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A Killing in Cannabis: A True Story of Love, Murder, and California Weed
A shocking murder at the nexus of Silicon Valley, California surf culture, and the cannabis gold rush exposes the dark side of the legal weed business in this revelatory work of investigative journalism.
Santa Cruz is one of the country’s surf meccas and a favored getaway of the Silicon Valley elite. For decades, marijuana has been cultivated, consumed, and trafficked in these mountains, one of the most important regions in the country for the crop. It’s where Ken Kesey threw his wild parties, where back-to-the-land types came to live off the grid, and where Tushar Atre, Silicon Valley founder, was found brutally murdered.
Charismatic, ambitious, arrogant, and rich, Atre was the leader among a clutch of tech execs and venture capitalists with a voracious appetite for risk, work, and money, riding waves at dawn and then putting in fourteen-hour days. When he met Rachael Lynch, a maverick cannabis grower and mover of product, he had a vision of how their lives could come together in business and in love. Atre sought to disrupt the newly legal cannabis trade by funding a start-up with black market capital. This illegal pursuit would entangle him with an array of colorful and dangerous characters, many of whom had compelling reason to want him dead.
Award-winning journalist Scott Eden’s panoramic investigation exposes the symbiotic relationship between the legal weed world and its shadowy, illegal counterpart. It is a story of love, greed, and betrayal, set in a world where visionaries, hippies, masters of the universe, and stone-cold killers are all stakeholders, eager to exploit the power of the plant.
Santa Cruz is one of the country’s surf meccas and a favored getaway of the Silicon Valley elite. For decades, marijuana has been cultivated, consumed, and trafficked in these mountains, one of the most important regions in the country for the crop. It’s where Ken Kesey threw his wild parties, where back-to-the-land types came to live off the grid, and where Tushar Atre, Silicon Valley founder, was found brutally murdered.
Charismatic, ambitious, arrogant, and rich, Atre was the leader among a clutch of tech execs and venture capitalists with a voracious appetite for risk, work, and money, riding waves at dawn and then putting in fourteen-hour days. When he met Rachael Lynch, a maverick cannabis grower and mover of product, he had a vision of how their lives could come together in business and in love. Atre sought to disrupt the newly legal cannabis trade by funding a start-up with black market capital. This illegal pursuit would entangle him with an array of colorful and dangerous characters, many of whom had compelling reason to want him dead.
Award-winning journalist Scott Eden’s panoramic investigation exposes the symbiotic relationship between the legal weed world and its shadowy, illegal counterpart. It is a story of love, greed, and betrayal, set in a world where visionaries, hippies, masters of the universe, and stone-cold killers are all stakeholders, eager to exploit the power of the plant.
384 pages, Hardcover
Published February 3, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 25, 2026
Dateline on steroids. With weed, tech money, and a body in the mountains.
I went into A Killing of Cannabis knowing next to nothing about the cannabis industry-and came out fully obsessed. Scott Eden drops you straight into Santa Cruz, where surf culture, Silicon Valley ambition, and newly legal "Cush" collide in the messiest way possible.
At the center is Tushar Atre: charismatic, brilliant, arrogant, wildly wealthy. Dawn surf sessions, brutal tech hours, oceanfront home. Then comes Rachael Lynch-a cannabis entrepreneur-and suddenly love, business, and ego are dangerously entangled.
Here's where it goes off the rails: Atre decides to disrupt legal cannabis using black-market money. Spoiler: this attracts exactly the kind of people you don't want knowing your address. In 2019, Atre is abducted from his Santa Cruz home, murdered, and dumped in the mountains-leaving behind a trail of betrayal, greed, and suspects with motive.
Eden expertly stitches together a true-crime narrative crowded with dreamers, counterculture figures, criminal networks, and power-hungry dealmakers-all scrambling to cash in on a lucrative green rush. Each chapter lands like a late-night true-crime bombshell, Every chapter feels like another Dateline reveal, and you'll keep flipping pages trying to figure out who finally crossed the line.
True crime + cannabis + tech hubris = unputdownable.
This one had me hooked. A must-read for true-crime addicts.
I went into A Killing of Cannabis knowing next to nothing about the cannabis industry-and came out fully obsessed. Scott Eden drops you straight into Santa Cruz, where surf culture, Silicon Valley ambition, and newly legal "Cush" collide in the messiest way possible.
At the center is Tushar Atre: charismatic, brilliant, arrogant, wildly wealthy. Dawn surf sessions, brutal tech hours, oceanfront home. Then comes Rachael Lynch-a cannabis entrepreneur-and suddenly love, business, and ego are dangerously entangled.
