by JANICE FROST
Ava took a sip of her whisky and her thoughts returned to the events of that day. She recalled finding Neal pinned to the floor, his face an unnatural shade of blue, with Jonty straddling him. She had cast about the room, looking for a weapon. The iron, with its colourful design had caught her eye. It had very nearly become a murder weapon like its counterpart. Ava hadn’t cared how hard she hit Jonty. All she could think of was the colour of Neal’s face and that if she didn’t act fast, it would be too late.
“What’s the news?” Neal asked. Ava knew what he meant and gave him an update.
“We know the whole sorry story now. We were mostly right. Leanne started fishing after she discovered that Chantelle and Michaela had died in unnatural circumstances.” Ava took another sip. “Tom’s liaised with the SIO who dealt with Michaela’s drowning. The witness was traced and it seems that it was a genuine accident. Michaela got out of her depth. She was a poor swimmer and should never have attempted the rescue in the first place. Of course, we’ll never know what was going through Michaela’s mind when she jumped into the river after that dog..”
Neal gave a nod. “And Chantelle?”
Ava shrugged. “There were no witnesses. A friend’s come forward this week claiming Chantelle told her she was unable to come to terms with certain ‘events in her life.’ She sounded suicidal, said the friend.” Ava sighed. “I believe she took her own life.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
Ava continued. “PJ finally tracked down Corinna Masters. Turns out she’s a survivor. She changed her name to make a clean break from her past. She now works in a women’s refuge in Sheffield.”
They both smiled. Ava’s faded first. “Jonty admits to beating both Leanne and Ruby but denies that he killed them. Liz Marlborough’s going for a charge of manslaughter.” Neal flinched but said nothing. There had been water in Leanne's lungs when she entered the River Strom that night. It had been an act of courage on her part to throw herself into the water, knowing that she would never make it to the bank. Her prints were all over the flat iron, as were Jonty’s. She had taken it with her in a desperate bid to leave a clue behind. Ava fervently hoped it hadn’t helped Jonty get off the murder charge.
“He’ll be charged with Seth’s murder, if that’s any consolation. Jess was a witness.” They reflected on that for a moment or two. Ava told Neal about their encounter on the common, and Jess’s willingness to testify. Neal nodded solemnly.
“PJ and Tom have just about recovered from being sent on a wild goose chase after Seth Conway and missing all the action.” Neal smiled.
Maggie came and called them to dinner.
Ava followed Neal and Archie into the dining room, which had been festooned with bunting for the occasion. She saw her bottle of champagne cooling in an ice bucket in the centre of the table. Neal lifted it out, popped the cork and filled their glasses one by one. Ava’s nervousness gradually began to dissipate.
Neal raised his glass. “To my beautiful sister, Maggie. And to my best friend, Jock Dodds.”
They all drank. Then Maggie stood, looking radiant. She took in the faces of everyone around the table, and made a second toast.
“To family.”
THE END
OTHER BOOKS BY JANICE FROST
NEAL & MERRY
Book 1: DEAD SECRET
Book 2: DARK SECRET
Book 3: HER HUSBAND’S SECRET
Book 4: THEIR FATAL SECRETS
BOOK 1 FEATURING NEAL AND MERRY
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SECRET-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B00XYMC5GI/
http://www.amazon.com/SECRET-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B00XYMC5GI/
Shocking family secrets come to light when a young woman is murdered
Amy Hill, a nineteen-year-old student, is strangled and her body dumped on open ground in the city. New police partners, DI Jim Neal and DS Ava Merry are called in to investigate this brutal crime. The last person to see Amy alive was Simon, the son of a family friend, but before he can be properly questioned he disappears.
Detectives Neal and Merry are led on a trail of shocking family secrets and crimes. Can this duo track down the murderer before anyone else dies? Stopping this tragic cycle of violence will put DS Merry’s life at risk in a thrilling and heart-stopping finale.
If you like Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott, Ruth Rendell, or Mark Billingham you will be gripped by this exciting new crime fiction writer.
BOOK 2: DARK SECRET
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SECRET-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B018UFBN48/
http://www.amazon.com/SECRET-gripping-detective-thriller-suspense-ebook/dp/B018UFBN48/
Who killed Gray Mitchell?
