Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for HUNT YOU DOWN (Agent Tori Hunter Book #9) by Roger Stelljes on this Books-On-Tour Bookouture tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
The girls walk arm-in-arm, laughing through the quiet late-night streets of Manchester Bay, celebrating their homecoming weekend. But arriving home, the laughter dies. Their best friend Cami lies still on the floor, hair splayed on the carpet, and rope marks all around her throat…
When university student Cami Margot is found murdered, Agent Tori Hunter and Detective Will Braddock are among the first on the scene. For Tori, the image of this smart young woman with her whole life ahead of her being hunted down is instantly seared in her mind. The team quickly realizes the murder weapon—a purple, gray and black nylon rope—is an exact match of that used in the murder of another student.
Tori teaches Criminal Justice at the university. Knowing the students trust her implicitly, Tori asks questions all over campus and soon learns that both girls were members of Lake Frat. The group plan secret parties at each other’s lakeside homes, away from prying eyes… and when the rope is linked to a boat from one of the parties, it’s clear the girls were killed by one of their own.
Does a psychopath walk amongst the university students, attend their classes, join in their parties, cheer at their sporting events all while plotting their next kill? The students ask Tori: could they be next? Someone has been hunting these girls. But Tori is a hunter, too… even if the prey is closer to home than she ever thought possible.
HUNT YOU DOWN (Agent Tori Hunter Book #9) by Roger Stelljes is a diabolically twisted addition to the Agent Tori Hunter series that reminds me once again why I love these books. While each book continues to follow the lives and relationships of all the main characters and citizens of Manchester Bay, Minnesota, the author does an excellent job of encapsulating their stories and the criminal case in each, so they can each be easily read as a standalone crime thriller/police procedural.
Agent Tori Hunt is teaching Criminal Justice full-time now at the university, but when her partner Detective Sergeant Will Braddock gets an early morning call, he asks her to accompany him when he is told there is another murder of a university student. As the investigation heats up, Tori and Braddock discover the two dead girls were members of Lake Frat. The group consists of wealthy college students who use their family homes on the lakes for exclusive private parties, and they believe their killer is a member.
When a sting is set up for a probable suspect, it all goes awry. Tori is in a foot chase to capture the suspected killer and when he goes to trial, the case blows up in embarrassment for Tori and the prosecution in court when a third girl is killed in the same manner. Tori and Braddock know they are being manipulated but proving it beyond a reasonable doubt is the problem.
This is an excellent addition to this series! There are so many twists and red herrings in the criminal plot that I kept reading to the end. All the books in this series have had gripping criminal plots I have loved, but this is now my favorite. Tori and Braddock continue to be an intelligent pair of supportive and loving protagonists with the entire cast of secondary characters in the sheriff’s department giving the reader a strong police procedural. After these nine books, I feel like I am visiting old friends and cannot wait to return. This is a thriller series that checks all my boxes and leaves me wanting more.
I highly recommend this captivating criminal thriller/police procedural!
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About the Author
Roger Stelljes is the acclaimed New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of pulse-pounding murder mystery and suspense novels, including the Tori Hunter and McRyan Mystery Series. Roger’s crime thrillers are noted for their fast-paced, yet intricate plots filled with layered and complex characters.
Roger started his first novel in July 2002 while on vacation in Minnesota’s Brainerd Lakes area and has been writing ever since. His debut book, The St. Paul Conspiracy, was nominated in genre fiction for the Minnesota Book Awards along with finalists Brian Freeman and William Kent Krueger. With his follow-up, Deadly Stillwater, where Vince Flynn hailed Roger as a “powerful new thriller voice”, he won the Midwest Independent Book Publishers award for commercial fiction.
Born and raised in Minnesota, Roger still lives there with his family. In addition to his work as an author, Roger is a partner in his law firm. Roger is an avid sports enthusiast and enjoys spending time outdoors boating, attending hockey games, and honing his golf game.
For the first time in print comes a collection of five short stories in the Edgar award-winning Kate Burkholder series, PLUS one new, never-before-published story, from New York Times bestselling author Linda Castillo.
When two young boys don’t return home from an innocent afternoon of fishing, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder must track them down before the first winter storm of the season bears down on Painters Mill in THE PACT.
In DISAPPEARED, Kate races against the clock to find a two-year-old who has vanished during a violent thunderstorm. Was the little boy swept away in the rising creek waters? Or is his disappearance even more sinister?
