KILLING MIND (D.I. Kim Stone Book #12) by Angela Marsons is another great addition the D.I. Kim Stone crime thriller/British police procedural series. While each of these books can stand alone on the crime thriller plot, the main characters continually evolve and develop. This is just one of those series that is best read in order.
Kim and Bryant get called out to check an apparent suicide. While everyone agrees at first, something about the scene just does not sit right with Kim. After checking the crime scene photos, it is discovered to be a murder. This murder and the discovery of a body in a local lake leads Kim and her team to Unity Farm, which is a cult, which at first Kim does not believe or understand. Kim sends Tiffany “Tink” in undercover and they discover the truly manipulative power of the cult.
While they are working the Unity Farm case, Bryant is also entangled in a past case from when he was just an officer guarding a crime scene. A murderer is paroled and all those entangled in the old case are once again fearful of another murder.
The main characters all feel like friends now and the crime plots are always intriguing and realistic. Ms. Marson has a way of keeping everything fresh and interesting even in this twelfth book. I was extremely impressed with the research information on cults throughout the story and the demonstration of the manipulation used in the dialogue of the cult members.
I really am not able to come up with much new to tell everyone how much I love these books! This is an excellent series that I recommend to all.
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Author Bio
Angela is the author of the Kim Stone Crime series. She discovered a love of writing at Primary School when a short piece on the rocks and the sea gained her the only merit point she ever got. Angela wrote the stories that burned inside and then stored them safely in a desk drawer. After much urging from her partner she began to enter short story competitions in Writer’s News resulting in a win and three short listed entries.
She used the Amazon KDP program to publish two of her earlier works before concentrating on her true passion – Crime.
Angela is now signed to write a total of 16 Kim Stone books for http://bookouture.com and has secured a print deal with Bonnier Zaffre Publishing.
It’s been years since the Gray Man’s first mission, but the trouble’s just getting started in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
Before he was the Gray Man, Court Gentry was Sierra Six, the junior member of a CIA action team.
In their first mission they took out a terrorist leader, but at a terrible price–the life of a woman Court cared for. Years have passed and now The Gray Man is on a simple mission when he sees a ghost: the long-dead terrorist, but he’s remarkably energetic for a dead man.
A decade may have gone by but the Gray Man hasn’t changed. He isn’t one to leave a job unfinished or a blood debt unpaid.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Sierra Six by Mark Greaney is not one story but two stories in one book. Readers are treated to a double helping of the Gray Man, told from a dual point of view, today and 12 years ago. Both stories per usual are compelling and dramatic where readers are treated to a rollercoaster ride of vivid action, a lot of intrigue, and fantastic dialogue.
Twelve years ago, after the Special Activities Division of the CIA loses a man on an assignment, Court Gentry (The Gray Man) is called in as a replacement and given the designation Gulf Sierra Six. Because he had no military background and always worked alone, the members of the team resented him at first. But overtime he proved himself and gained the respect of the team and its leader, Zach Hightower.
Twelve years later Court is hired as a freelance intelligence operator to infiltrate the Turkish embassy property in Algiers and plant a listening device. There he comes face to face with Murad Khan, the head of KRF who is responsible for death and destruction years earlier. This terrorist had been reported killed at the time. Now Court is once again on the hunt to stop Khan as he plans another major attack involving dirty bombs in India.
The story and ending are typical Gray Man, a lot of action, suspense, and tension. As with all his books there are scenes that put the reader in the middle of the intense fight. This book shows why Greaney is one of the best thriller writers today.
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Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Netflix series?
Mark Greaney: What I hear is that it’s coming out in July. They already have done a test screening in LA, last week. They bring in those who sign up for it and have them fill out a questionnaire of what they liked and did not like. I have only seen fifteen seconds of footage, but I did read the script. I thought it was terrific. It is based on the first book, The Gray Man, but bring in elements that were in later books.
EC: How did you get the idea for the story for this book?
MG: I had talked to my editor for years about writing an origin story where readers could see Court Gentry as he develops. I decided to write something that relates in the past and present. Readers can see Court as a younger man and then twelve years later. The stories have two different timelines, two different objectives for the hero, and two different ticking clocks.
EC: How would you describe the young Court versus the older Court?
