Joan Renner

Joan Renner, is a writer and social historian. Her book, THE FIRST WITH THE LATEST!: AGGIE UNDERWOOD, THE LOS ANGELES HERALD, AND THE SORDID CRIMES OF A CITY was selected by the The L.A. Weekly as one of the top ten true crimes books about the city. She contributed to the Los Angeles Times bestseller LAPD ‘53, written by James Ellroy and Glynn Martin. Her work has appeared in true crime anthologies, and she has written for Los Angeles Magazine. Joan is an expert on historic Los Angeles crime and has given presentations to private groups and professional organizations. She was an invited speaker at three annual meetings of the Southern California Association of Fingerprint Officers. Since 2009, she has appeared on over 60 true crime TV shows and podcasts: City of Angels, City of Death; Deadly Women; Evil Twins; Evil Kin; Ice Cold Blood; Buried in the Backyard; Hollywood & Crime, and many others. Deranged L.A. Crimes, her blog, debuted in December 2012 and covers historic misdeeds in the City of Angels. Her current book, OF MOBSTERS AND MOVIE STARS offers a profound and enlightening look at Hollywood's dual nature, illustrating how its seductive glitter was deeply entangled with its sinister impulses. This book is essential for anyone fascinated by how America's “City of Dreams” became a stage for some of the most gripping dramas of the twentieth century. When she’s not writing or researching true crime, Joan volunteers at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Museum as an archivist and historian.