Music, drugs, and murder all collide along So. Cal's Baseline Road.

Southern California, May 1970. In the turmoil following Nixon's Cambodia invasion and the Kent State killings, a young economics professor is killed in a campus bombing. Authorities conclude she was an unintended victim and arrest a known radical. Case closed.

Nearly two years have passed when an old hippie says, "The Claremont bombings, the FBI pigs got it all wrong." to Jimmy Sommes, a San Bernardino County homicide investigator, and country-rock fiddler, at one of Jimmy's gigs. Sommes and Claremont Detective Carol Loomis, look into the case and realize that things are not as they seem. Shadowy figures emerge, including Collins, a vicious but troubled hitman.

Was it a cleverly disguised murder? Jimmy and Carol, both enmeshed in improbable romantic relationships with characters who are possible suspects, believe the answer may be found on Baseline Road, a lonely stretch of highway that time has forgotten.

Baseline Road

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ISBN: 9781951122447 (paperback)
ISBN: 9781951122546 (ebook)

Publication Date: January 24, 2023
Price: $16.95
Pages: 304
Article and Review in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
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"There is an unmistakable vibrancy in how Orlando Davidson writes in capturing those tumultuous times"
~ Garrett Hongo, author of The Perfect Sound
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"Cops and crooks, babes, bombers, and bikers--all the idiosyncratic denizens of California in the Seventies come to life in this delight of a novel. The music of the time provides a rich, nostalgic accompaniment to a plot that winds and twists its way through highways and byways to a satisfying conclusion."
~ Vicki Lane, author of And the Crow Took Their Eyes and of the Elizabeth Goodweather Mysteries.
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"With tight, well-paced plotting, Davidson transports the reader to Baseline Road and Southern California of the 1970s. It's a worthwhile trip! Historical facts and figures are expertly woven into a twisty-turny ode to a culture and landscape filled with well-drawn characters who are flawed enough to be believable and interesting enough to keep the reader engaged well past bedtime."
~ Tena Frank, author of Final Rights
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"Orlando Davidson is a gifted writer, and his first novel Baseline Road is riveting, complex and intriguing. It's a book full of compelling action and irresistible tension, and at the same time is grounded in empathy and compassion for its characters, including its hired killer. In that way Baseline Road is a rare thing - a moving crime novel with emotional depth and real heart."
~ Tommy Hays, author of The Pleasure Was Mine and former Executive Director of the Great Smokies Writing Program at the UNC Asheville.
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"Bombs, babes, and burning rubber. Buckle up! It's 1972, and that's cordite you smell with the patchouli oil and pot smoke. With this delightful detective boogie, Davidson hits all the right notes --- sex, thugs, and rock and roll!"
~ Ed Davis, author of The Last Professional
Orlando Davidson

Orlando Davidson graduated from Claremont Men's (now McKenna) College and UCLA School of Law in the 1970's and headed west to the Hawaiian Islands. After a thirty-five year career in Hawaii working as an attorney, planner, lobbyist, and public official, Orlando relocated to western North Carolina and began to write fiction. Baseline Road is his first novel, and was shaped by his experiences during the Kent State protest days. He now resides in Portland, Oregon.

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Baseline Road

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