In BLOOD MOON, a man is brutally attacked by a large beast in the woods. Throughout the night, reports of similar incidents escalate and Kate must confront the creature terrorizing the town before violence tips over into tragedy.
When a family dog brings home a human bone, Kate finds herself on a desperate search for answers to end the macabre rumors and ghost stories inundating Painters Mill in the Edgar award-winning short story HALLOWEDGROUND.
In DARK STORM RISING, Kate must brave a dangerous blizzard to save an elderly Amish woman from a sinister foe. Will Kate reach her in time to save her life?
In A DARK PATH, a brand-new story, an Amish couple disappears while enroute to town. They’d recently been threatened by their granddaughter’s troubled boyfriend—and there’s heavy weather moving in. Kate rushes toward their remote farm, but a dog on the road causes her to crash into a ravine, where she discovers a shattered buggy. Together, she and her new canine friend must find the couple before it’s too late.
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Elise’s Thoughts
A Dark Path by Linda Castillo has her trademark writing style even though the stories are not as dark as her novels. All six stories feature her blend of twists, mystery, kind-heartedness, some humor, and sometimes violence.
There are five short stories written as novellas plus a new short story that has as its title the same name as the book compilation. In “A Dark Path,” a brand-new story, an Amish couple disappears enroute to town. They’d recently been threatened by their granddaughter’s troubled boyfriend with a storm moving in. Kate rushes toward their remote farm, but a dog causes her to crash into a ravine, where she discovers a shattered buggy. Together, she and her new canine friend, Sherlock, must find the couple before it’s too late.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Why have a collection of short stories?
Linda Castillo: Charlie, my editor, asked me to write that first short story many years ago. I had never read a short story. And his advice to me was, just get to the point. And make them a little bit lighter. I would write a short story, and that short story would be released on Kindle, or, another digital device right before the release of a novel. And I started getting a lot of mail from readers who were saying, ‘I don’t use an e- reader. I like to have a book. I need a physical book. Now I can’t read your short stories.’ Because they’ve only been available on Kindle or another device, Charlie, my editor at St. Martin’s Press, said, let’s do a collection of six or seven stories. And that’s what we did. You know, the first collection was titled A Simple Murder, and since it was very well received, we did this one. Because each individual short story is too short to do a novel, so we did a collection.
EC: Is it different to write a short story than the books?
LC: I would say the biggest difference, of course, is the pacing. Things must happen very quickly. And one of the things that I also try to do, and as you well know, the novels get very dark sometimes. There’s a murder involved, and there are some dark elements in some of the Kate Burkholder novels, especially the early novels. And the short stories, even though some of them deal with darker topics, some of them are fun, some of them are cozier than the Kate novels. For me, as a writer, it was really a nice change. It was a different pace. It’s faster, and, you know, you don’t really have time to develop your characters as much. So maybe it’s a little bit more topical, but in a fun way.
EC: I usually don’t like the short stories because the plots are not detailed enough and there is not much character development. But if a reader has read the Kate books, they will enjoy these short stories. Do you agree?
LC: I have a funny story. There was one reader, and I think she gave A Dark Path a pretty good review, but she said, ‘I’ve not read any of the novels, but these are way too innocent for me.’ And I was dying to respond to her. I wanted to tell her, but the novels are not that innocent. No. I guarantee you’re going to get a murder. But some of them I wouldn’t call them lighthearted stories. But just, a little bit more lighthearted than the, than the novels.
EC: What was your favorite short story?
LC: “Blood Moon.” This is the story with the hog. Anyone who has been out camping or, having a tent in the yard or whatever, sleeping out in the barn or something like that can relate. Telling ghost stories and then hearing a noise and you’re like, what was that? And to me, that’s so much fun and that was kind of the whole idea behind that short story. It was just, really a lot of fun, and, you know, kind of one of those adventures. It was a little quirky, but I really did enjoy that story.
EC: Did the stories have a lesson to them?
