The Blessed Bones
Page 28
Deadly Little Secrets
Murder, I Write
Possessed
Deliver Us
In Plain Sight
AVAILABLE IN AUDIO
The Fallen Girls (Available in the UK and the US)
Her Final Prayer (Available in the UK and the US)
A Letter from Kathryn
I want to say a huge thank you to you for choosing to read The Blessed Bones. If you enjoyed it and want to keep up to date with upcoming books in the Clara Jefferies series, just sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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Where did the idea for this book come from? Years ago, when I wrote for magazines, I interviewed a woman who was sold as a child. She talked about her struggle to find her biological mother, and how she’d been robbed of her family. She wondered what kind of life she would have had, how different it would have been, if the doctor who’d told her mother she died at birth hadn’t sold her to a childless couple.
I’ve never forgotten my day with that woman. Her story touched my heart, and I will remember it always. Like Eden, her mother was an unwed teenager, one with few options, but one who wanted to keep her child. That’s not always possible; not all of us make the same decisions, and no one decision is right for everyone, but I remember thinking during the interview how important it was for everyone’s rights to be protected and for all of us to be heard and respected.
In closing, I hope you loved The Blessed Bones. If you did, I would be grateful if you would write a review. I’d appreciate hearing what you think, and it makes such a difference helping readers discover my books. I truly enjoy hearing from readers, and you can get in touch on my Facebook page, through Twitter, Goodreads or my website, or at kc@kathryncasey.com.
Thank you again, and happy reading,
Kathryn
www.kathryncasey.com
The Fallen Girls
She didn’t notice the corn stalks shiver a few feet to her right. By the time she looked up, the man towered above her. In a single movement he wrapped one thick hand around her waist, the other he clamped over her mouth, muffling her screams.
Detective Clara Jefferies has spent years running from her childhood in Alber, Utah. But when she hears that her baby sister Delilah has disappeared, she knows that the peaceful community will be shattered, her family vulnerable, and that that she must face up to her past and go home.
Clara returns to find that her mother, Ardeth, has isolated her family by moving to the edge of town, in the shadow of the mountains. Ardeth refuses to talk to the police and won’t let Clara through the front door, believing she and her sister-wives can protect their own. But Clara knows better than anyone that her mother isn’t always capable of protecting her children.
When Clara finds out that two more girls have disappeared, all last seen around the cornfields near her family’s home, she realizes it’s not just Delilah who’s in danger. And then she gets a call that a body has been found…
Clara will have to dig deep into the town’s secrets if she’s going to find Delilah. But that will mean confronting the reason she left. And as she gets closer to Delilah, she might be putting her more at risk…
Gripping and spine-chilling, readers will love Detective Clara Jefferies, reading The Fallen Girls deep into the night. Fans of Kendra Elliot, Lisa Regan and Melinda Leigh won’t stop turning the pages of this unforgettable new series from bestselling and award-winning author Kathryn Casey.
Get it here!
Her Final Prayer
Three empty chairs lazily rocked in the breeze, surrounded by scattered children’s toys. In the yard, there were mounds of earth. Graves. Only big enough for children…
When Detective Clara Jefferies is called to a ranch just outside of Alber, Utah, she’s sickened to find two innocent young children murdered alongside their mothers. Their father, Jacob Johansson, has been rushed to hospital where he fights for his life. Blissfully unaware, his two-month-old son Jeremy has been left untouched in his crib.
In the eyes of the community Jacob is the perfect, devout husband, seemingly living a peaceful, happy life. But Clara is certain that the crime is personal: one of Jacob’s wives was killed differently, her lips painted after she died. Soon, Clara discovers photos of her in Jacob’s best friend’s trailer, and her flower necklace underneath the bed.
When witnesses, including Clara’s own mother, refuse to speak about the case, it becomes clear that loyalty to the community is more important than finding a killer at large. The people of Alber will never trust Clara; she may have returned home but they will always see her as the girl who abandoned her family.
And yet Clara won’t give up. She is sure that Jacob and baby Jeremy are still at risk, and the longer the secretive town stands in the way of her solving this case, the more danger they’re in…
Impossible to put down, Her Final Prayer is perfect for readers of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot. You’ll race through the pages until the final heart-pounding twist.
Get it here!
Acknowledgements
There are always so many to thank when I finish a book. Regarding The Blessed Bones, I’m very grateful for the assistance of the following people:
Texas Ranger Lt. Wende Wakeman for sharing her expertise.
Retired prosecutor Edward Porter for his support and advice.
My literary agent, Anne-Lise Spitzer.
My reader: Sue Behnke.
All the wonderful people at Bookouture: my editor, Jennifer Hunt, who has taken such great interest in the Clara Jefferies series. She’s been there from the beginning. Also: Alexandra Holmes, Fraser Crichton, Jenny Page, Lucy Dauman, Alex Crow, Sarah Hardy and Jenny Geras.
As always, I thank my husband and my entire family for their constant support. I love all of you. This book is dedicated to my three brothers and their wives. I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like, but I appreciate them more than I can say. Like Clara, I believe family is important.
Finally, I am very grateful to all of you who read my books. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to do what I love. And a special note of appreciation to those of you who recommend my books to others. You make a world of difference.
You’ve just finished reading The Blessed Bones, the third book in the Clara Jefferies series. I’ve loved writing it, and I look forward to many books to follow.
We – both author and publisher – hope you enjoyed this book. We believe that you can become a reader at any time in your life, but we’d love your help to give the next generation a head start.
Did you know that 9% of children don’t have a book of their own in their home, rising to 13% in disadvantaged families*? We’d like to try to change that by asking you to consider the role you could play in helping to build readers of the future.
We’d love you to get involved by sharing, borrowing, reading, buying or talking about a book with a child in your life and spreading the love of reading. We want to make sure the next generation continues to have access to books, wherever they come from.
Click HERE for a list of brilliant books to share with a child – as voted by Goodreads readers.
Thank you.
*As reported by the National Literacy Trust
Published by Bookouture in 2021
An imprint of Storyfire Ltd.
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
www.bookouture.com
Copyright © Storyfire Ltd., 2021
Written by Kathryn Casey
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-80019-369-7
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places
and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.