MG: The young Court is 25 years old. He has been trained his entire life to operate firearms and move tactically, without any other skills. He has no people skills and is not James Bond with the ladies. At this stage of his life, he does not have a lot of world experience, yet comes across cocky and sure of himself. He gets brought down a few pegs in this story. He does missions he is told to do by the CIA. He is a soldier and a spy.
In the present Court is older, wiser, a little laid back, but not as sure of himself. He seeks justice. Now he will go against the wishes of his bosses. He will break away if necessary, playing to his own tune. He has expanded his skill levels with a lot more years and tradecraft behind him. He is much better at what he does.
EC:Zach was in the past story, but not the present story?
MG: I do not want to ever be tied to having to bring all the secondary characters into every story. There are some books that will not have Zoya, and some not to have Zach. In the present Court is very much on a solo mission although he does call Hanley and Brewer for some help. I do not want to get into a trap into designing my story surrounded by a cast of characters. Instead, I want to pick and choose.
EC: How would you describe Julie Martinez, part of Court’s team as a CIA analyst?
MG: Chatty, nerdlike, direct, attentive, persistent, has integrity. She feels like an outsider. She is focused and has attention to detail. Like Court, she does what she feels is right.
EC: Julie, his first love versus Zoya, his recent love?
MG: I think these two characters are so different. Julie is a young CIA officer analyst who is incredibly intelligent. She is also on the Autism spectrum. She and Court become friends and then more than friends throughout the course of the novel. His naivety and her directness were interesting aspects to put together. Zoya on the other hand is in the same profession as Court, an operative. She is older and a rougher personality. Because he has changed in the past twelve years Julie and present-day Court would not have worked out so well. Both women and Court feel like outsiders. Zoya has integrity but gets there only at the end. She and Court both live lives where they must be distrustful, paranoid. She is a different version of Court, but both are attracted to one another.
EC: Why the War on Terror returning?
MG: I wanted to showcase how different things are today than twelve years ago. Many Gray Man books did not deal with Middle East terrorism. This was a conscious decision because almost all other thriller writers wrote about the ticking timebomb. Now I feel we are removed from it. I wanted to take a recent pass and see how my hero deals with it.
EC: How would you describe the bad guy, Murad Khan?
MG: He is a Kashmirian who went against his own country. He is a member of their intelligence agency but has also created his own organization to fight. Now he is fighting India, his true passion. When I write a villain I must get into their head. He is against humanity and very cruel, a terrible person.
EC: The setting also dealt with CIA bases in Khost and Chapman?
MG: I did some research on where we were twelve years ago regarding the War on Terror. The geography was important. Camp Chapman was a place where very terrible things happened. The other bases including Bagram, Jalalabad, and Salerno are all close to the Pakistani border. I wanted to show how Pakistan is not a real ally of the US.
EC: The Indian Mafia?
MG: The biggest one is D company, which I changed to B company. The real head lives in Pakistan, not India. He has a real chip on his shoulders, bombing government buildings and airlines. They did most of their stuff twenty years ago. I thought that my mafia would form an alliance with a Muslim group. I saw the movie “Hotel Mumbai” and read some books about the terrorist attack there. It played into my story, where a terrorist attack happens at a shopping mall in India.
EC: How would you describe Priya Bandari?
MG: She is someone Court teams up with, out of necessity. She is very wet behind the ears as an intelligence specialist and reconnaissance technician on Court’s freelance job. She is directly out of college. She is motivated for personal reasons to stay in the fight. I hope readers begin to understand her and see her point of view. I hope to use her character in other books. She is brave, somewhat defiant, and daring. None of this comes naturally to her but Priya does rise to the occasion.
EC: Next book?
MG: I am currently plotting out the story. It will come out this time next year. Court, Zoya, Zach, and Brewer will be back along with Hanley to some degree. In July I have another book coming out based on an audio play that was released in December. It is titled Armored. It is about military contractors in Mexico fighting the drug cartel. Josh Duffy is a wounded veteran whose job is to protect a UN delegation that is trying to negotiate a peace deal with a drug lord. There will be a second book, but I do not know what happens after that. Duffy’s wife, Nicole, is a former army officer and a helicopter pilot. I could see Duffy and Nicole taking a lead in another book.
THANK YOU!!
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 is my turn on the Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for Margaret Truman’s MURDER AT THE CDC (A Capital Crimes Novel Book #32) by Jon Land.
