Denise Hamilton (does not reveal her age)

Denise Hamilton has written five detective novels about reporter Eve Diamond, who investigates crime in the local Latino, Asian, and Russian communities. This novels spring from a Los Angeles Times story she wrote about 'parachute kids' – wealthy Asian immigrant children who live alone in big homes while their parents remain in Asia taking care of family business. A Times editor asked Hamilton’s supervisor to fact-check the story because she found it hard to believe. This then became Hamilton's first novel, The Jasmine Trade, which became a bestseller.Denise Hamilton

Hamilton has also been a Fulbrighter in former Yugoslavia, which allowed her to travel in Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union during the waning days of Communism. She remains a columnist for the Times, reporting on scents and perfumes.

After the five novels in the Eve Diamond series, Hamilton wrote a stand alone (The Last Embrace, 2008) in the spirit of James Ellroy about the 1940s Hollywood disappearance of Jean Spangler, a starlet linked to L.A. gangster Mickey Cohen.

Denise Hamilton's L.A. Times essay on "surf noir." <-- Here.

 

 
 
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