LC: I think some had a theme of tolerance. “The Pact,” with the two little boys who did the whole blood brother, cutting the wrist in the beginning. You know, there really is a lesson in that. And then the other one is “Hallowed Ground,” where the Mennonite woman wants to give tours of an Amish cemetery. “Disappeared” also has a theme of tolerance where the Amish girl falls in love and gets pregnant by the English boy and her parents try to separate him from the baby and love of his life. I think one of the things that I always try to do, maybe not in the same way with every story, is that tolerance works both ways. In “The Pact” the Amish parents weren’t exactly wild about those two kids being best friends. These are probably the little moral lessons that we learn as children, and I think, you know, it’s not always a bad thing to have that reiterated as an adult.
EC: Did the setting play a role?
LC: My settings always seem to have stormy weather in them too. Me and weather. I hope readers are okay with that. I’m a huge fan of weather. The first book, Sworn Silence, took place during a long, cold Ohio winter. That was such a big part of the book. It made everything more difficult as far as the investigation and the story. If you add the weather element, you have a man against man, and then you also have man against nature. It adds a little element of moodiness or, just a little something extra that I love, I’m a huge weather fan.
EC: What about the new short story, “A Dark Path?”
LC: There’s a Labrador in the story. We had a yellow Labrador too. I found him when I was living in Dallas where we lived. It was very sad, and the day that I had one of my dogs put down, a woman carried in this emaciated animal, just skin and bones. No hair, just bloody, bloody skin. I thought it was a pit bull. And I told Dr. Williams, I will take that animal. I thought, I just put Blue down and I’m here at this moment because I need to save this other animal. We took him, and we had to feed him. He almost died because he was starved to death. We had to feed him every hour, He got his hair back and his head was no longer bigger than his body, he turned into a gorgeous, sweet tempered yellow Labrador. His name was Nutmeg, and we gave him a very, very good life. And we lost him, a few years ago now. That is who I based the Labrador in “A Dark Path.” I didn’t name him after Nutmeg, but named him Sherlock. I gave the lab in the story the look of the yellow lab Nutmeg.
EC: Will you have Sherlock as a rescue dog working for the police department?
LC: Sherlock bonded with Kate. He has the personality of a lab. He will be a supporting character in future stories. And I don’t know if you remember, but Tomesetti brought home a cat. The books deal with heavy topics of murder. I think the cat and Sherlock bring a level of comfort. And so that’s kind of what I try to do with that. Sherlock will be just a home family member. This story combines the abusive boyfriend with Sherlock saving Kate.
EC: What about the next book?
LC: It’s called The Betrayed and will be out in July 2027. I absolutely love this story. The plot has an ordinary Amish woman, with a family, a husband, and suddenly finds herself the target. Kate comes in blind, having no idea why, why would somebody be trying to murder her. She does not lead a reckless lifestyle, she’s not a risk taker, and she’s lives in Painters Mill. It has some dark moments.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SHADOWS OF FRENCHMEN (A Jonathan Grey, M.D. Mystery) by Michael Rigg on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, and excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy and good luck!
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Book Description
On a frosty Sunday morning in February, Dr. Jonathan Gray, Coroner of Orleans Parish, faces a gruesome sight. A dead man splayed against the circular steel and cut-glass blocks of the city’s AIDS memorial in Washington Square Park has strange symbols carved into his forehead and chest. A coded note—a cipher—has been placed under one hand. The body mutilation and note are hallmarks of a serial killer dubbed by the news media as the “Mardi Gras Sweeper,” because he strikes during Carnival season and leaves coded manifestos taunting police and giving hints about his next victim.
Hoping to avoid a panic during the city’s most profitable season, Mayor Max Jamerson asks Gray to investigate the murder “on the sly,” without formal assistance from the New Orleans Police Department. Time is of the essence as Gray races to figure out the cipher and track down the Sweeper in order to prevent additional killings—and save Mardi Gras.
Genre: Medico-Legal (Coroner) Thriller Published by: Level Best Books Publication Date: May 5, 2026 Number of Pages: 336 ISBN: 979-8898202354 Series:A Jonathan Gray, M.D. Mystery, Book 2
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
SHADOWS OF FRENCHMEN (A Jonathan Gray, M.D. Mystery) by Michael Rigg is the second exciting book in the Jonathan Gray, M.D. Mystery series. While this book is easily read as a standalone, I am glad I read book one, Voices of the Elysian Fields, first, just for more detailed character backstory. There is little time between each book with book one set during the Christmas/New Years holidays and this second book set during Mardi Gras.