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 Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
2017: A military transport on a secret run to dispose of its deadly contents vanishes without a trace.
The present: A mass shooting on the steps of the Capitol nearly claims the life of Robert Brixton’s grandson.
No stranger to high-stakes investigations, Brixton embarks on a trail to uncover the motive behind the shooting. On the way he finds himself probing the attempted murder of the daughter his best friend, who works at the Washington offices of the CDC. The connection between the mass shooting and Alexandra’s poisoning lies in that long-lost military transport that has been recovered by forces determined to change America forever. Those forces are led by radical separatist leader Deacon Frank Wilhyte, whose goal is nothing short of bringing on a second Civil War.
Brixton joins forces with Kelly Lofton, a former Baltimore homicide detective. She has her own reasons for wanting to find the truth behind the shooting on the Capitol steps, and is the only person with the direct knowledge Brixton needs. But chasing the truth places them in the cross-hairs of both Wilhyte’s legions and his Washington enablers.
Genre: Political Thriller Published by: Forge Publication Date: February 15, 2022 Number of Pages: 304 ISBN: 978-1250238894 Series: Margaret Truman’s Capital Crimes, #32 | Each is a stand alone work.
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
MURDER AT THE CDC (A Capital Crimes Novel Book #32) by Jon Land is the latest political/crime thriller in this long running series started by Margaret Truman. This is the second book in the series that Jon Land has written, and he does a great job of giving the reader continuity with the previous books. It is an exciting crime/political thriller filled with “what-ifs” extrapolated from today’s headlines. These books can all be easily read as standalone novels.
Robert Brixton comes close once again to losing a loved one when his grandson in caught up in a mass shooting incident on the Capital’s steps. As he begins to investigate the motive for the shooting, he is also asked by his long-time friend to meet with his daughter who works for the CDC in their Washington office who he believes is in trouble. She ends up in the hospital fighting for her life from an unknown poison.
Brixton joins forces with Kelly Lofton who works for the Capital police and the two discover a scheme to change America forever with a bioweapon believed lost on a long-ago military transport.
I love these types of thrillers when they are well written as this one is. They are just plausible enough to be scarily believable and thank goodness there is always someone of principle to stand in the way of all the evil doers. Fast paced, action packed and full of twists, I could not put the book down. All the characters, good and bad, were well drawn. There are a very few times the pace slows down a bit, but the information given at these times is interesting and adds to the escalating consequences of the protagonists not saving the day.
I really enjoy reading Mr. Land’s additions to this series, and I am looking forward to reading many more in the future.
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Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
“The hand of God is upon You! He is my shepherd and I shall not want!”
Those were the last words high school sophomore Ben McDonald heard before the shooting started. He and the other students clustered around him from the Gilman School in Maryland were on a school field trip to the Capitol Building from their Baltimore prep school, the first such trip taken since academic life returned to a degree of normalcy following the endless coronavirus nightmare. Everyone had shown up in their school uniforms, the buses had left on schedule, and the students felt like pioneers, explorers blazing a trail back into the world beyond shutdowns and social distancing.
The reduction in Capitol tour group size was still in force and had necessitated the two bus-loads of students to be divided into five groups of fifteen, give or take, three chaperones allotted to each. Ben and his twin brother Robbie’s group had gone first and they had found themselves lingering on the Capitol steps, taking pictures and chatting away with their local congressman and senator who’d come out to greet and mingle with the students on the steps at the building’s east front.
“Why are you still wearing a mask?” one of them had asked the congressman, but Ben had already forgotten the answer.
He remembered checking the time on his phone just before he heard the first shots. Ben thought they were firecrackers at first, realizing the truth a breath later when the screams began and bodies started flying.
“I am doing the Lord’s work! I am a sacrifice to his word!”
Somehow Ben gleaned those words through the screams and incessant hail of fire. The shots were coming so fast he wasn’t sure if the shooter was firing on semi or full auto. The boy never actually saw him as more than a shape amid the blur before him, enveloping his vision like a dull haze. The thin sheer curtain drawn over his eyes didn’t keep him from recording bodies crumpling, keeling over, tumbling down the steps. The force of a bullet’s momentum slammed a classmate into him, sparing Ben the ensuing fusillade that turned the other boy’s back into a pin cushion.
My brother!
