The Little Death

In the first book of the acclaimed Henry Rios series, a lawyer doggedly pursues a murder investigation into the lions’ den of San Francisco’s moneyed eliteA burnt-out public defender battling alcoholism, Henry Rios has reached a crossroads in his life. While interviewing his former lover Hugh Paris in jail, Rios goes through the motions, but notices that Paris is far more polished and well off than the usual suspects arrested for drug possession. Paris is mysteriously bailed out—but a few weeks later, he turns up on Rios’s doorstep. Skittish and paranoid, he admits to using heroin and says he’s afraid that his wealthy grandfather wants to murder him.Rios tries to help Paris get clean, but when Paris is found dead of an apparent heroin overdose, Rios is the only one who considers foul play. Determined to find Paris’s killer, Rios knocks on San Francisco’s most gilded doors, where he discovers a family tainted by jealousy, greed, and hate. They’ve been warped by a fortune someone’s willing to kill—and kill again—to possess.At once an atmospheric noir mystery and a scathing indictment of a legal system caught in the maws of escalating corruption, The Little Death chronicles one man’s struggle to achieve true justice for all.The Little Death is the first book in the Henry Rios mystery series, which also includes Goldenboy and Howtown.Review“This murder mystery about a gay public defender in the San Francisco area is distinguished by good writing and by skillful adaptation of the genre’s traditions . . . Particularly striking is Nava’s vision of the legal system as a true instrument of justice.” — Publishers Weekly About the AuthorMichael Nava (b. 1954) is the award-winning author of seven novels featuring criminal defense lawyer Henry Rios. Nava wrote The Little Death (1986), the first book in the series, while he was in law school. That debut was followed by Goldenboy (1988), How Town (1990), The Hidden Law (1992), The Death of Friends (1996), The Burning Plain (1997), and Rag and Bone (2001). He is also the co-author of the nonfiction book Created Equal: Why Gay Rights Matter to America (1994). Nava is a six-time recipient of the Lambda Literary Award in the mystery category, as well as the Bill Whitehead Lifetime Achievement Award for gay and lesbian literature. Nava lives in San Francisco, where he works as an appellate lawyer.