Laguna Beach Books is pleased
to welcome Fran Blacketer, author of You
Can’t Kill a Dead Man, published by Sunstone Press. There is no charge for
this event.
In You Can’t Kill a Dead Man, a Chicago
lawyer-turned-small town public defender finds her carefully-crafted solitary
life crumble as she is reunited with her past, which ignites a chain of events
that unleashes her family’s darkest secrets. Driven by guilt and misguided
love, she’s determined to help her son, only to find that he’s not so innocent.
The story takes place on the
central Oregon
coast, and there is an irresistible sense of intrigue that is the perfect
backdrop to a suspense story. It is the first in a series of Vanessa Sterling
suspense novels. Blacketer drew from her years of experience working with drug
addicts, battered women, and juvenile offenders to capture the human conflict
within families and the legal system.
About Fran Blacketer:
Fran Blacketer lived in Laguna
Beach for twenty years, where she met and married
local artist James Blacketer. Throughout the 80s and 90s Blacketer committed
herself to working with those in the community who struggled with their
everyday lives. She was the Executive Director of the Women’s Transitional Living
Center, a safe haven for
victims of domestic violence and their children. She was an expert witness in
over fifteen felony domestic violence trials and was a guest speaker at
universities, law schools, as well as appearing on local and national
television.
During this time she also taught at Saddleback
College and Cypress College
in the Human Services Department. Early on she provided counseling and guidance
at in-patient rehabs for drug-addicted adolescents, and later assisted in
opening a halfway house for juvenile offenders and managed a program for
homeless families. Locally she wrote grants for Sally’s Fund and served briefly
as their Executive Director.
