I’m Jeri Howard, a private investigator in Oakland, California. Way back in college, I got a history degree, but I didn’t want to teach. Instead, I went into the legal biz, working as a paralegal. Then I met a smooth, urbane older man named Errol Seville, a PI with his own well-established and highly regarded firm. When he offered me a job, I didn’t take much convincing. That’s how I earned my license. When Errol retired, I started my own business.

A typical day in the life of this private eye?

Up early, though not as early as Dan, my fiancé. He’s one of those up-at-dawn people. He writes hiking books and he likes to get on the trail early. Abigail and Black Bart, my cats, are content to sleep until my feet hit the floor and then they beat me to the kitchen. It doesn’t matter that Dan’s already fed them. Black Bart figures if he can see the bottom of the food bowl, it must be empty. He’s quite vocal about it.

Fortunately, Dan has already made coffee before leaving to meet a friend for a hike at one of the regional parks. I need lots of coffee. I run on the stuff. Things seem to go better when I’m properly caffeinated. In fact, I make a habit of interviewing people in java joints. Sipping a latte and nibbling on a scone definitely helps the conversation flow.

After breakfast, I leave my house in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood, waving to Madison, the tenant in my garage apartment, as she heads to the UC Berkeley campus, where she’s in grad school. I drive the other way, to my office in Oakland. The building is owned by my friend Cassie and her law partners and they gave me a sweetheart deal on the lease. Once inside, I start that all-important first pot of coffee and settle down at my desk.

Being a private eye isn’t all Sam Spade, Sherlock Holmes, or Hercule Poirot. I do a lot of work for lawyers, both criminal and civil, and for insurance companies who want to make sure those claims are on the level instead of bogus. As I drink that first pot of coffee I’m on the computer, reading and returning emails, writing reports, and digging through databases. Sometimes I have to leave the office and head to the Alameda County Courthouse to look up records. Or take BART over to San Francisco, on the same sort of mission. Often I drive all over the Bay Area, tracking down leads, interviewing people, or looking for information. Once I had to go looking for a knucklehead who ignored a subpoena and tell him to get his ass into court.

It’s mostly a Monday through Friday job, though sometimes I get caught up in a case. I can’t resist a puzzle, especially when it’s twisted, tangled, and complicated.

Today’s Friday and I’m looking forward to having the weekend off. Nothing planned for Sunday but on Saturday, Dan and I are heading over to Alameda, the island city where I grew up. Some friends, Noel and Lakshmi, have asked for our help. Noel’s aunt just moved from her Alameda home into a senior living complex and we’re going to inventory the contents of the house to get it ready for sale. It should be a pleasant, uneventful day. Besides, they’ve promised us dinner in return for our labors.

Okay, time for another mug of Peet’s dark roast.

The Things We Keep, A Jeri Howard Mystery Book #14
Genre: Private Investigator
Release: March 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Two Human Skulls On A Pile Of Bones. Empty Eye Sockets Stare Up At Jeri Howard.

The Oakland PI is helping friends inventory the contents of an old house. Jeri finds a battered Navy footlocker hidden in the back of a dusty storeroom. When she pries open the lid, she’s shocked at what she finds.

Human bones. Whose bones? How did they get there—and why? The elderly homeowner, now in a senior apartment, doesn’t want to talk. Does she have something to hide?

Jeri investigates, determined to find answers and put flesh on those bones. Her quest takes her back decades, to the Sixties. To San Francisco, where hippies gathered in the Haight district, drawn like moths to the flame, and bands played rock music at dives, hoping for that one big break that would lead to success. To Alameda, when the Vietnam War was at its height and the Naval Air Station was home to thousands of sailors. And the Zodiac Killer’s terrifying murder spree that frightened the entire Bay Area.

It was a long time ago. When Jeri digs into the past, someone in the present has a lot to lose—and will kill to keep those secrets.

Meet the author
Janet Dawson’s life of crime began with her long-running series featuring Oakland PI Jeri Howard and the award-winning first novel, Kindred Crimes. Jeri has sleuthed her way through 14 books, including the latest, The Things We Keep. Janet stepped back in time to the 1950s and climbed aboard the historic train known as the California Zephyr, where her sleuthing Zephyrette Jill McLeod solves crimes and takes dinner reservations. The most recent book in that series is Death Above the Line. In The Sacrificial Daughter, geriatric care manager Kay Dexter will mess with you if you mess with her elderly clients. Janet lives in Alameda, California, and denies being a crazy cat lady.

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