Former Novato police chief writes mystery novels
By Dan Taylor
The Press Democrat
If an author needed credentials to write murder mysteries, Brian Brady would have them several times over.
He started his law enforcement career in 1969 in Berkeley, leaving as a police sergeant after nine years. Then he spent two years as a police lieutenant in Baldwin Park in Los Angeles County. Next he was a captain with the police in Farmington, New Mexico, for four years. He capped his law enforcement career serving almost 21 years in Novato, where he took over as chief in 1992. After that, he went on to serve as deputy chief security officer at NBC Universal Media and director of security at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Along the way, he also got to know some San Francisco homicide detectives.
After his retirement in 2016, Brady started writing. The first two novels in his series about a group of San Francisco homicide detectives were “In Plain Sight,” published in 2023 and “Oh, What a Tangled Web,” published in 2024.
“They read as a series but they also stand alone,” the author said.
His experience at SFMOMA came in handy for his third novel, “Greed,” published last April.
“‘Greed,’ deals with art theft and art forgery, so my time at the museum wasn’t wasted,” he said.
“I have had some interesting jobs,” he added. “I met some interesting people and heard some great stories.”
Brady has lived in Penngrove for the past 10 years with his wife Geraldine, a graphic designer, who once worked for the San Francisco Chronicle.
The author plans two appearances this month: at 7:30 p.m. July 16 at Books & Letters in Guerneville, and at 2 p.m. July 26 at Barnes & Noble in Santa Rosa.
His books aren’t in the true crime category, although he borrows some elements from his own experience and real crimes. While some mystery novels can be gruesome, Brady aims to focus on the solution more than the killing itself.
“You can’t have a murder mystery without a murder, but what I want to do is not dwell on the dark part,” Brady said. “I just put the scene out there — the crime and how it happened.” The series focuses mainly on four fictional San Francisco homicide detectives: John O’Neill, Liam Donnelly, Reggie Gibson and Katie Sullivan.
“I want people to like my characters,” Brady said. “They’re composites of real people I’ve known.”
Brady said he is halfway done with a fourth book in the series, and also is working on a separate novel about a militia group in Montana.
“With some of my books, I don’t know how it’s going to end when I start writing,” he said.
For the novel set in Montana, Brady took a driving trip through the region.
“There are various places I wanted to put in the book, so I went and looked at them,” he said. “I do research.”
For his novels set in San Francisco, not much traveling was required.
“I grew up in Noe Valley in San Francisco,” he said. “Everybody is familiar with San Francisco. You know the landmarks and you’ve seen the photos.”
Brady’s books are available at Barnes & Noble stores and from Amazon online. The Copperfield’s Books outlet in Petaluma also has them, he said.
For more information on Brady and his books, visit goldengatetales.com.
You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On X @danarts.
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