The Walnut Valley Women’s Club and the Friends of the Walnut Library are teaming up to host a fundraiser featuring published book authors.

The event Saturday, billed as “Mystery on the Menu, an Afternoon with the Authors,” starts at 2 p.m. at the Walnut Library.  The cost is a $25 tax-deductible donation.  Tickets can be purchased at the library or by contacting Margaret Doyle at 909-595-5100 or Sharon Hilligoss at 909-598-6082.

The featured authors include Denise Hamilton, Tod Goldberg, and Anne Cherian.

Hamilton is the author of the Eve Diamond Series and “The Last Embrace.”  She is the editor of “Los Angeles Noir.”  Her novel “Damage Control,” earned high praise.  Author James Ellroy wrote “Hamilton scores her largest and greatest triumph: “Damage Control” is a great mystery and…a superb psychological thriller.  Kudos to this brilliant talent.”

Her books have been shortlisted for the Edgar, Macavity, Anthony, and Willa Cather awards, according to her website. She also is an award-winning journalist.  Her work has appeared in “Wired,” “Cosmopolitan,” “Der Spiegel,” and “New Times.”  She was on staff at the “Los Angeles Times,” for 10 years.  She wrote about the fall of communism in the Eastern Europe, the break-up of the Soviet Union, and the youth movements in Japan.  The bulk of her career was spent covering the suburbs of Los Angeles, writing about multicultural communities.

The Los Angeles native is a Fulbright Scholar who lived and taught in the former Yugoslavia during the Bosnian War.  She lives in a Los Angeles suburb with her husband and two young children.

Goldberg has written nine books of fiction, including the novels “Living Dead Girl” (Soho Press), a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, “Fake Liar Cheat” (Pocket Books/MTV) and the popular “Burn Notice” (Penguin) series, as well as the short story collections “Simplify” (Other Voices Books), a 2006 finalist for the SCIBA Award for Fiction and winner of the Short Story Collection Prize and “Other Resort Cities” (Other Voices Books), according to his bio.

His short fiction has appeared in numerous journals and magazines is widely anthologized, twice receiving Special Mention for the Pushcart Prize as well as being named a Distinguished Story of the Year in the 2009 Best American Mystery Stories. His essays, journalism, and criticism appear regularly in many publications, including, most recently, the "Los Angeles Times," "Wall Street Journal," and "Las Vegas CityLife" and have earned four Nevada Press Association Awards for excellence. Goldberg holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing & Literature from Bennington College and directs the Low Residency M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts at the UC Riverside.

Cherian, the author of the novel “A Good Indian Wife” is a native of Jamshedpur, India, according to her bio on womenandwords.com. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English, Psychology, and Economics from Bangalore University.  She earned her first master’s degree in English and Linguistics from Bombay University and then received two more master’s degrees from UC Berkeley in comparative literature and journalism.

“A Good Indian Wife,” was her first novel, winning the 2009 South Asian Excellence Literature Award.  The Italian edition was a finalist for the Premio Roma award and the Tropea Literacy Prize.  Cherian is working on a second novel, “The Invitation.” She lives in Los Angeles.