"A wild romp through Palm Springs’ glittery underbelly. Fast, funny, and thoroughly enjoyable. An instant classic.” Tod Goldberg, New York Times bestselling author of The Low Desert A 2022 Mystery Writers of America Lillian Jackson Braun Award Finalist Dante O’Donnell is white, gay and getting older every day. He has wasted his better years on starstruck dreams and the wrong men, so now he's working as a concierge for a vacation-rental outfit in Palm Springs, where the guests have far more baggage than what's packed in their suitcases. But when he finds a dead body floating in the swimming pool at one of his rentals, his own troubled past comes back to haunt him. So he turns for help to Jazz Friendly, a Black woman who, when she was a Palm Springs cop, nearly arrested him for murdering his husband, which he didn't do...not that he knows who did. Now Jazz is a struggling PI, her career derailed by racism. And with her marriage broken by booze, she's desperate to get custody of her kid. Dante and Jazz need each other to solve this murder...and to save themselves from personal and professional disaster. " "Michael Craft is bound to nab accolades for his new novel...one that weds the shadowy mystique of noir and the sunny beauty of the desert to winning ends." The Desert Sun " Craft, as always, mixes plot and dialogue deftly, stirring humor, humanity, and mayhem to create believable characters that go about the business of solving crime with a twist of wry. You’ll beg to see more of these two." Lavender Magazine "Michael Craft delivers an irresistible high camp twist to the classic detective mystery. A fast-paced and captivating opening to a promising new series." J.D. Horn, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Line "A quick-witted, entertaining mystery loaded with Palm Springs atmosphere. Smart, sophisticated, and ingeniously plotted. I loved it." Ellen Byron, USA Today bestselling author of the Cajun Country Mysteries "One can practically see John Waters in the background clapping with glee." Los Angeles Times " The author injects a lot of humour, campy wit and nuance into the proceedings, and keeps the plot stirring at a brisk pace." Thrilling Detective 2023 MWA Edgars nominee: Lilian Jackson Braun Award " Desert Getaway is a sexy, charming romp set in Palm Springs, where two unlikely partners—a priapic gay ex-actor and a Black streetwise ex-cop—team up to solve a murder. Dante and Jazz show great chemistry in what I hope is the first of many adventures." — Michael Nava, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of the Henry Rios mysteries "Craft's Desert Getaway is a pairing of two of the most dynamic series characters I've read in a mystery. Like the bright pastels of Palm Springs, Desert Getaway glows with humor, moves at an energetic pace, and is wholly entertaining." — John Copenhaver, Macavity Award-winning author of Dodging and Burning     The novel  Desert Getaway  is based on my short story "VIP Check-In," which appeared in the anthology  Palm Springs Noir , published by Akashic Books in 2021. When I was approached to contribute to that volume, my first reaction was hesitation, as I had never tried writing in the noir genre. But the lure was irresistible, and I eagerly signed on.     Writing the short story, I fell in love with its premise, its tone, and especially its two main characters, Dante O'Donnell and Jazz Friendly — seeming antagonists whose initial encounters are rancid, leaving potential for growth, discovery, and ultimately mutual respect. Humor, too. While drafting the novel, I found the characters pulling me toward a narrative that became far more rollicking than dark.     When the novel manuscript was complete, its search for a publisher ended at Brash Books, where co-founder Lee Goldberg simply "got it." How lucky for me to have this amazing writer serve as the book's enthusiastic and collaborative editor. I could not be prouder of the results.      Desert Getaway  is my 18th novel, the first in a new series that sets off in a fresh direction, with more to come. I hope you'll enjoy getting to know Dante and Jazz.  —  Michael Craft Michael Craft is the author of the acclaimed “Mark Manning” series of mystery novels, three of which were finalists for Lambda Literary Awards. More recently, his 2019 mystery, ChoirMaster, was a Gold Winner of the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award. Desert Getaway, the upcoming first novel in his new Dante & Jazz series, is based on his Palm Springs Noir short story VIP Check-In, praised as “delightful” by the Los Angeles Times.