There have been some repercussions for Lt. Detective Betsy Sprance since accusing the mayor in her last case, but Coroner Jonathan Gray is determined to get her help when a body is discovered with strange symbols carved into its flesh. It is very similar to bodies left during a killing spree two years previous, also during Mardi Gras. While Jonathan and Betsy believed they had witnessed the killer’s death, it appears he has returned.
As they race to catch a killer, they are hampered by the mayor not wanting to panic the Mardi Gras crowds. As the murders continue, they must solve the cypher of the killer’s manifesto with only the help of their small group of friends to stop the killings once and for all.
This is another New Orleans immersive fast-paced mystery/crime thriller featuring a great cast of characters. All the main characters are fully developed and realistic. Jonathan and his wife have a strong relationship that has been tested, and they came out even stronger. Betsy has worked hard as a Marine and then worked her way up in the NOPD Detective Squad. Ranger, Betsy’s husband’s storyline is still evolving and intriguing. Jonathan and Betsy are both engaging and exciting main protagonists. The plot of this serial killer crime/ mystery was well paced with as many dead ends as surprises and twists. The discovery of the killer completely shocked me, and I like when that happens. This series is addictive.
I highly recommend this thrilling addition to the Jonathan Gray, M.D. Mystery series!
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Excerpt
Chapter One
Alpha and Omega
Sunday, February 1, 2015 – 1:47 a.m.
Twenty-plus years with the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office taught Jonathan Gray to expect the unexpected. But Washington Square Park had always been a tranquil haven on the fringe of the French Quarter. So crime-scene tape draping the square’s wrought-iron fence presented the visual equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard. Moonlight filtering through stately live oaks cast eerie—almost funereal—shadows, adding to the dissonance.
Fluttering in the nippy midwinter breeze, the neon-yellow ribbon communicated
a mute warning. On this side, normalcy. On the other, insanity. Stepping into the dysfunction never got easier. Regardless, turning back wasn’t an option. As if speaking the incantation aloud would immunize him against the unfolding drama, he repeated his trite pre-crime scene mantra: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” His breath lingered in the frosty air before evaporating.
After checking in with the uniformed officer monitoring access, Jonathan angled toward floodlights illuminating a temporary canopy above the city’s AIDS memorial. More tape—red as opposed to yellow—identified the innermost “Do Not Cross” perimeter. Crime scene technicians in white Tyvek protective suits busied themselves measuring and photographing what must be the reason he’d been summoned. A male corpse sitting upright on the ground—its arms and legs twisted at seemingly impossible angles—leaned against the memorial’s circular cut-glass and steel panels surrounded by a pool of thick, dark-crimson liquid.
A curved, nearly rectangular piece of wood with brass edges—most likely a knife handle—protruded from under the right side of the dead man’s rib cage. A portion of his intestines spilled out of the wound. A second knife—its handle and part of its blade visible—had been thrust downward into the soft tissue between the left collarbone and neck.
Cause of death seemed too obvious to require someone of Jonathan’s seniority. A first-year med student could have made the call. But markings carved into the dead man’s forehead and chest hinted at something more sinister. No wonder Mitch Broussard from NOPD had called him in the middle of the night. The man’s heavy flannel shirt lay open, exposing his chest and a series of
capital letters etched into his skin. The letters—G I D I A I D I V—made no sense, at least not in English. A folded piece of paper with similar letters and other symbols, not quite readable from that distance, lay under the man’s left hand. Lack of blood covering the letters in the chest signaled they had been added postmortem. Jonathan focused on two marks in the man’s forehead. An uppercase “A” and what looked like an upside-down horseshoe—the Greek letter Omega—apparently cut while the victim was still alive.
It couldn’t have been two years already. But there it was. Alpha and Omega. Jonathan bit his lip and cursed under his breath. Then, a silent prayer. Looked like the nightmare was about to begin—again.
One of the CSTs stood and raised her clear face shield. “Hey, Doc. Welcome to Funsville.”
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Author Bio
Agatha and Anthony-nominated author Michael Rigg, a lawyer for more than four decades, writes mysteries and thrillers set in two very different locations: Virginia Beach (where he lives) and New Orleans (which he visits as often as possible “for research,” including participation in three Mardi Gras Krewes). He is a retired Navy Judge Advocate and a retired civilian government attorney, formerly working for the Department of the Navy Office of the General Counsel. He is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and both the Sisters in Crime national organization and its Southeastern Virginia Chapter—Mystery by the Sea.
