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Valley reporter’s mystery novel serves up some familiar restaurants

📖 ‘‘Off the Air,’’ an award-winning debut mystery novel by Valley reporter Christina Estes that name-checks a number of restaurants that local diners may recognize, will be released in bookstores and online today.

Estes has worked at KJZZ radio since 2016 and has won several reporting awards, including a Rocky Mountain Emmy.

What’s the story about?

Jolene Garcia, a hard-charging Phoenix TV reporter, investigates the suspicious death of a controversial radio talk show host that brings competition from national media to the Valley.

Mentioned in the book are local restaurants such as the Chicago Hamburger Company, Dos Vaqueros, Harlow’s Café, Oregano’s, and Welcome Diner, as well as food-related businesses such as Cerreta’s Candy Company and Orange Patch.

Tony Hillerman Prize

‘‘Off the Air’’ won the Tony Hillerman Prize, awarded annually to a first-time author of a mystery set in the Southwest, in 2020, but the book wasn’t published until this year.

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