Mar Preston is the author of four hard-boiled police procedurals featuring Detective Dave Mason of the Santa Monica Police Department, No Dice, Rip-Off, On Behalf of the Family, and A Very Private High School. She writes a second series set in a tranquil California mountain village, featuring Dex Stafford of the Kern County Sheriff’s Department. Preston is a long-time Santa Monica activist and divides her time between glitzy Santa Monica and a village similar to the one in Payback. There is too much to do: volunteering with the local SPCA, starting up a low power community FM station, and picking up roadkill for her wildlife rehab buddies to feed the big raptors.