When a man is found brutally murdered in a rundown south London shop, all fingers point to the highly intelligent and manipulative Darian Wallace. He’s just been released, and two years ago the victim helped send him to prison.
Still grieving, Zac knows it will take everything he’s got to catch this dangerously clever killer. But just as he feels he’s getting closer, he realises all is not quite as it seems and makes a devastating personal discovery.
Zac has a choice to make – risk letting this killer escape or watch his daughter’s murderer get away again…
An absolutely gripping thriller for fans of Mark Billingham, Peter James and Lee Child. Bring Her Back is one fast-paced thriller you won’t be able to put down.
Last Witness
Detectives Zac Boateng and Kat Jones Book 2
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What if you made one mistake and it came back to kill you?
Detective Zac Boateng’s old friend, Troy McEwen, is found dead in his home. The official verdict is suicide. But Boateng believes it was murder. And he thinks he might be next on the killer’s list.
If Troy didn’t take his own life, then who did? As he investigates, Boateng discovers a link to an incident from decades earlier. Mistakes were made that day. Lives were lost and secrets kept. Until now…
As more people who were there on that fateful day are found dead, Boateng knows that the killer is closing in on him…
A tense crime thriller for fans of Lee Child, Mark Billingham and Mark Dawson. Last Witness is a gripping, fast-paced thriller that will have you hooked from the first page.
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Life or Death
Detectives Zac Boateng and Kat Jones Book 3
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Never forget. Never forgive.
As a detective in the Metropolitan police, Zac is no stranger to murder cases, but this one is different. This is his daughter’s murder.
Years after Amelia died, Zac is still trying to trace the police officer involved in his daughter’s death.
And whilst Zac is prepared to break every rule to find the man responsible, his young and ambitious deputy, Kat, is working on a high-profile case of her own. But she knows Zac is keeping secrets from his team so she’s following his every move.
When one of Zac’s informants is killed, he knows he’s close to catching his man, but before he can act, he receives a call about his son which blows his world apart… And this time, he knows he’ll stop at nothing to save his family.
A gripping and addictive crime thriller for fans of Lee Child, Mark Billingham and Mark Dawson. Life or Death is a unputdownable thriller that will have you reading into the night.
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Acknowledgements
I’d like to extend a massive thank you to everyone involved in producing and publishing my Lockhart and Green novels. First and foremost, the whole team at Bookouture, particularly Helen Jenner, Kathryn Taussig, Jenny Geras, Peta Nightingale, Kim Nash, Noelle Holton, Alex Holmes, Alex Crow, Kelsie Marsden, Emily Gowers, Martina Arzu and Saidah Graham for all their help and support to this book and the series more broadly. Voice artist George Weightman does an incredible job bringing the characters to life for the Lockhart and Green audiobooks. And, as always, I’m grateful to my agent, Charlie Viney.
There are a number of experts whose generous assistance went a long way towards making Lost Souls more believable. Dr Becky Dudill and pathologist Dr Jennifer Ansett provided macabre but essential information about how a corpse might be posed. Dr Beatrice Hannah kindly suggested resources for my research into looked-after children, while ‘The Major’ continued to add depth to Dan Lockhart’s military background. DC Ellie Lawrence, former Met Police analyst Amy Gorman, and police advisor Graham Bartlett all made sure my procedural details were as accurate as possible. Needless to say, any mistakes in those areas are mine.
I also want to thank everyone in the reading and blogging community for reviewing and promoting my books – I really appreciate your support. Seeing your reactions and getting your feedback makes all the hard work worth it!
To my friends and family, thank you so much for being a constant source of motivation and encouragement, particularly this past year. And to Fiona, whose influence on this story ranged from deadlift descriptions to Dua Lipa and dinner recipes – I love you.
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.
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Copyright © Chris Merritt, 2021
Chris Merritt has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work.
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: 978-1-80019-331-4
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.
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