You can tell a lot about a place by what its residents do when they’re on their very worst behavior. Join author Kim Cooper, co-founder of historical tour company Esotouric, at the historic Beverly Hills Women’s Club for a pre-Hallowe’en dinner party and eye-opening illustrated lecture revealing some of Southern California’s strangest crimes, oddities and misadventures.

You’ll hear about the weird rites of Simi Valley’s jazz age Great Eleven cult, the tragic fate of the Studio City hula hula girl, a Victorian-era Olvera Street ghost story, and many more tales from the dark side–some with a sugary, seasonal twist.

After the presentation, Kim will sign copies of her fact-based crime novel The Kept Girl, starring the young mystery writer Raymond Chandler on the trail of the Great Eleven cult.

Mood music, dark décor, your option of attending in costume, and the gruesome tales will make this an event not to be missed!

6:30pm Reception 
7:00pm Dinner (vegetarian options)
8:00pm Presentation

RSVP Required. Tickets are $50 for Members & Guests, $60 for Non-Members.

Crime historian and tour guide Kim Cooper (“one of L.A.’s brightest torchbearers” – Electric Literature) is the creator of 1947project, the crime-a-day time travel blog that spawned Esotouric’s popular crime bus tours, including Pasadena Confidential and the Real Black Dahlia. She is the author of The Kept Girl and the new Raymond Chandler Map of Los Angeles. With husband Richard Schave, Kim curates the forensic science seminars of LAVA – The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. When the third generation Angeleno isn’t combing old newspapers for forgotten scandals, she is a passionate advocate for historic preservation of signage, vernacular architecture and writer’s homes.