The panic and shock of those initial seconds had stolen thought of Robbie from him. He wheeled about, covered in the blood of boy who had dropped off the scene.
“Robbie!”
Did he cry out his name or only think it? The steps around him looked blanketed in khaki and blue, pants and blazers that made up his Gilman uniform. The sound of gunfire continued to resound in his ears, but he wasn’t sure the shooter was still firing because no more bodies seemed to be falling. People were running in all directions, crying and screaming, Ben remaining frozen out of fear for his brother.
“Robbie!”
He saw his brother’s sandy blond hair draped down from one of the marble steps onto another. Nothing else at first, just the hair. Maybe he had dove atop a friend who’d been wounded to spare that kid more fire—that was Robbie. But there was no one beneath Him, and . . . And . . .
He wasn’t moving, his arms stretched to the sides on angles that looked all wrong. Ben dropped to his knees next to Robbie, his pants sinking into pooling patches of blood which merged and thickened beneath him. He felt something pinching him along right side of his ribcage and saw his blue shirt darkening with a spreading wave of red in the last moment before he collapsed next to his brother.
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Author Bio
JON LAND is the USA Today bestselling author of fifty-eight books, including eleven in the critically acclaimed Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong series, the most recent of which, Strong from the Heart, won the 2020 American Fiction Award for Best Thriller and the 2020 American Book Fest Award for Best Mystery/Suspense Novel. Additionally, he has teamed up with Heather Graham for a science fiction series that began with THE RISING (winner of the 2017 International Book Award for best Sci-fi Novel) and continues with BLOOD MOON, to be published in November of 2022. He has also written six books in the Murder, She Wrote series of mysteries and has more recently taken over Margaret Truman’s Capital Crimes series, with his second effort, MURDER AT THE CDC, to be published in February of 2022. Jon is known as well for writing the film DIRTY DEEDS, a teen comedy starring Milo Ventimiglia and Zoe Saldana, which was released in 2005. A graduate of Brown University, he received the 2019 Rhode Island Authors Legacy Award for his lifetime of literary achievements.
The fifth book in Joanna Schaffhausen’s heartpounding Ellery Hathaway mystery series.
Boston detective Ellery Hathaway met FBI agent Reed Markham when he pried open a serial killer’s closet to rescue her. Years on, their relationship remains defined by that moment and by Francis Coben’s horrific crimes. To free herself from Coben’s legacy, Ellery had to walk away from Reed, too. But Coben is not letting go so easily. He has an impossible proposition: Coben will finally give up the location of the remaining bodies, on one condition—Reed must bring him Ellery.
Now the families of the missing victims are crying out for justice that only Ellery can deliver. The media hungers for a sequel and Coben is their camera-ready star. He claims he is sorry and wants to make amends. But Ellery is the one living person who has seen the monster behind the mask and she doesn’t believe he can be redeemed. Not after everything he’s done. Not after what she’s been through. And certainly not after a fresh body turns up with Coben’s signature all over it.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Last Seen Alive by Joanna Schaffhausen shows why she is the master storyteller of serial killers. There is not a book she has written that is not terrifying, intense, and complex. She not only gets into the heads of the murderers, but also the victims. Readers will gain insight into what it is like to become a public figure because of circumstances beyond someone’s control, trying to find normalcy and privacy.
The prologue shows how FBI Agent Reed Markham and Boston Detective Ellery Hathaway have a long relationship. Seventeen years ago, he rescued fourteen-year-old Ellery, then known as Abby, from serial killer Francis Coben. This monster had kidnapped, tortured, and held her hostage in a closet for days. There were seventeen other victims that he tortured, mutilated, and killed.
Fast forward to current day when television celebrity and journalist Kate Hunter wants to interview Coben to supposedly get justice for the victims never found. But his one condition for the interview and to give up the location of the bodies is a face-to-face meeting with Ellery.
Coben is pure evil that lurks behind a normal face. He is one of the most terrifying psychopaths to ever appear in a thriller. Although the violence is not graphic, readers are able to understand his horrific crimes. He loves to get into Ellery’s head and knows that he will always be a part of her soul.
Ellery and Reed had a rocky relationship, first rescuer/rescuee, then friends to lovers, but never able to get out from what brought them together when they first met. Unfortunately, Ellery walked away from Reed to try to free herself from Coben’s legacy. Now they are back working together to find the other victims. The question for readers, will Reed and Ellery have their happy ending?
