Writer, social historian, and true crime expert Joan Renner is the author of The First with the latest: Aggie Underwood, the Los Angeles Herald, and the Sordid Crimes of a City. The book was selected by LA Weekly as one of the top ten true crimes books about the city. She was a member of the creative team that produced the Los Angeles Times bestseller LAPD '53, written by James Ellroy and Glynn Martin. Joan has lectured extensively on historic Los Angeles crime, and she has been featured on many true crime TV shows and podcasts.
When she isn't writing about miscreants and malefactors, Joan adds to her vast collection of vintage cosmetics ephemera. One of her proudest moments was having a photograph of a prized item from her collection exhibited at the Smithsonian.