Two days before Christmas, Jonathan Gray, M. D., Chief Deputy Coroner for Orleans Parish, receives shocking news. Robby O’Malley—Jonathan’s mentor for nearly forty years—has died under mysterious circumstances. Within hours after Robby’s death, Gray takes the oath of office as Coroner and participates in autopsies of an elderly couple murdered in their Garden District home. After mass on Christmas morning, Archbishop Phillip Fontenot asks Gray to investigate the sexual assault of one of his parishioners, as well as the disappearance of her sister—without involving the police. As Jonathan winds his way through what appear to be separate incidents, he uncovers connections and secrets that members of the city’s power elite would just as soon remain hidden.
VOICES OF THE ELYSIAN FIELDS (A Jonathan Grey, M.D. Mystery) by Michael Rigg is an exciting, fast paced start to a new mystery/crime thriller series featuring the Chief Coroner of New Orleans. This book pulls you in from the first chapter with realistic characters and a total immersion into life in New Orleans.
Just two days before Christmas, Chief Deputy Coroner Dr. Jonathan Grey finds himself at the death scene of the Chief Coroner of New Orleans, his long-term mentor and friend. Just hours later after taking the oath of office to Chief Coroner, he receives a high-profile elderly couple from the Garden District in what appears to be a murder-suicide. As the detectives investigate, the autopsy results call the original assumption into question.
Not only does he have a wealthy, prominent New Orleans family to deal with, but the Archbishop of New Orleans asks for Jonathan’s discrete help after Christmas day mass in the sexual assault of a couple that has asked the church for sanctuary.
With pressure coming from all sides, Jonathan and his friends on the New Orleans detective squad must untangle a web of deceit that brings together the political elite, the rich and powerful, and a multi-country sex trafficking ring. Are all these holiday death cases related or not and can he keep his friends and loved ones safe?
This is a wonderful start to a new series that kept me reading well into the night. The characters are fully developed and realistic even with this being the first book in this series. Jonathan and his wife are a tight couple even with the tragedy in their past and I love that they are well suited to each other, but also singularly strong characters. Jonathan and the detectives followed an intricately plotted investigation with red herrings and twists that continually had me reevaluating who I believed was guilty and whether the two major cases were related or not. The city of New Orleans’ history, geography, and people are woven throughout the story and made me feel like I was right there on the streets with the characters. I am looking forward to reading many more books with these characters in the future.
I highly recommend this amazing first book in the Jonathan Grey, M.D. Mystery series!
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About the Author
Agatha and Anthony-nominated author Michael Rigg, an attorney for more than four decades, writes mysteries and thrillers set in two very different locations: Virginia Beach (where he lives) and New Orleans (which he visits as often as possible “for research,” including participation in three Mardi Gras Krewes). He is a retired Navy Judge Advocate and a retired civilian government attorney, formerly working for the Department of the Navy. He is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and both the Sisters in Crime national organization and its Southeastern Virginia Chapter—Mystery by the Sea.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for KILL TO KEEP (Sheriff Bet Rivers Book #3) by Elena Taylor on this Partner’s In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy and good luck!
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My Book Description
Sheriff Bet Rivers’ inspection of the carnival grounds should have been routine. Murder is certainly the last thing on anyone’s mind. Then comes the sound of a gunshot. And a dead body with no signs of trauma, no witnesses and no obvious motive for the killing.
But solving the unexplained death is only part of the challenge. Bet is still grappling with her on-off relationship with town owner Rob Collier, while dealing with her feelings about her late father, the beloved town sheriff she had to replace.
As Bet launches her homicide investigation, she soon discovers the carnival is a place of whispers, rumours, resentments and lie after lie. And as the stakes build, it quickly becomes clear that protecting a deadly secret is something that someone is willing to kill to keep.
Genre: Police Procedural, Rural Crime Fiction Published by: Severn House Publication Date: July 7, 2026 Number of Pages: 279 ISBN: 9781448317400 (ISBN10: 1448317401) Series: Sheriff Bet Rivers Mystery Series
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
KILL TO KEEP (Sheriff Bet Rivers Book #3) by Elena Taylor is an action filled smalltown crime thriller/police procedural in the Sheriff Bet Rivers series. I enjoyed the characters and investigations in the previous books and looked forward to reading this new one. Like most books in this genre, as the series continues the lives of the main characters also develop, but the criminal investigation plots are always concluded in each book.
