A MAP TO MURDER is the fourth book in the Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco series by Michelle Chouinard. I have been a fan of Chouinard's books for a long time and have eagerly dived into the world of San Francisco.

I love the major premise of the series. Capri Sanzio leads walking tours around the city based on serial killer crimes. She also launched a podcast, and like any good amateur sleuth, she had a nose for clues. Capri settles on a new case unconnected to the previous books pertaining to her grandfather's ominous past.

I thoroughly enjoyed this latest installment because the focus was on the Haight-Ashbury section, which was the epicenter of the hippie movement of the late 1960s. For readers not familiar with the Summer of Love, Chouinard sets the backdrop. The US was a nation beset by turmoil and unrest, which attracted thousands of young people in 1967 to the Haight, yearning for spiritual or physical connection. Although I knew a lot about the history of that era, I did pick up on new information like the Haight Switchboard and Health on the Haight.

Capri is asked by Haley Torres to help find her missing mother, Jennifer, who has ventured to the city by the bay to find answers about her aunt Marilyn's murder that occurred in the Haight in 1967.

I liked peering over Capri's caffeine-inundated shoulders as she pursued numerous rabbit holes to ferret out answers. She turns up quite a bit of material with the use of modern technology. Free drugs, free sex, and free places to squat marked the Haight, along with increased danger. Marilyn, a young woman from the East Coast, found herself in a precarious predicament far worse than the one she had fled.

Chouinard includes updates involving other characters from her world. Daughter Morgan is just managing to hang on to the family mansion called The Chateau. Best friend Heather and her partner Rose grapple with a major life moment. Todd the Toad, her ex-husband, keeps giving bad gifts, and Capri can't seem to shake the repercussions from his bad decisions.

Petito supplies Capri with necessary support and investigatory information while ensuring she stays focused and keeps her energy replenished. I enjoyed the more relaxed scene between the two. However, one of the best scenes, in my opinion, is with Heather during a crucial interview and her reference to Cagney and Lacey!!

If you're planning a trip to San Francisco, make sure to leave the flowers out of your hair but tuck a copy of A MAP TO MURDER in your tote!