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Diane Schaffer

About Diane Schaffer

Diane Schaffer, a Stanford PhD, is a retired professor and longtime resident of Santa Cruz County. Mortal Zin, her first mystery novel, is rooted in her summer work in a Santa Cruz zinfandel winery, where she became fascinated with the unique history of zinfandel, California’s mystery grape. When she’s not writing, she’s hiking, river kayaking, or reading a good mystery novel. She now lives in Ashland, Oregon, with her husband.

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Mortal Zin

FICTION  | $22
Trade Paper | 5.315” x 8.465”

ISBN: 9781960573933 
Pub Date: 3/4/2025

Mortal Zin: A Mystery Novel

by Diane Schaffer

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A crusading attorney’s death. Sabotage at a family winery. Secrets buried in California’s past…

When corporate attorney Noli Cooper visits her godparents’ Santa Cruz Mountain winery, she’s hoping for a few quiet days to consider her future. But the future will have to wait. The body of her childhood mentor, a crusading social justice lawyer and local hero, is discovered in a rocky ocean cove. The sheriff is quick to call it suicide. Noli knows he’s wrong. Teaming up with PI Luz Alvarado, Noli dives into a world where nothing is as it seems.

As threats mount and the winery teeters on the brink of ruin, Noli and Luz must navigate a treacherous landscape of greed, revenge, and long-buried secrets. Their investigation weaves through the rich tapestry of California’s vineyard history, the mystery of zinfandel grapes, and the haunting legacy of the Vietnam War. With a murderer on the loose, predatory neighbors circling, and Noli’s godfather framed for murder, the clock is ticking. Can two fearless women from different worlds unravel the truth before it’s too late?

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Praise for Mortal Zin: A Mortal Zin Mystery

“An attorney investigates the death of her mentor, leading her into the darkness of his past in Schaffer’s mystery novel. Schaffer creates a vivid world with realistic and understandable characters, especially Noli, who is the heart of this large cast. A satisfying, fast-paced whodunit with two strong female leads.” —Kirkus Reviews

"Through twists and turns, beaches, vineyards and coastal redwoods, historical layers and modern changes,  Santa Cruz, the story’s setting, is described in such engaging detail that, for this alone, Mortal Zin stands as a notable debut by Diane Schaffer.”

—Robin Somers, author of Eleven Stolen Horses and Beet Fields

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HISTORICAL FICTION  | $18
Trade Paper | 5.315” x 8.465”

ISBN: 978-1-7367954-2-2
Pub Date: 8/08/2023

The Bereaved

by Julia Park Tracey

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A Historical Novel about the Orphan Train and the Mothers Left Behind

Based on her research into her grandfather’s past as an adopted child, Julia Park Tracey has created a mesmerizing work of historical fiction illuminating the darkest side of the Orphan Train.

In 1859, women have few rights, even to their own children. When her husband dies and her children become wards of a predator, Martha—bereaved and scared—flees their beloved country home taking the children with her to the squalor of New York City. But as a naive woman alone, preyed on by male employers, she soon finds herself nearly destitute. The Home for the Friendless offers free food, clothing, and schooling to New York’s street kids and Martha secures a place temporarily for her children there.When she returns for them, she discovers that the Society has indentured her two eldest out to work via

the Orphan Train, and has placed her two youngest for adoption. The Society refusing to help and with the Civil War erupting around her, Martha sets out to reclaim each of them.

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Here's what Lynn Cullen, author of Mrs. Poe and The Woman with the Cure had to say about The Bereaved:

“I worried about, admired, and grieved with the indominable Martha Lozier, the heroine of Julia Park Tracey’s exquisite novel. With a sharp eye for just the right details, Tracey brings Martha’s harrowing, astonishing, and ultimately heartrending  journey to life. This “everyday” mid-19th century American woman is anything but. How right for her story to be told."

Christian Kiefer, author of Phantoms and the newly released The Heart of it All, said:

"In The Bereaved, Julia Park Tracey reopens America’s wounds in prose that is propulsive and resonant. Martha’s struggles are the stuff of classic literature. Theodore Dreiser comes to mind, but so, too, the fine contemporary novels of Jo Baker and Maggie O’Farrell." 

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