Five authors talk about their whodunits at Kepler’s on February 13

On Friday, February 13, 2026, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm, come to Kepler’s Books (1010 El Camino Real) to hear five masters of mystery fiction reveal their latest titles, where they get their inspiration, and how they decide which clues to divulge and which to keep hidden until you turn to the very last page.

Your ticket includes a drink and light snacks, as well as the opportunity to mingle with the authors at a casual reception. Buy tickets online.

About the speakers

Cara Black is the author of 21 books in the New York Times bestselling Aimée Leduc series as well as the WWII thrillers Three Hours in Paris and Night Flight to Paris. She has won the Médaille de la Ville de Paris and the Médaille d’Or du Rayonnement Culturel and received multiple nominations for the Anthony and Macavity Awards.

M.M. Chouinard is the Mary Higgins Clark Award–nominated, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and San Francisco Chronicle bestselling author of The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco series, the Detective Jo Fournier thriller series, and the standalone psychological thriller The Vacation. She enjoys amateur genealogy, crafting, baking, and Halloween. She’s owned by three cats and a dog, and is held together by caffeine and dry shampoo.

Carmela Dutra is a writer from the Bay Area who loves food trucks, family, and cozy mysteries. Her debut, A Murder Most Fowl, has been praised by Kirkus Reviews for its “serious set of crimes leavened by plenty of amusing moments,” by Criminal Element for the “juicy reasoning behind the sabotage that was almost as shocking as the murder itself,” and described as “the perfect escapist read, brimming with banter and an extra helping of fun” by New York Times bestselling author Ellery Adams.

Laurie R. King is the award-winning bestselling author of 18 previous Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mysteries, a series featuring SFPD cold-case Inspector Raquel Laing, the contemporary Kate Martinelli series, the historical Stuyvesant & Grey stories, and five acclaimed standalone novels. .

Gigi Pandian is a USA Today bestselling author and locked-room mystery enthusiast who’s been awarded Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Derringer awards, and been a finalist for the Edgar. The child of anthropologists from New Mexico and the southern tip of India, she spent her childhood being dragged around the world on research trips, which inspired her fiction. Gigi writes the Secret Staircase mysteries (locked-room mysteries called “wildly entertaining” by the New York Times), the Accidental Alchemist mysteries (humorous mysteries with a touch of magic), and the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mysteries (lighthearted adventures steeped in history).