On August 23, 1925, a teenage boy was walking by a reedy marsh in El Cerrito when he spotted something odd among the vegetation: part of a woman’s ear. Piece by piece, more gruesome discoveries followed, launching a murder investigation that shocked the Bay Area and briefly made El Cerrito a byword for horror..

Now, exactly 100 years later, local author Virginia Burns will speak to us about the crime that inspired her new novel, Murder in the Tule Marsh.

Burns is a poet, screenwriter, former editor, U.S. Foreign service veteran, and fourth generation El Cerritan. Her great-grandfather was Joseph T. Breneman, El Cerrito’s first doctor. In late August, 1925, as investigators scoured the tule marsh, the Breneman house became a makeshift morgue. Burns will speak about how family history and lore shaped the research and writing of her new book.

The free program starts at 4 p.m. in the Garden Room of the Community Center, 7007 Moeser Lane, El Cerrito. Light refreshments will be served..