Gray Mitchell’s body is found buried under fresh snowfall in the early hours of the morning outside Stromford Cathedral. DI Jim Neal and DS Ava Merry are called in to investigate. It seems that a number of people had motives to kill him, including Mitchell's partner.
Then another shocking act of violence occurs, also connected to the cathedral. Detectives Neal and Merry’s investigation reveals an intricate web of secrets connecting the crimes. But there is something the detectives have missed, the dark secret which can break open the case.
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First a shooting, then a grisly discovery on the common . . .
Police partners, D.I. Calladine and D.S. Ruth Bayliss race against time to track down a killer before the whole area erupts in violence. Their boss thinks it’s all down to drug lord Ray Fallon, but Calladine’s instincts say something far nastier is happening on the Hobfield housing estate.
Can this duo track down the murderer before anyone else dies and before the press publicize the gruesome crimes? Detectives Calladine and Bayliss are led on a trail which gets dangerously close to home. In a thrilling finale they race against time to rescue someone very close to Calladine’s heart.
CRIME ON THE FENS
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A NEW CRIME THRILLER WITH A COMPELLING DETECTIVE WHO WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO AVENGE HER DAUGHTER
Glossary of English Slang for US readers
A & E: Accident and emergency department in a hospital
Aggro: Violent behaviour, aggression
Air raid: an attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on ground targets
Anorak: nerd (it also means a waterproof jacket)
Artex: textured plaster finish for walls and ceilings
A Level: exams taken between 16 and 18
Auld Reekie: Edinburgh
Badger-baiting: illegal sport where badgers are drawn from their setts and killed by dogs
Barm: bread roll
Barney: argument
/> Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Beemer: BMW car or motorcycle
Benefits: social security
Bent: corrupt
Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)
Biscuit: cookie
Bloke: guy
Blow: cocaine
Blower: telephone
Bob: money
Bobby: policeman
Brass monkeys: cold, as in cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey
Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead
Bun: small cake
Bunk: do a bunk means escape
Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant
Buy-to-let: Buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit
Charity Shop: thrift store
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Care Home: an institution where old people are cared for
Car park: parking lot
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chemist: pharmacy
Chinwag: conversation
Chippie: fast food place selling chips and other fried food
Chips: French fries but thicker
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Civvy Street: civilian life (as opposed to army)
Cling film: plastic wrap for food
Clock: punch
Cock and bull: made up/ nonsense
Cock up: mess up, make a mistake
Common: an area of park land/ or lower class
Comprehensive School (Comp.): High school
Cop hold of: grab
Copper: police officer
Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward
Childminder: someone who looks after children for money
Council: local government
Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Deck: hit (verb)
Desperate Dan: very strong comic book character
DI: detective inspector
Digestive biscuit: plain cookie
Do a runner: disappear
Do one: go away
Doc Martens: Heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole
Donkey’s years: long time
DS: detective sergeant
ED: accident and emergency department of hospital
Eagle: boys’ comic
Early dart: to leave work early
Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled egg
Enforcer: police battering ram
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Estate agent: realtor (US)
Falklands War: war between Britain and Argentina in 1982
Fag: cigarette
Filth: police (insulting)
Forces: army, navy, and air force
FMO: force medical officer
Fried slice: fried bread
Fuzz: police
Garda: Irish police
Geordie: from Newcastle
Garden Centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
Gob: mouth/ can also mean phlegm or spit
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Graft: hard work
Gran: grandmother
Granny flat: self-contained part of house used as accommodation for elderly relative
Habdabs: extreme anxiety
Hancock: Tony Hancock, English comedian popular in 1950s
Hard nut: tough person
Hare coursing: illegal (in the UK) country sport involving the pursuit of hares by greyhounds or other dogs
HGV: heavy goods vehicle, truck
HOLMES: UK police computer system used during investigation of major incidents
Home: care home for elderly or sick people
Inne: isn’t he
Interpol: international police organisation
Into care: a child taken away from their family by the social services
Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, applied to any strong woman
ITU: intensive therapy unit in hospital
JCB: a mechanical excavator
Jerry-built: badly made
Lad: young man
Lass: young woman
Lift: elevator
Lord Lucan: famous aristocrat who allegedly killed his children’s nanny and disappeared in 1974. Has never been found.