Sheriff Elizabeth “Bet” Rivers has settled into her role as the sheriff of her smalltown in Collier, Washington. Former FBI agent Rob Collier and longtime friend invites Bet to do a walk-through of the carnival that has come to town and is leasing part of his property. A gunshot rings out and when they investigate, they discover a dead body, but it has no gunshot wound.
Bet and her team, along with the help of Rob, find silence and deception from many of the carnies. It will take all their skills to discover the identity of the body and the killer.
I found this addition to the series to be another well plotted crime thriller with plenty of suspects and twists. Bet is once again a smart and resourceful smalltown sheriff who makes do with what she has and the excellent help of her deputies, Clay and Nate, Rob, and Alma, her senior office manager/computer tech extraordinaire. And you cannot forget Schweitzer, her Anatolian Shepard. My small criticism of this book, which made it not as enjoyable as the previous two was Bet’s continual internal dialogue about her and Rob’s relationship. It felt overdone and not what I would expect from Bet. Even though I was not really interested in the carnival plot to start, it did pull me in the further I progressed in the story, and I realized I had some of the same prejudices of carnies as Bet. The revisiting of the town and characters along with an intricate crime plot made this another solid addition to the series and I hope to read many more in the series.
I recommend this smalltown crime thriller and the entire Bet Rivers series.
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Excerpt
ONE
The air above the blacktop rippled as Sheriff Elizabeth “Bet” Rivers drove west. The tiny town of Collier struggled under a heatwave that had swept through Washington State and turned the last week of June unexpectedly brutal. The sun, barely over the tops of the mountains surrounding the community, already beat down hard. By midday, it would be merciless on the traveling Carnival Roma where they’d set up on the hardpacked dirt at the far end of the valley.
Bet parked the SUV in the makeshift visitor lot and eyed the temporary fencing around the fairgrounds. It didn’t encircle the entire footprint, tempting reckless souls to take a shot at getting in through the back for free.
She sauntered up to the empty ticket booth where Robert Collier Junior stood with an unreadable expression on his face. He cocked an eyebrow. “Mornin’, Sheriff.” His voice was warm and low, teasing her with his formality.
Pretending deference, she tipped the brown campaign hat that covered her auburn curls. “Mr. Collier.”
At thirty-seven, Rob had more than a few care lines etched into his tanned face, and the dark, neatly trimmed beard had begun to show hints of gray. He held out his arm. “Shall we?”
“We shall.” Bet wrapped her fingers around the crook of his elbow, enjoying the tingle that always arrived when she touched him. They had stopped and restarted seeing each other so many times since they’d met last September that her head spun, but the physical attraction was always there—at least for her. Rob played his feelings close to the vest. Recently, there had been phone calls and texts that he ignored in her presence, or left the room to answer, giving Bet the impression she wasn’t the only woman in his life. She worried that they had missed their chance at something wonderful and would fall into the awkward role of “friends.”
It surprised her how much that hurt.
Following Rob through the turnstile, she kept her fingers tucked against his arm. “I feel special getting in before opening day.”
“It’s my role as the person renting the land to do a walkthrough, and as the head of local law enforcement, you should confirm that everything meets your approval.”
“And as a bonus, you get to show off your newfound status as feudal lord of the manor.” She meant it as a joke about his recently expanded fortune but caught Rob’s grimace from the
corner of her eye. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“It’s OK.” He stopped and pulled her around to face him. “It’s not your fault that I’m uncomfortable owning an entire town.”
Not to mention international corporations and properties across the US. His sudden riches had regularly taken him away from their remote high elevation valley, interrupting their progress as a couple and turning him into someone else. Toe-to-toe, she got a better look at the dark circles under his eyes. There was a toll to all the travel his new position forced on him. Rob had left the Collier family responsibilities behind years before to pursue a career with the FBI, but his
father’s death had sucked him back in. As the sole heir, he felt obligated to the people his father’s businesses employed and responsible to various organizations.
He tugged her closer, and she closed her eyes, the heat of his body seeping through their clothing in direct competition with the weather. Standing together, the world felt right, even with a heat dome hovering over their heads.