Here's where it goes off the rails: Atre decides to disrupt legal cannabis using black-market money. Spoiler: this attracts exactly the kind of people you don't want knowing your address. In 2019, Atre is abducted from his Santa Cruz home, murdered, and dumped in the mountains-leaving behind a trail of betrayal, greed, and suspects with motive.
Eden expertly stitches together a true-crime narrative crowded with dreamers, counterculture figures, criminal networks, and power-hungry dealmakers-all scrambling to cash in on a lucrative green rush. Each chapter lands like a late-night true-crime bombshell, Every chapter feels like another Dateline reveal, and you'll keep flipping pages trying to figure out who finally crossed the line.
True crime + cannabis + tech hubris = unputdownable.
This one had me hooked. A must-read for true-crime addicts.
February 10, 2026
Excellent. I had some thoughts, linked to below:
https://www.nobhillgazette.com/arts_a...
https://www.nobhillgazette.com/arts_a...
October 10, 2025
I was so thrilled to receive the ARC of this book from Goodreads because this story took place in my hometown. I remember hearing about this crime happening, just a mile away from my home. I found this book to be well researched and honest. I also really enjoyed the cannabis history that was entwined with Tushars story. I would definitely read another book by this author. Five stars.
December 9, 2025
I received this book as a giveaway from Goodreads for which I thank you. As for the book I enjoyed it very much. I never heard of this crime and learned a little more about cannabis. I didn’t realize so much could be done with the plant.
October 11, 2025
This page turner is an eye opening expose of the huge cannabis industry in California. Wow!
I received this book from Goodreads.
I received this book from Goodreads.
February 15, 2026
On October 1, 2019, there was a show of force from law enforcement officers in response to a kidnapping call in Santa Cruz, California. The victim was 50-year-old Tushar Atre. Shortly thereafter, police located his body; he had been shot and stabbed. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office began chasing leads and learned that Tushar’s involvement in the recently legalized cannabis industry might have played a role in his slaying. One of the initial calls that the authorities had made when he was missing was to his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Rachael Lynch.
Rachael had experience in the marijuana industry as a cultivator, relying on her agricultural education to grow a fairly lucrative product. In 2016, she moved to Santa Cruz as it provided the perfect location for her to spend time with her ailing mother. She fortuitously rented an Airbnb from Tushar, who took an interest in his guests and checked in on them often. The pair soon bonded over surfing, and Tushar gave the novice Rachael pointers. As they began to talk more, she told him about her weed business.
Tushar was the CEO of AtreNet, a web design company that brought him success and wealth, yet he confessed to being bored. He wanted to create something, and much of what Rachael disclosed about her cultivation resonated with him. In California, the winds of change were blowing towards legalization of recreational marijuana, and the opportunity to make a splash in the industry appeared rife. Tushar wanted to partner with Rachael and commence a start-up operation where cannabis extraction would be the focus. Within a short period, they were both romantic and business partners.
The first bump in their relationship was when Tushar brought in another partner, Evan Scott, who had been successful in moving cannabis extract in the past and made enormous profits. Rachael didn’t like the idea of being minimized or pushed out completely. Tushar had big ideas for the operation and committed a large amount of funds (as did Rachael), yet his hard-charging ways led to alienating employees and an eventual revolt that resulted in Scott leaving the business.
As the years passed, product was being made on Tushar’s property, yet the profits were as volatile as his and Rachael’s relationship. By 2019, money concerns coupled with Tushar’s erratic behavior led to their separation. The last time Rachael heard from Tushar, she believed that he had turned a corner in the business and in life. His shocking death brought sadness and questions as the motive for his murder seemed to revolve around the drug business, and the rumor mill churned out a list of suspects, including Rachael.
A KILLING IN CANNABIS is an intense dramatic mystery about a man who had outsized ambition in making a claim for himself in the marijuana industry, yet was brought down by hubris and the murderous actions of those seeking retribution. Tushar Atre was a huge personality, filled with charisma and intelligence, yet his venture into the marijuana business and his crossing the line into the illicit split his personality into a “Jekyll/Hyde” persona.
Scott Eden has penned a terrific true crime thriller that possesses the cinematic attributes of “Breaking Bad” with similar elements of human tragedy. He designs the narrative in a non-linear fashion, but does so in a way that is commendable as the story goes from the crime scene to the past and then forward with the investigation. The book comes replete with the memorable characters who played a role in the marijuana trade in California, along with the evolution of the legalized marijuana industry as it has experienced both highs and lows in the wake of Proposition 64.