Although the crimes are dark, the author sets such a great pace that the book becomes a page turner that cannot be put down. There is something about serial killers that draws people to their stories. As with her other series and previous stories, Last Seen Alive, is part mystery, part character study. The conflicting emotions, the pain both physical and emotional, and the reality all play a part in the telling of this captivating thriller.
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Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Were any of these characters based on real people?
Joanna Schaffhausen: Ellery, the victim, and Reed, the FBI agent are loosely inspired by two real people. Reed was based on Bob Keppel, the Seattle homicide detective who was on the job for one week when given the Ted Bundy case. At that time, they only knew there were missing women. The Ted Bundy case changed the trajectory of Keppel’s career. He ended up specializing in serial killers. He was one of a few law enforcement people who tried to get Bundy to confess to other crimes that they suspected, to give up the other bodies. Reed, as with Keppel, was a green law enforcement officer attached to one of the cases of the century.
EC: What about Ellery?
JS: She was loosely inspired by a woman named Carol DeRonch. Ted Bundy, pretending to be a policeman in Montana, abducted her at the age of eighteen. She was suspicious after he drove away from the police station. They struggled in the car, and she was able to escape. The day she escaped; Bundy found another woman who he killed. But being his first known living victim, Carol, was able to describe what he looked like and the car. Her survival allowed all the law enforcement officers in different states to put the clues together. Even though this is now more than forty years ago, she is still hounded by Ted Bundy enthusiasts. Although he is dead, he follows her around like a ghost. At this point she prefers to be left alone. People wanted to know more about her, to know more about what it was like, and even pretended to be fellow victims. The idea behind Ellery is that as a young person she was attacked and survived. But somehow her life is still about this horrible man. How do they find an identity for themselves when the worst thing that happened is perceived as the most interesting about them?
EC: How would you describe Ellery?
JS: As with Carol, they both had survivor’s guilt. But there is a lot of differences between Carol and Ellery. Abby was Ellery’s name when she was young, living in Chicago, deserted by her father, with a brother dying of cancer and a mother consumed by it. Abby had to fend for herself. After Coben got her, she grew up quick. She went with her middle name, Ellery, who sees herself as a separate person from Abby. She had dreams that were derailed. Ellery has a sense of loss. Even though Ellery survived, Abby died. They both end up with scars and recover from PTSD as she makes peace with what happened to her. Now for the first time she has healthy relationships. Ellery completes the healing journey for Abby.
EC: How would you describe Francis Coben, the serial killer?
JS: He has some elements that are Bundyesque. The infamy, the hunger for more, abducting young women with a lot of promise in their life. One of the reasons I write my books is that the public wants to make more of these awful men than is there to be found. This desire to imagine they are brilliant and charming when they have done horrific acts and should not be admired. I wanted to show like the others, Coben, is just this killing machine. The normal person and the monster live inside this one person. He compartmentalizes, is a habitual liar, narcissist, egomaniac, and sociopath. Coben is obsessed with Ellery, the one outstanding victim, the one who got away at the age of fourteen.
EC: How would you describe Reed?
JS: A people pleaser who wants to fix everything. Brilliant, charming, wants to be the hero. He grew up as the baby of all sisters. Being adopted, her was raised in a white family but he himself is white Hispanic. He feels the need to prove himself. He is also honest, caring, protective, has a stubborn streak, is a good cook, and enjoys playing the piano.
EC: Relationship between Reed and Ellery?
JS: I wanted to explore how the kidnapping and rescue was the worst thing that ever happened to her and the best thing that ever happened to him. The premise of the first book, The Vanishing Season, has them reunite after a decade and a half. Reed feels he is the hero of the story, catching Coben, and rescuing her. But after they reunite, he gets to see all the ways he did not save her. He participated in perpetuating Coben’s legacy by writing a book off her story. They are the only ones who know the truth about her story. They are a mirror of each other. She never has to explain anything to him. Both she and Reed can be themselves with each other that gives them a unique bond even with a 13 year age difference. Eventually they form a romantic attachment as adults.
EC: The journalistic quote by Ellery?
