Her career fighting LA crime is now a genuine page-turner
LOS ANGELES - Mitzi Roberts always wanted to talk to serial killers.
A Los Angeles bartender and diner manager, Roberts was used to seeing cops stagger into her establishments, seeking a bite or a beer after their shift. Conversation between the investigators and Roberts, a self-described true-crime "fanatic," came easily.
She told them of her desire to chase predators. At some point, one of them suggested a career change.
The move from diner manager to detective set Roberts on a career path that saw her climb the ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department - from a graveyard shift that is sometimes home to cops who have "screwed up" to a treasured spot in the elite Robbery-Homicide Division. After years spent fighting an uphill battle as a woman traversing a department long regarded as a boys' club, Roberts found herself zipping around the southeastern United States on a collision course with one of America's most prolific killers.
The veteran detective's career history may read like it borrows a bit from the jacket copy of a popular crime novel, but it's actually the other way around. In her 24-year career, Roberts has not only found herself involved in some of L.A.'s most infamous cases, but she's also served as a muse to the city's modern master of detective fiction.
In recent years, Roberts became the inspiration for Renee Ballard, the newest protagonist to grace the pages of