Reviewed by Philip Zozzaro
Rachael had experience in the marijuana industry as a cultivator, relying on her agricultural education to grow a fairly lucrative product. In 2016, she moved to Santa Cruz as it provided the perfect location for her to spend time with her ailing mother. She fortuitously rented an Airbnb from Tushar, who took an interest in his guests and checked in on them often. The pair soon bonded over surfing, and Tushar gave the novice Rachael pointers. As they began to talk more, she told him about her weed business.
Tushar was the CEO of AtreNet, a web design company that brought him success and wealth, yet he confessed to being bored. He wanted to create something, and much of what Rachael disclosed about her cultivation resonated with him. In California, the winds of change were blowing towards legalization of recreational marijuana, and the opportunity to make a splash in the industry appeared rife. Tushar wanted to partner with Rachael and commence a start-up operation where cannabis extraction would be the focus. Within a short period, they were both romantic and business partners.
The first bump in their relationship was when Tushar brought in another partner, Evan Scott, who had been successful in moving cannabis extract in the past and made enormous profits. Rachael didn’t like the idea of being minimized or pushed out completely. Tushar had big ideas for the operation and committed a large amount of funds (as did Rachael), yet his hard-charging ways led to alienating employees and an eventual revolt that resulted in Scott leaving the business.
As the years passed, product was being made on Tushar’s property, yet the profits were as volatile as his and Rachael’s relationship. By 2019, money concerns coupled with Tushar’s erratic behavior led to their separation. The last time Rachael heard from Tushar, she believed that he had turned a corner in the business and in life. His shocking death brought sadness and questions as the motive for his murder seemed to revolve around the drug business, and the rumor mill churned out a list of suspects, including Rachael.
A KILLING IN CANNABIS is an intense dramatic mystery about a man who had outsized ambition in making a claim for himself in the marijuana industry, yet was brought down by hubris and the murderous actions of those seeking retribution. Tushar Atre was a huge personality, filled with charisma and intelligence, yet his venture into the marijuana business and his crossing the line into the illicit split his personality into a “Jekyll/Hyde” persona.
Scott Eden has penned a terrific true crime thriller that possesses the cinematic attributes of “Breaking Bad” with similar elements of human tragedy. He designs the narrative in a non-linear fashion, but does so in a way that is commendable as the story goes from the crime scene to the past and then forward with the investigation. The book comes replete with the memorable characters who played a role in the marijuana trade in California, along with the evolution of the legalized marijuana industry as it has experienced both highs and lows in the wake of Proposition 64.
Reviewed by Philip Zozzaro
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I recently saw a promotional flyer for an event at local (wonderful) independent bookstore. Bookshop Santa Cruz “… welcomes award-winning investigative journalist Scott Eden for a discussion with Steve Palopoli about A Killing in Cannabis: A True Story of Love, Murder, and California Weed.” Great timing! Thanks to Spiegel & Grau and NetGalley, I just finished reading an ARC of the book, which I received in exchange for this honest review.
I am one of the lucky people who live in Santa Cruz, known as “one of the country’s surf meccas,” located just over the mountains from Silicon Valley. I’ve been familiar with the weed culture for years, having previously lived in Humboldt County (also well known as an area where for decades, marijuana has been cultivated, consumed, and trafficked). Our geographic location combines proximity to both weed and tech, and these were both part of what drew Tushar Atre to an oceanfront home less than two miles from my home. Atre was known to be charismatic, ambitious, arrogant, and rich, a man who lived large, often surfing at dawn then working incredibly long hours in tech. After meeting a woman named Rachael Lynch, a cannabis entrepreneur, the two joined up in business as well as in a personal relationship.
For some reason, Atre thought it would be a great idea to disrupt the newly legal cannabis industry by funding a start-up with black market capital, pretty much guaranteeing that he’d become tangled up with some sleazy characters, who just might see benefit to him being permanently eliminated. In 2019, at the age of 50, Tushar Atre was abdicted from his home in the Pleasure Point area of Santa Cruz County, then killed and dumped in the mountains. Almost immediately, four people (two of whom were ex-employees) were arrested, and are being tried separately, with the first trials taking place in 2025. Three have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole; the fourth is in the middle of his trial, which is scheduled to resume in early 2026.
I found it particularly interesting as it took place in my town and has been in the news for the past few years, with lots of juicy details coming out along the way. I am looking forward to the event, which will feature author Scott Eden along with Steve Palopoli (local editor for the Bay Area News Group) in a discussion of the book (Scheduled for Wednesday, February 11, at 7 p.m.). Four stars.