JS: You are referring to this one, “For years, people like you have sold my story and packaged my pain as entertainment. You set it to scary music and surround it with ads… You justify it by saying there’s a lesson here. We can learn about him. We can protect ourselves better in the future. Well, the fact that we’re here now, that you’re talking about giving him the stage and making him a big, big TV star… that proves you haven’t learned a thing at all.” People should be able to walk away and live their life in peace.
EC: My feeling about journalists is that they are mostly uncaring, self-centered, and ignore the truth. What about you?
JS: I think some can be described that way, but not all. I worked for seven years for ABC national news as an editorial producer. In general, I think they want to get it correct, especially the True Crime people. I have mixed feelings where True Crime runs the gamut from being offensive to being more thoughtful. Kate Hunter, the on-air journalist in the book, wants to milk the story between Ellery and Coben. She is looking for the big ratings grab. But does want to give the families justice for the victims that have never been identified. Readers will get the feeling that this is a secondary want for her.
EC: Next Book?
JS: For now, this is the last book in the series, because Ellery has completed the journey I intended her to complete. I originally conceived the idea for five books so there is no new book on the horizon. But I would like to hear from the readers if they would like more books. Please contact me at https://www.joannaschaffhausen.com/contact/
The new book in my other series, the sequel, is called Long Gone. It comes out in August 2022. Detective Vega blew up her life, both personally and professionally, at the end of the first book. Now she is called to the scene of a weird crime where a fellow police officer is shot dead. Present is his young wife who is unharmed. Vega comes up with a suspect who is dated by her best friend.
THANK YOU!!
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 is my turn on the Books ‘n’ All Promotions Blog Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE LIST (Martha Munro Crime Mystery Book #1) by Michael Leese.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
It was just an ordinary Wednesday lunchtime when Detective Martha Munro’s life changed forever.
Her sergeant is speaking, but she barely hears what he’s telling her.
Your mother has been shot dead. Your four-year-old daughter has been taken.
There are no leads. Who would want to hurt her family?
Martha realizes it’s time to ask herself some hard questions about her late father.
He led the anti-corruption squad at Scotland Yard. It’s rumoured he kept a list of everyone who worked for him, from coppers to criminals. And just being on that list was a sure-fire way to lower your life expectancy.
Her mother was killed by someone trying to get their hands on that list. Now time is running out for Martha to get her daughter back alive.
Martha is the kind of cop who always goes by the book. But family is EVERYTHING. And she will do ANYTHING to keep them safe.
THE LIST (Martha Munroe Crime Mystery Book #1) by Michael Leese is the first book in a new British crime mystery series and it is constructed like no other I have read before. I was immediately intrigued and could not put it down.
Detective Martha Munroe is informed by her sergeant that her mother has been shot dead and her four-year-old daughter kidnapped.
With the help of longtime friend of the family, Harry the Hat, Martha begins to learn more about her late father who led the anti-corruption unit at The Met and is somehow tied to the forces working to destroy her. A powerful enemy believes Martha has the list belonging to her father that names all the criminals who were working as snitches for him and all the corrupt police on the force and he is willing to do anything to get it for himself.
When Martha and Harry find the list, they must work to decode it to find out who Martha can really trust and who is trying to make sure she ends up dead.
I enjoyed the unique way this story unfolded. Who would put their detective protagonist in such a position in the first book of a series? Well, Mr. Leese did, and I found it kept me turning the pages. Martha and Harry are wonderful characters that are very likeable and fully fleshed. The other characters always had me guessing whether they were good, bad, or varying shades of gray. The plot is full of twists and surprises with an ending that leaves the door open for more. I am looking forward to following Martha in future books in this series.
I recommend this start to a new British crime mystery series!
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About the Author
Before taking up writing, Michael Leese was a national newspaper journalist for over 25 years, with the last part of his career working for the London Evening Standard. The most memorable stories he covered ranged from Tiananmen Square, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the death of Princess Diana, the 9/11 attacks and the two Gulf wars.
In the latter part of his career, Mike was a news editor. In this role he gained insights into many specialties from crime and court reporting, to political and science news and the behind the scenes working of government, the City and other institutions. Mike’s passion for news and current affairs remains very strong and influences the writing of his books.
Today is my turn on the Partners In Crime Virtual Blog Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for TWENTYMILE by C. Matthew Smith.
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 Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
When wildlife biologist Alex Lowe is found dead inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it looks on the surface like a suicide. But Tsula Walker, Special Agent with the National Park Service’s Investigative Services Branch and a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, isn’t so sure.
