The Tawdry Yellow Brick Road

by David Bischoff

Madrigal "Maddy" Harper is a parole officer and the single mother of a mildly autistic 12-year-old son, Skylar. His fascination by the science fictional universe of Star Train brings them both to ElfCon, a fanfest and SF extravaganza. When Abner Farelli, an ex-con and parole-jumper who Maddy had a run-in with, turns up dead, shot with her stolen gun, Lt. Mitchell Blackson informs her that she is the prime suspect because of her "history" with the deceased. Then Maddy is present during a mishap that kills a publishing executive. Another accident? Or is she now the suspect in two deaths? Hauled off to jail with no alibi, Maddy realizes that the only way either crime will be solved is by investigating each one herself. One low-key jailbreak later, she's hot on the trail of a killer whose ambitions have gotten the better of him. David Bischoff lives in Eugene, Oregon.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

aka Mark Grant (with Bruce King), Brad Quentin (with Terry Bisson)

Born in Washington D.C. and now living in Eugene, Oregon, David Bischoff writes science fiction books, short stories, and scripts for television. Though he has been writing since the early 1970s, and has had over 80 books published, David is best known for novelizations of popular movies and TV series including the Aliens, Gremlins, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and WarGames.