Award-winning author Vinnie Hansen lives in Santa Cruz, California, the iconic seaside town serving as the backdrop for her writing, whether as the actual town in her Carol Sabala series, or thinly disguised as Playa Maria in her suspense novels.

Her latest suspense novel, Crime Writer, is now available! “Replete with heart-stopping moments, action, and unexpected realizations, Crime Writer is a winner.”–D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review. In the fall, Vinnie completed a Partners in Crime Tour where Crime Writer picked up many 5-star reviews, and her January, 2026, in-person talk at Bookshop Santa Cruz was a standing-room only event! You can read coverage of the new book in the Santa Cruz Sentinel (navigate to The Guide, p. B1), or listen to the first chapter on the Toe Tag podcast. Next up, find Vinnie at the Left Coast Crime Conference in San Francisco.

Crime Writer is a companion book to One Gun, a finalist for Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion Award for Best Contemporary Novel. Read about it at Santa Cruz Sentinel. Buy on Amazon.

Vinnie’s latest published short story, “Getaway,” can be found in the Winter 2026, print-edition of Guilty Crime Story Magazine.

All of Vinnie’s books can be purchased locally at Bookshop Santa Cruz.

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“Hansen presents her readers with a tight, fast-paced mystery…. In Sabala, Hansen has created a likable sleuth whose many problems readers may readily identify with….”
—The Bloomsbury Review