinard’s clever mystery The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco, the granddaughter of a serial killer shows readers another side of the beloved city.

Welcome to San Francisco, a city with killer charm.

The chill of a San Francisco summer can be deadly. No one knows this better than Capri Sanzio, who makes her living giving serial killer tours of the city. Capri has been interested in the topic since she was a kid, when she discovered she’s the granddaughter of serial killer William ‘Overkill Bill’ Sanzio. She’s always believed in his innocence, though she's never taken the leap to fully dive into the case.

But now an Overkill Bill copycat has struck in San Francisco. And Capri’s former mother-in-law, Sylvia, just cut off Capri’s daughter’s tuition payments. Needing cash, Capri wonders if this is the time to exonerate her grandfather. The case is back in the news and the police will be looking to understand the past to catch a present-day killer. Capri could finally uncover the truth about Overkill Bill—documenting the process with a podcast and a book—and hopefully earn some money.

Before Capri can get very far, the cops discover the copycat’s latest victim: Sylvia. Capri soon finds herself at the heart of the police’s investigation for an entirely different reason. She and her daughter are prime suspects.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250909992
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/24/2024
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	34,086
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

MICHELLE CHOUINARD is the author of The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco, and under another name, the USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of eight previous mysteries. Michelle has a Ph.D in developmental psychology from Stanford University and was one of UC Merced’s founding faculty members. She enjoys caffeine in all forms, amateur genealogy, baking, and anything to do with Halloween or the zombie apocalypse.

Editorial Reviews

Advance Praise for The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco

“I could practically feel the heavy San Francisco fog as I was reading . . . I was glued to the pages!” —Alicia Thompson, author of Love in the Time of Serial Killers

"Quirky situation, colorful characters, a San Francisco that comes alive on the page—if I didn’t live nearby already, Michelle Chouinard would make me want to move here! —Laurie R. King, author of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice

“Both chilling and yet wholesome. I was drawn into the glamorous, mysterious world and could not keep myself from turning the pages and racing to the end. I devoured every quirky sentence.” —Jesse Q. Sutanto, author of Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

“Only Murders in the Building meets Vertigo meets Gilmore Girls. . . Chouinard’s delightful series opener has the low-down on high society, a pretzel of a plot, and an admirably light touch with darkness. Brava!” —Catriona McPherson, author of the Last Ditch Motel mysteries

“Prepare to be enthralled . . . A spine-tingling novel that will keep you up all night!” —Michelle Gagnon, author of Killing Me

“Readers in search of a classic mystery need look no further.” —First Clue

From the Publisher

08/01/2024

Capri Sanzio (the granddaughter of a convicted serial killer nicknamed Overkill Bill) runs SF Killer Crime Tours, showing tourists where some of the city's most infamous crimes have occurred. When Katherine Harper, the wife of a tech scion, is murdered near the Palace of the Legion of Honor on a foggy night, the brutal crime brings the late Overkill Bill back into the headlines. It also brings unwelcome questions for Capri, who believes her grandfather was innocent. When her ex-mother-in-law suddenly cuts off Capri's daughter Morgan's grad school tuition payments, then is killed in the same way as Katherine Harper, Capri and Morgan are prime suspects. Capri must use her research skills to clear their names and, in the process, find out whether her grandfather really was guilty. The investigation uncovers some very unsavory family secrets and nearly costs Capri her life. Chouinard's lively style keeps the story moving and takes readers on a tour of San Francisco, traffic jams included. VERDICT This intriguing mystery from Chouinard ("Detective Jo Fournier" series) features strong women characters and gives research a leading role.—Barbara M. Bibel

Library Journal

2024-08-03
The guide who launched the SF Killer Crime Tours turns her attention to sleuthing, bolstered in both capacities by a most improbable qualification.

Capricorn Sanzio’s grandfather, William Sanzio, was convicted years ago of being Overkill Bill, a serial killer who took an exceptionally thorough approach to his profession. Now, years after her grandpa died in prison still protesting his innocence, it looks very much as if someone is imitating Overkill Bill’s not-just-dead-but-really-dead approach to homicide. When Sylvia Clement, the old-money mother of Capri’s cheating ex, Todd, announces that she’s done paying tuition for her granddaughter Morgan’s graduate school, Capri, desperate to raise money, hatches the idea of writing a true-crime book about Overkill Bill and his copycat. No sooner has Capri reached out to homicide inspector Dan Petito to get his take on the murder of socialite Katherine Harper than the copycat claims a second victim: Sylvia Clement, whom both Capri and Morgan had abundant reason to want dead. Once Capri’s motive switches from financing Morgan’s education to keeping her daughter and herself out of prison, her detective skills get sharper, and she’s willing to learn from any source, even a YouTube tutorial on picking locks. Despite its trendy title, this is really a story about family ties, and the complicated connection that emerges between murderer and murderees is both ingenious and deeply felt. Capri even gets another crack at solving the mystery of Overkill Bill in an epilogue that’s as heartwarming as it is anticlimactic.

Just the thing for readers who want to learn about all those other hearts that got left in San Francisco.

Kirkus Reviews