All too soon, Rob stepped back with a glint of amusement in his eyes. “I wanted to join the circus once.” The brim of his hat cast a shadow across his face and for the briefest of moments, he looked like a stranger.
Bet wasn’t sure if he was joking. “Because you wanted to run away?”
“Because I wanted to be Buffalo Bill.”
“And star in a Wild West show.” Bet could picture him on his big Morgan horse, shooting targets at a full gallop.
“Something like that.” The two continued their walk, and with no one around to see them, Bet kept her grip on his elbow, touching the soft blue denim of his shirt. It made them feel like a real couple. She’d never wanted that until now, when it wasn’t clear if they would ever be committed.
The midway split the meadow in half. Food stalls filled one side while games of skill and chance filled the other, with rides scattered in between. The big blue and white striped tent at the far end promised trick horses and acrobats, shimmering in the heat like a mirage. Carnival Roma combined the food, rides, and fun of a carnival with the live performances of a circus, guaranteeing tourist dollars for her often-overlooked town and spectacle under the big top.
As they made their way along the empty “street,” Bet imagined Rob in a fringed coat, performing with the big horse he’d brought with him to Collier almost a year ago. “You still got to carry a gun to work for the FBI. That’s almost like Buffalo Bill.”
“Does that make you Annie Oakley?”
They reached the first of the games—multi-colored balloons to pop with darts, metal targets to hit with little peashooters, heavy white milk cans stacked into pyramids waiting to be knocked into the dirt by an oversized softball. Memories of the past filled her, the view of those games from a child’s eye level. Her father always waving off trying his hand at hitting the targets. A crack shot, he didn’t believe guns should be used as toys.
The stalls were unattended, but a tall, gangly man stood not far away watching them—his blue polo shirt had GUS stitched in gold letters on the left side and a patch with the carnival’s logo on the right.
Rob gestured toward the shooting gallery like a game show host pointing out the grand prize. “Care to prove your gunslinger skills, Sheriff?”
“Only if Gus’ll let us use the dart game.” Bet didn’t hold the same belief as her father, toy guns didn’t bother her, but she refused to fail at hitting the targets with the carnival rifles because the sights were bad.
Gus started his singsong patter as he climbed over the knee wall in front of the games. “Hit a balloon and win a prize.”
Hefting a dart, Bet readied her shot. The pink balloon popped as the point found its target, but before they could finish the high five she aimed Rob’s way, a sharp crack rebounded down the valley. “That was—”
She caught Rob’s startled expression, and they finished with eyes locked together, “—a gunshot.”
Bet’s hand went instinctively for the gun in her holster. But before she drew, she reached down to her backup weapon and held the Smith & Wesson Shield Plus out to him. Planning a fun morning off, his weapons were all back home in his gun safe. Rob gave her a nod, the micro-compact looking tiny but lethal in his hand. They started toward the far end of the carnival grounds, their steps in sync.
Carnival workers streamed toward them, away from the blast at the north end of the midway. With the carnival opening in two days, performers and other staff had likely been at their various tasks and rehearsals. Now they formed a mob, racing toward the entrance, their voices loud and frightened.
Bet grabbed the arm of a young woman running by, wearing a glittery costume. Her silver tights and gold leotard were draped in spangled scarves and netting, which sparkled in the bright sunlight. “What did you see?” Bet asked her.
“Nothing.” Her wild eyes focused and she took in Bet’s sheriff uniform. “I was inside the big top when I heard the gunshot. It sounded close, like it came from out back where the trucks are parked.”
Bet let the woman go and she slipped into the crowd as Bet picked up speed in the other direction. She caught up to Rob, who had paused a short distance away. “Could have come from behind the tent,” she said.
His expression was grim, his body taut as they jogged toward the far end of the midway. “At least there haven’t been any more shots,” he said.
If this had been a spree, the report wouldn’t have stopped at one. But Bet wasn’t taking any chances. Kane Stand, her sole full-time deputy, answered his cell on the first ring.
“We may have an active shooter at the carnival,” Bet said before he could get a word out. “Call Clayton and get him back here now.” She hoped her part-time deputy was still in the area, his night shift had only recently ended.
Kane’s calm voice came through. “Will do. He just left, so he hasn’t gotten far.” Kane grounded her as she fought to steady her breathing. “Do we need Addy?” he asked.
Addy Jamisen was an EMT who owned the only ambulance to serve the rural valley.
