Books published by Persigo Press

On the morning after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Zack Bowen turns up at Rios's doorstep with the news that Rios's old friend, Judge Chris Chandler, has been murdered in his downtown L.A. courtroom. Zack says he was Chandler's lover. The problem: Chandler was deep in the closet. Now, in order to defend Zack, Rios must decide how much of Chandler's secrets-and his own-he will have to reveal. While all this is happening, Rios's ex-lover Josh Mandel is dying from AIDS and calls on Rios to help him through his final days.

Rios defends Michael Ruiz, a young man accused of murdering Gus Peña, a powerful Los Angeles politician who had had his eye on the Mayor's office. Meanwhile, Rios must confront the collapse of his relationship with Josh Mandel, his HIV-positive lover.

Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for gay mystery, Howtown finds Rios back in his hometown of Los Robles, California defending Paul Windsor, a boyhood acquaintance accusing of murdering a pedophile. Windsor is himself a pedophile and the police believe the murder was the result of an extortion scheme gone wrong. It's up to Rios to prove otherwise, if he can. To do that, he has to confront the ghosts of his past that still linger in the sleepy river town. Simultaneously, the novel explores Rios's relationship with his HIV-positive lover, Josh Mandel.