Lorry: a truck
Luftwaffe: German air force
Miss Marple: detective in a series of books by Agatha Christie
MOD: ministry of defence
Mobile phone: cell phone
MP: Member of Parliament, politician representing an area
Naff: lame, not good
National Service: compulsory UK military service, ended in 60s
Net curtains: a type of semi-transparent curtain
NHS: National Health Service, public health service of UK
Nick: police station (as verb: to arrest)
Nowt: nothing
Nutter: insane person
Nursery: a place which grows plants, shrubs and trees for sale (often wholesale)
Old bag: old woman (insulting)
Old Bill: police
Owt: anything
Pants: noun: underwear adjective: bad/rubbish/terrible
Para: paratrooper
Pay-as-you-go: a cell phone you pay for calls in advance
PC: police constable
Petrol: gasoline
Pillbox: a concrete building, partly underground, used as an outpost defence
Pillock: fool
Piss off: as exclamation, go away (rude). Also can mean annoy.
Pissing down: raining
Playing field: sports field
Pleb: ordinary person (often insulting)
Portakabin: portable building used as temporary office etc.
Post: mail
Planning Department: the local authority department which issues licences to build and develop property
PNC: police national computer
PSNI: police service of Northern Ireland
Prat: silly idiot
Premier League: top English soccer division
Public Analyst: scientists who perform chemical analysis for public protection purposes
RAF: Royal Air Force
Rag: newspaper
Ram-raiding: robbery where a vehicle is rammed through a shop window
Randy: horny
Recce: reconnaissance
Red Adair: famous oil well firefighter
Resus: resuscitation room
Right state: messy
Ring: telephone (verb)
Roadworks: repairs done to roads
Roofie: A Rohypnol tablet, used to knock people ou
RSPB: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
RTC: road traffic collision
RV: rendezvous point
Royal Engineers: British army corps dealing with military engineering etc.
Rugger: rugby (posh American football)
Sarge: sergeant
SCO19: Specialist Crime and Operations Specialist Firearms Command
Scrote: low life
Semi: Semi-detached house, house with another house joined to it on one side only
Shedload: a large amount
Shout the odds: talk in a loud bossy way
Sixth-form college: school for high school students in final two years.
SIO: senior investigating officer
Skip: a large open container used for building waste
Slapper: slag
Smackhead: heroin addict
Snout: police informer
SOCO: scene-of-crime officer
Sod: an annoying person
Sort: to do or make
Solicitor: lawyer
Sparky: electrician
Spook: spy
Squaddie: a soldier of low rank
Stunner: beautiful woman
Super: superintendent (police rank)
Surveyor: someone who examines land and buildings professionally
Sweeting: endearment, like sweetheart
Tabloid: newspaper
Tea: Dinner (Northern English)
Tea towel: drying cloth
Till: cash register
Tip: a mess
Tipsy: a bit drunk
Top himself: commit suicide
Torch: flashlight
Totty: attractive woman
Trumpton: derogatory name for the fire service, often used by police
Tutor: university teacher
Tower block: tall building containing apartments (usually social housing)
Upmarket: affluent or fancy
Wacky baccy: cannabis
Wally: silly person
War Cry: Salvation Army magazine
Wash: the washing machine
Water board: company supplying water to an area
White van man: typical working-class man who drives a small truck
Widow’s weeds: black clothes worn by a widow in mourning
Wilco: will comply i.e. yes
Wool-gathering: daydreaming
Yob: a rude or aggressive youth or person
Character list
(contains spoilers if you haven’t read the first three books)
Ava Merry
Ava Merry is a young police officer recently promoted to detective sergeant. She is a fitness enthusiast and trained in martial arts. Ava is inclined to be impulsive, even reckless in her approach to her work and personal life. Passionate about her job and the people she cares about, Ava is an independent, modern woman. She tends to play down her good looks but is not averse to using them to her advantage when the situation calls for it. Ava is gutsy and ambitious. She likes to think for herself and sometimes finds it hard to work within the constraints of her rank.
Ava lives in a secluded cottage a few miles from Stromford with her younger brother, Ollie who is studying for his A levels.