Tsula’s investigation will lead her deep into the park and face-to-face with a group of lethal men on a mission to reclaim a historic homestead. The encounter will irretrievably alter the lives of all involved and leave Tsula fighting for survival – not only from those who would do her harm, but from a looming winter storm that could prove just as deadly.
A finely crafted literary thriller, Twentymile delivers a propulsive story of long-held grievances, new hopes, and the contentious history of the land at its heart.
TWENTYMILE by C. Matthew Smith is an intense thriller featuring a female Cherokee SBI agent as the protagonist and is set in the scenic and beautiful Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Qualla Boundary.
SBI Special Agent Tsula Walker has returned home to her childhood home to care for her mother in the Qualla Boundary. When a Parks Service wildlife biologist is found dead in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park nearby, Tsula is sent to investigate.
Tsula’s investigation leads her deep into the park where she comes face-to-face with a man, his two teenage sons and a friend who are willing to do anything to reclaim a historic homestead they believe stolen by the government. Tsula barely escapes the homestead with her life and runs deep into the park while the men continue to hunt her down. She ends up not only trying to survive her attackers, but also a deadly winter storm which could end up killing her as well.
This is such an intriguing thriller on many levels. The investigation and wilderness chase kept me turning the pages. The questions posed by characters throughout the story regarding land rights and the contentious fights that continue today were interspersed and examined from many sides without slowing the pace of the story and I never felt like I was getting an information dump or being preached to. Tsula is a unique and intriguing character with a very interesting background. She has a strong sense of family, is physically strong, brave, intelligent and wants to be the best SBI agent she can be. I would love to follow Tsula’s adventures in future books.
I highly recommend this beautifully written and intriguing thriller!
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Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE
May 10
The same moment the hiker comes upon them, rounding the bend in the trail, Harlan knows the man will die.
He takes no pleasure in the thought. So far as Harlan is aware, he has never met the man and has no quarrel with him. This stranger is simply an unexpected contingency. A loose thread that, once noticed, requires snipping.
Harlan knows, too, it’s his own fault. He shouldn’t have stopped. He should have pressed the group forward, off the trail and into the concealing drapery of the forest. That, after all, is the plan they’ve followed each time: Keep moving. Disappear.
But the first sliver of morning light had crested the ridge and caught Harlan’s eye just so, and without even thinking, he’d paused to watch it filter through the high trees. Giddy with promise, he’d imagined he saw their new future dawning in that distance as well, tethered to the rising sun. Cardinals he couldn’t yet spot were waking to greet the day, and a breeze picked up overhead, soughing through shadowy crowns of birch and oak. He’d turned and watched the silhouettes of his companions taking shape. His sons, Otto and Joseph, standing within arm’s length. The man they all call Junior lingering just behind them.
The stranger’s headlamp sliced through this reverie, bright and sudden as an oncoming train, freezing Harlan where he stood. In all the times they’ve previously made this journey—always departing this trail at this spot, and always at this early hour—they’ve never encountered another person. Given last night’s thunderstorm and the threat of more to come, Harlan wasn’t planning on company this morning, either.
He clamps his lips tight and flicks his eyes toward his sons—be still, be quiet. Junior clears his throat softly.
“Mornin’,” the stranger says when he’s close.
The accent is local—born, like Harlan’s own, of the surrounding North Carolina mountains—and his tone carries a hint of polite confusion. The beam of his headlamp darts from man to man, as though uncertain of who or what most merits its attention, before settling finally on Junior’s pack.
The backpack is a hand-stitched canvas behemoth many times the size of those sold by local outfitters and online retailers. Harlan designed the mammoth vessel himself to accommodate the many necessities of life in the wilderness. Dry goods. Seeds for planting. Tools for construction and farming. Long guns and ammunition. It’s functional but unsightly, like the bulbous shell of some strange insect. Harlan and his sons carry similar packs, each man bearing as much weight as he can manage. But it’s likely the rifle barrel peeking out of Junior’s that has now caught the stranger’s interest.
Harlan can tell he’s an experienced hiker, familiar with the national park where they now stand. Few people know of this trail. Fewer still would attempt it at this hour. Each of his thick-knuckled hands holds a trekking pole, and he moves with a sure and graceful gait even in the relative dark. He will recognize—probably is just now in the process of recognizing—that something is not right with the four of them. Something he may be tempted to report. Something he might recall later if asked.
