The third book in the Fog City noir series, Crookesest Street in the World, Maggie Laurent, P.I., is slowly making a name for herself in San Francisco, but it's slow going. She is keeping the office open, but just barely. Her best friend, Maureen Dunleavy, who is on the verge of taking her final vows to become a nun, asks Maggie for her help. This entails Maggie confronting the former principal of her high school-a woman Maggie despises. At stake is the life of a young Chinese novitiate. Maggie braves San Francisco's underworld to keep her safe, bringing down the wrath of the mayor and police chief of San Francisco, and the kingpins of the prostitution, gambling, and drug trades operated by Chinese gang lords on her head.

Ms. Johnson's first novel, Beat Until Stiff, was nominated for the 2003 Agatha Award for Best First Novel and was a Booksense pick. Her second book in this series, Roux Morgue, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Fog City, her noir crime novel set in Prohibition-era San Francisco featuring Maggie Laurent, P.I., debuted in July 2024 from Level Best Books. This book is the first in the Fog City Noir series.. The second book in this series, City Lights, was published in July 2025, and the third book, Crookedest Street in the World, will debut in the summer of 2026. Fog City has been nominated for the 2025 Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel from the Private Eyes Writers of America and a Macavity Award for Best Historical Mystery by the Mystery Readers International. Ms. Johnson was the recent President of the Mystery Writers of America's Northern California Chapter.