Jennifer Dwight was born into a U.S. military family in the 1950s. Following her father’s career as a pilot in the U.S.A.F., the family lived throughout the U.S. and abroad. In Asia Ms. Dwight’s exposure to ancient culture and eastern religions sparked her life-long interest in how peoples’ beliefs shape their lives. She studied religion, philosophy and English literature and was graduated from The Colorado College with a B.A. in Religion. She moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where she worked as a litigation paralegal, trainer and writer for 33 years while rearing her children as a single mother. During that time she studied creative writing, wrote and published numerous articles, short stories and paralegal books, as well as a 60-segment story, The Dissemblance of Marie Mirabeau, which was the first fiction ever published by The San Francisco Daily Journal. The Tolling of Mercedes Bell, to be released on May 3, 2016, is her first novel.

Recently widowed and adapting to the challenges of single motherhood, Mercedes Bell is a paralegal at Crenshaw, Slayne & McDonough when she meets Jack Soutane, a dashing San Francisco lawyer who has recently begun leasing office space from the firm. It’s the 1980s. The crack epidemic, homelessness, and AIDS explode on the scene, Jack’s law practice booms—and the Crenshaw firm eagerly shares his bounty. Meanwhile, despite all the warning signs, Mercedes falls under Jack’s spell. When calamity strikes and Jack succumbs to his own dark surprise, Mercedes finds herself in a race to survive and to protect her daughter. In order to do so, she must make sense of wildly inconsistent information—and face the truths that emerge. Compelling and full of suspense, The Tolling of Mercedes Bell is a story about honesty in the face of deception, courage in the pursuit of happiness, and the unexpected places that quest can lead.