I am one of the lucky people who live in Santa Cruz, known as “one of the country’s surf meccas,” located just over the mountains from Silicon Valley. I’ve been familiar with the weed culture for years, having previously lived in Humboldt County (also well known as an area where for decades, marijuana has been cultivated, consumed, and trafficked). Our geographic location combines proximity to both weed and tech, and these were both part of what drew Tushar Atre to an oceanfront home less than two miles from my home. Atre was known to be charismatic, ambitious, arrogant, and rich, a man who lived large, often surfing at dawn then working incredibly long hours in tech. After meeting a woman named Rachael Lynch, a cannabis entrepreneur, the two joined up in business as well as in a personal relationship.
For some reason, Atre thought it would be a great idea to disrupt the newly legal cannabis industry by funding a start-up with black market capital, pretty much guaranteeing that he’d become tangled up with some sleazy characters, who just might see benefit to him being permanently eliminated. In 2019, at the age of 50, Tushar Atre was abdicted from his home in the Pleasure Point area of Santa Cruz County, then killed and dumped in the mountains. Almost immediately, four people (two of whom were ex-employees) were arrested, and are being tried separately, with the first trials taking place in 2025. Three have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole; the fourth is in the middle of his trial, which is scheduled to resume in early 2026.
I found it particularly interesting as it took place in my town and has been in the news for the past few years, with lots of juicy details coming out along the way. I am looking forward to the event, which will feature author Scott Eden along with Steve Palopoli (local editor for the Bay Area News Group) in a discussion of the book (Scheduled for Wednesday, February 11, at 7 p.m.). Four stars.
October 11, 2025
I received an ARC. I hadn’t heard of Tushar Atre before, so this was a fascinating true crime story intertwined with a well-researched history of California’s cannabis industry. It is equal parts cannabis industry exposé, true crime investigation, and tell-all... and would make a good limited TV series.
Even if you’ve seen headlines about the case, this book offers a far deeper lens into the motivations and risks surrounding Atre’s life and death, and those involved in the cannabis trade in California pre-legalization. Eden clearly spent these last 5 years researching.
It’s a true story, still unfolding legally, and at times reads like fiction.
The only drawback is that the trials are still ongoing, which makes the book feel a bit unresolved. I wish Eden had been able to go to one of the hearings or receive some legal commentary to round it out.
But I have a feeling it is about the journey with this book, and not necessarily the destination. And it was a wild journey.
The book opens with a cannabis regulatory timeline, and I would’ve loved a short preface from Eden explaining his personal connection to the story - why this story? There are lingering questions - especially around how Atre’s family and close former friends might react - but that’s part of what makes this so compelling.
I definitely learned a lot that I would probably have never learned otherwise.
Even if you’ve seen headlines about the case, this book offers a far deeper lens into the motivations and risks surrounding Atre’s life and death, and those involved in the cannabis trade in California pre-legalization. Eden clearly spent these last 5 years researching.
It’s a true story, still unfolding legally, and at times reads like fiction.
The only drawback is that the trials are still ongoing, which makes the book feel a bit unresolved. I wish Eden had been able to go to one of the hearings or receive some legal commentary to round it out.
But I have a feeling it is about the journey with this book, and not necessarily the destination. And it was a wild journey.
The book opens with a cannabis regulatory timeline, and I would’ve loved a short preface from Eden explaining his personal connection to the story - why this story? There are lingering questions - especially around how Atre’s family and close former friends might react - but that’s part of what makes this so compelling.
I definitely learned a lot that I would probably have never learned otherwise.
February 12, 2026
An excellent book. It presents as true crime, which I have a major weakness for, but really it's a romp through the cannabis industry as it transitions from black market to legalization in California. The murder victim, Tushar Atre, combined deep arrogance with an even deeper naivite about the workings of the weed world, and had literally dozens of people with good reasons to want him dead. His death is of course a tragedy, but it's also a cautionary tale of how one's bad actions can come back to haunt you.
Eden does a great job of parceling out the clues and immersing you in this strange and foreign world. Highly recommend.
Eden does a great job of parceling out the clues and immersing you in this strange and foreign world. Highly recommend.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I thought that this was a really interesting true crime investigation. There are facts about cannabis throughout history and legislation woven throughout that add an interesting element to the story. However, I feel that those facts are often presented in a textbook type of way. It causes the story to lag in areas.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
very effective true crime with good and smooth writing that really cuts right into the marijuana industry. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews