Empty Handed
by Jo A Hiestand
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: British mystery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
One dark night artist Craig Saxton went missing from his
village. His body was found thirty-two hours later in the river, floating
like a bobber on a fishing line. Rumors swell like tidal waves: did his ex-wife
or his fiancée’s father kill this likeable young man? Or was it simply a case
of jealousy by the village’s other artist? Now, two years later, Craig’s
fiancée hopes ex-police detective Michael McLaren can find out. From speaking
to villagers, McLaren quickly realizes that what appears to be a
straightforward investigation is fast becoming as tangled as fishing lines. Are
the fish poaching incidents, the reappearance of the local ghost, and assaults
on him merely to muddy the investigative waters, or are they connected to
Craig’s death? McLaren has his hands full. They become even fuller when a
nemesis from his past appears one night, bent on revenge. And the inevitable
struggle opens a new future for one man…and leaves the other empty handed.
Excerpt:
He was a dozen yards or so from the
fishing cottage, heading back to the bridge, when a branch snapped. McLaren
halted, shining his light in the direction of the sound. He hesitated,
wondering if an animal had stepped on the dry wood, but some sense told him an
animal would have to be very large to accomplish that. He shielded the light
from his eyes. “Anyone there? Do you need help?”
Silence greeted him.
He waited another few seconds, then
continued on.
A loud thud froze him mid-stride and he
turned toward the river. “Hello? Are you injured?”
This time a voice answered. It was
downstream, closer to the bridge. “Not I, Mate, but you will be.”
McLaren held his torch out, moving the
light over the area. “Sorry?”
“What are you, hard of hearing,
McLaren?”
The voice was low, barely audible above
the splashing river, yet McLaren had no trouble hearing it. Neither did he
mistake the edge to the words. Or the speaker. Charlie Harvester.
McLaren’s heartbeat pounded in his
throat. The man was standing in the dark wood, no torchlight illuminating his
path. The conclusion was obvious. McLaren took a step forward, lowering the
light. “Harvester. What do you want?”
A laugh answered him. “Good evening to
you, too. I’m more convivial than you…which is just another example of your
inferiority. But you asked what I want. All right, I’ll get to the crux of the
matter. I want you dead.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
A month-long trip to England during her
college years introduced Jo to the joys of Things British. Since then, she has been lured back nearly a
dozen times, and lived there during her professional folk singing stint. This intimate knowledge of Britain forms the
backbone of both the Peak District mysteries and the McLaren cold case mystery
series.
Jo’s
insistence for accuracy, from police methods and location layout to the general
feel of the area, has driven her innumerable times to Derbyshire for
research. These explorations and
conferences with police friends provide the detail filling the books.
In
1999 Jo returned to Webster University to major in English. She graduated in 2001 with a BA degree and
departmental honors.
Her
cat Tennyson shares her St. Louis home.
Amazon buy link:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION :
Jo A Hiestand will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly
drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
My Review: It's always a pleasure to read the latest McLaren mystery - and this one doesn't disappoint! This is book ten in a series but you don’t need to read the previous books in order to read this one. Ex-police detective Michael McLaren has his hands full in this fast-paced mystery as he tries to solve a case gone cold at the same time as it seems his own life is in danger. The characters are well developed, and red herrings abound so that I was completely fooled as to who the real murderer was! Try your onw detective skills to see if you can unravel this mystery before the book ends - I dare you! Another good mystery in this woinderful series.
Morning! Thanks for being one of the stops on the book review tour today, and thank you so much for the very nice review -- I appreciate both!
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting
ReplyDeleteI've thoroughly enjoyed following the tour for Empty Handed and I'm looking forward to checking it out. Thanks for sharing all of the great posts along the way :)
ReplyDeleteVictoria, so glad you've followed the tour. It's been fun. I wish you good luck with the drawing!
DeleteI'll say good night to everyone. Thanks again, Jennifer, for hosting this stop and for the nice review. And good luck to everyone on the raffle drawing. Thanks for entering!
ReplyDelete