Death Deals a Hand

Janet Dawson has written nine novels featuring Oakland private investigator Jeri Howard. Her first, Kindred Crimes, won the St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America contest for best first private eye novel. It was nominated in the best first category for three mystery awards, the Shamus, the Macavity and the Anthony.In the past, Dawson was a newspaper reporter in Colorado, and her stint as a U.