Publication Date June 1, 2026
In the past few years, Lee Goldberg has made his way onto my list of reliable/favorite authors…you know, the ones that when you see they have a new book, you think, “YES! Definitely gotta get THAT one!” In 2022, there was Movieland, in 2023, Malibu Burning and Calico, in 2024 Dream Town and Ashes Never Lie, and in 2025 we had Hidden In Smoke Fallen Star. The latest is Murder By Design.
Having grown up in Southern California, I particularly enjoy the way Goldberg evokes the look, feel, and (dare I say?) the Southern California vibe. Other authors who do this well include T. Jefferson Parker, Robert Crais (I LOVE Elvis Cole and Joe Pike), and Michael Connelly. So while there is no shortage of authors who do a fine job with stories set in and around Southern California, Lee Goldberg has recently established himself as one of the best.
This one features a new protagonist, Edison Bixby. He is classically LA material: wealthy and handsome. He is also impulsive and totally rude due to a traumatic brain injury. We works (successfully) as an insurance investigator whose technique to solve crimes involves figuring out how the design of the man-made world makes them possible. Wally Nash (another classically LA guy, who is a struggling actor) gets hired to keep Bixby from completely offending absolutely everyone.
Working together, they investigate what at first looks like a simple accident. A woman named Caroline Crowley fell down a staircase at a shopping mall in front of dozens of witnesses, and there is video that clearly shows the whole thing. But Bixby has the idea that she was murdered by design, manipulated into a fall that caused her own death. In the investigators’ view, the mall is responsible. They made the crime intentional (if not inevitable).
The book is a fun read, and as usual I love the Southern California aspect of the storyline. Lee Goldberg continues to impress (and I’m happy to say he is interesting and great fun as a speaker – if you have a chance to hear him at an event or online, do it! Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for this honest review. Five stars. (Note: some of the first two paragraphs of this review are from earlier reviews of Mr. Goldberg’s work)