Harlan nods at the man but says nothing. He removes his pack and kneels as though to re-tie his laces.
The hiker, receiving no reply, fills the silence. “How’re y’all do—”
When Harlan stands again, he works quickly, covering the stranger’s mouth with his free hand and thrusting his blade just below the sternum. A whimper escapes through his clamped fingers but dies quickly. The body arches, then goes limp. One arm reaches out toward him but only brushes his shoulder and falls away. Junior approaches from behind and lowers the man onto his back.
Even the birds are silent.
Joseph steps to his father’s side and offers him a cloth. Harlan smiles. His youngest son is a carbon copy of himself at eighteen. The wordless, intent glares. The muscles tensed and explosive, like coiled springs straining at a latch. Joseph eyes the man on the ground as though daring him to rise and fight.
Harlan removes the stranger’s headlamp and shines the beam in the man’s face. A buzz-cut of silver hair blanches in this wash of light. His pupils, wide as coins, do not react. Blood paints his lips and pools on the mud beneath him, smelling of copper.
“I’m sorry, friend,” Harlan says, though he doubts the man can hear him. “It’s just, you weren’t supposed to be here.” He yanks the knife free from the man’s distended belly and cleans it with the cloth.
From behind him comes Otto’s fretful voice. “Jesus, Pop.”
Harlan’s eldest more resembles the men on his late wife’s side. Long-limbed and dour. Quiet and amenable, but anxious. When Harlan turns, Otto is pacing along a tight stretch of the trail with his hands clamped to the sides of his head. His natural state.
“Shut up and help me,” Harlan says. “Both of you.”
He instructs his sons to carry the man two hundred paces into the woods and deposit him behind a wide tree. Far enough away, Harlan hopes, that the body will not be seen or smelled from the trail any time soon. “Wear your gloves,” he tells them, re-sheathing the knife at his hip. “And don’t let him drag.”
As Otto and Joseph bear the man away, Harlan pockets the lamp and turns to Junior.
“I know, I know,” he says, shaking his head. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
Harlan sweeps his boot back and forth along the muddy trail to smooth over the odd bunching of footprints and to cover the scrim of blood with earth. He’s surprised to find his stomach has gone sour. “No witnesses,” he says. “That’s how it has to be.”
“People go missing,” Junior says, “and other people come looking.”
“By the time they do, we’ll be long gone.”
Junior shrugs and points. “Dibs on his walking sticks.”
Harlan stops sweeping. “What?”
“Sometimes my knees hurt.”
“Fine,” Harlan says. “But let’s get this straight. Dibs is not how we’re going to operate when we get there.”
Junior blinks and looks at him. “Dibs is how everything operates.”
Minutes later, Otto and Joseph return from their task, their chests heaving and their faces slick. Otto gives his younger brother a wary look, then approaches Harlan alone. When he speaks, he keeps his voice low.
“Pop—”
“Was he still breathing when you left him?”
Otto trains his eyes on his own feet, a drop of sweat dangling from the tip of his nose.
“Was he?”
Otto shakes his head. He hesitates for a moment longer, then asks, “Maybe we should go, Pop? Before someone else comes along?”
Harlan pats his son’s hunched neck. “You’re right, of course.”
The four grunt and sway as they re-shoulder their packs. Wooden edges and sharp points dig into Harlan’s back and buttocks through the canvas, and the straps strain against his burning shoulders. But he welcomes this discomfort for what it means. This, at last, is their final trip.
This time, they’re leaving for good.
They fan out along the edge of the trail, the ground sopping under their boots. Droplets rain down, shaken free from the canopy by a gust of wind, and Harlan turns his face up to feel the cool prickle on his skin. Then he nods to his companions, wipes the water from his eyes, and steps into the rustling thicket.
The others follow after him, marching as quickly as their burdens allow.
Melting into the trees and the undergrowth.
***
Author Bio
C. Matthew Smith is an attorney and writer whose short stories have appeared in and are forthcoming from numerous outlets, including Mystery Tribune, Mystery Weekly, Close to the Bone, and Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir Vol. 3 (Down & Out Books). He’s a member of Sisters in Crime and the Atlanta Writers Club.