“Yes, please. Call her too. But wait with her and Clayton at the front entrance while Rob and I determine if someone has been injured or there’s still a threat.”
“OK, but if I hear gunshots, I’m coming to back you up.” Kane’s voice said not to argue with him doing his job. “Keep me posted on your location.”
“We’re heading past the southeast corner of the tent to get behind it. I’ll be in touch.”
She made eye contact with Rob, and they moved faster in tandem again, weapons drawn.
The tent blocked their view of all the travel trailers for the crew and performers parked behind it, along with transport vehicles for rides and booths and animals. As they came around the side of the tent, the forest of vehicles and trailers threw angular shadows onto the ground. Danger could hide in the fractured light.
Fifty feet away, a man lay face down in the dirt near the back of the tent—as if the gunman had already hit the bull’s-eye, only to slip away in the crowd.
***
Author Bio
Elena Taylor spent several years working in theater as a playwright, director, designer, and educator before turning her storytelling skills to fiction. Her first series, the Eddie Shoes Mysteries, written under Elena Hartwell, introduced a quirky mother/daughter crime fighting duo. She is also the author of the standalone suspense novel, The Haunting of Emily Grace.
With the Sheriff Bet Rivers Mysteries, Elena returns to her dramatic roots and brings readers much more serious and atmospheric novels. Located in Washington State, Elena produces tense and suspenseful investigations for a lone sheriff in an isolated community.
Her favorite place to be is at Paradise, the property she and her hubby own south of Spokane, Washington. They live with their equines, dogs, and cats.
When a husband, wife, and son are murdered in their Denver home and the family’s teenage twins vanish, the case draws the attention of FBI profilers Helen Belle and Benedict Hoffman. It triggers more than professional alarm. It mirrors a horrific case they investigated five years ago, when a boy slaughtered his family and went mute after speaking only a handful of haunting words. Among them: Midnight Man.
Then, nearly thirteen hundred miles away, one of the twins is found dead in a snowy Ohio field, and the parallels between the past and present cases grow more disturbing. Identical suicide notes. The same symbolic blood imagery. And a shared obsession with an online fantasy game. Its mastermind is an influencer who manipulates his most vulnerable and alienated players into killing the people they love most.
The Midnight Man is back.
Helen and Benedict must hunt the darkest corners of the internet to find him before someone else falls prey to an insidious evil that, for now, is in total control of the game.
A VOICE IN THE DARK (Benedict Hoffman and Helen Belle Book #1) by Barbara Nickless is a chilling crime thriller/FBI police procedural that is very relevant in all current discussions regarding AI, minors’ use of the internet, and the ever-present dangers on the world wide web. This is the start of a new series with two compelling protagonists and a serial killer crime plot that hooked me immediately.
Five years ago, Helen Belle and Benedict Hoffman had their belief in an outside influence and assistance from the Midnight Man in the slaughter by a boy of his entire family discredited in court. Helen goes on with her work at the FBI and Benedict walks out of his life and job. A detective from the old case is faced with a similar case as well as the kidnapping of the twin of the believed perpetrator and alerts FBI agent Helen Belle.
From almost identical suicide notes to a shared obsession with an on-line multi-player fantasy game, Helen believes the Midnight Man is back and reaches out to now Professor Benedict Hoffman for assistance. They put their personal past aside and work together to unravel hidden identities and motives as they realize they are racing the clock to rescue the missing twin and stop the Midnight Man before someone else is led to murder.
I was pulled into this story immediately and terrified by the possible reality of the crime plot. Ms. Nickless does a good job of not preaching that the internet is all bad and all gamers are going to become killers, but the gray of the situations and discusses the type of adolescents that can be influenced. The crimes are horrific but could also be ripped right out of the current news. Helen and Benedict are interesting protagonists with not only a somewhat unique outlook on humanist psychology on the study of crime, but with interesting backstories, also. This is a couple I will look forward to following in their future investigations.
I highly recommend this first book in this compelling crime thriller series!
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About the Author
Barbara Nickless is the award-winning, WSJ and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of nine novels; her first and third series have been optioned for film. A teacher and activist, she teaches combat veterans and civilians in the U.S. and Ukraine. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association, the World Affairs Council and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. A former fencer and falconer, Barbara lives in Colorado where she loves to hike, cave, snowshoe, and drink single malt Scotch.
