Mysterious Women are Coming to the Main Library 

The Main Library has a way of attracting mysterious women - that is to say, women who write mysteries. The Bay Area, in fact, is a hotbed of women writers who specialize in the genre - and key facts such as this are not lost on Librarians Barbara Bibel and Christy Thomas, who frequently organize programs that feature local mystery writers.

A program slyly dubbed Mysterious Women will feature Janet Dawson, Camille Minichino, and Ann Parker, on April 30, from 2 to 4 pm. This event will take place in the Main Library's West Auditorium.

As you may have noticed, our city has a film noirish current running through it, but rest assured: there is a fictional sleuth out there trying to make things right. Janet Dawson's heroine, Jeri Howard, is an Oakland gumshoe who gets entangled in plenty of local intrigue.

Camille Minichino (in photo) is the author of the Periodic Table mysteries, featuring physicist Gloria Lamerino. Under the pen name Margaret Grace, Ms. Minichino also writes the Miniature Mysteries. This month she debuts a new nom de plum, Ada Madison, with a series of mysteries featuring Professor Sophie Knowles.

Ann Parker is the author of the Silver Rush Mysteries, set in Leadville, Colorado, during the 1880s, featuring Inez Stannert, a saloonkeeper.