by David Carter
Walter was ashamed to think he could not even recall their names, plus the two attempteds, as Karen called them, one on her at the racetrack, his sergeant, his oppo, hung out to die, and one on him, in his own house, for God’s sake, the bloody cheek of it, in his front room, in his favourite chair, injected with foreign blood. He shivered as he recalled the sight of the syringe emptying its poisonous cargo into his body.
What had it all been for?
There was still something bugging him.
How many of those deaths could have been avoided if he had really been on top of his game? How many lives could have been saved? How many of those people would still be walking round the city right now, perhaps in this pub, enjoying a quiet pint, if only he had apprehended Armitage Samuel Holloway, nee Shelbourne, sooner?
One, two, three, four, five, six, just how many?’
Had he failed them?
He hated to think of it that way. Maybe he had.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
He had attended all the funerals, looked the relatives in the eye, saw the mixture of respect and doubt that lingered there, and all the while he knew what they were thinking. Why my son, my daughter, my husband, my aunt, my father? Why oh why oh why?
It was a question he couldn’t answer.
It always was.
His glass was empty.
He nodded the barman over and bought another pint, extra cold.
Forced a smile and paid the bill.
Drank a silent toast to the dead.
Seven times over.
Author’s Notes
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real characters, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Many of the places mentioned in the book actually exist. The Shroppie Fly at Audlem for example is an excellent place to spend a sunny afternoon. Many places do not exist of course, such as the Eden Leys complex, which has never and hopefully, will never exist. Rumours persist that operations were carried out on live Alzheimer’s and dementia patients at the Porton Down site in Wiltshire. Do they still? Let us hope not.
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Please don’t write and tell me that Mostyn Station doesn’t exist either. I know that, but for the purpose of this book it does. Artistic licence if you will. The station was actually closed in 1948, though some of the buildings remain to this day, and trains still regularly rumble through. Perhaps one day with a more user-friendly attitude to rail, the station might re-open, and if and when it does, let us hope it avoids any fatal accidents. Similarly I know that the Chester Police HQ is no longer in the city centre, but for this series of books, it is!
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MI7 really did exist, though it is reported to have been closed after World War II. Could it still exist today? Of course it could. Whether it does or not, I shall leave you to decide.
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Special thanks are due to Anne Sellars RMN who knows more about people with dementia type illnesses than most of us, after nursing such patients for more than twenty-five years. She put me right on technical matters and also thanks are due for her proofreading skills, advice, and encouragement.
I hope you enjoyed the book. If you did, you might like to know there will be another Inspector Walter Darriteau thriller released next year. I am very excited about that and so is he! Please look out for it.
There are also three other Walter Darriteau cases already out there – “The Sound of Sirens”, “The Twelfth Apostle” and “Kissing a Killer” – all available in paperback and as ebooks. Please check those out.
When you have a few spare minutes I’d hugely appreciate it if you could place a brief review of this book on any of the main bookselling sites. That would be very kind of you, and it would help me enormously.
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Thank you for reading,
You have made my day!
David.
Supporting Indie Writers and Publishers
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Click Here to Get Your Free Ebook:
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© David Carter & TrackerDog Media 2017
Did you love The Murder Diaries - Seven Times Over? Then you should read The Sound of Sirens by David Carter!
The ancient city of Chester, Friday night, and the weekend starts here. High summer, skimpy fashions, it’s a hot night, and the town’s relaxed. It’s 11pm and the pubs are beginning to close. The band has just finished playing; packing their instruments away, but the night is still young.
A young man enters the crowded pub. Walks up to the small stage. Pulls out a handgun and empties four shots into the lead singer. One, two, three four. Waves the gun at the stunned and shocked crowd. Yelling, hollering and screaming breaks out, the crowd parts like the Red Sea, and the killer walks through the valley of death and out into the night, laughing as he goes.
The Sound of Sirens floats across the humid city.
Inspector Darriteau is soon on the scene. He only lives locally, and truth is, he’d much rather be at work than lying in bed searching for sleep that rarely comes. The local crime reporter turns up too, Gardenia Floem, nice woman, nice teeth.
‘Is this drugs related?’ she asks.
‘How the hell do I know?’ mutters Walter. ‘Get her out of here!’
So begins David Carter’s fascinating Walter Darriteau murder mystery, “The Sound of Sirens”, but is it drugs related, Walter ponders, and if it isn’t, what’s it all about?
And Walter doesn’t yet know it, but this is only the first of three equally dreadful killings. He is going to be a very busy man, just as he likes it.
This is David’s eighth book and a compelling read, available as a paperback or out now as an ebook on most platforms.
325 Pages.
If you are interested in English murder mysteries then do check out Inspector Walter Darriteau's cases:
The Murder Diaries - Seven Times Over
The Legal & the Illicit
The Twelfth Apostle
Read more at David Carter’s site.
Also by David Carter
Down into the Darkness
Grist Vergette's Curious Clock
The Inconvenient Unborn
The Life and Loves of Gringo Greene
The Twelfth Apostle
The Murder Diaries - Seven Times Over
The Sound of Sirens
Kissing a Killer
The Death Broker
The Bunny and the Bear - A Cold and Frosty Winter
State Sponsored Terror
Watch for more at David Carter’s site.
About the Author
David Carter lives in the south of England and has written more than 20 books including a series of murder/mysteries featuring his detective Inspector Walter Darriteau based in Chester, Merseyside, Liverpool, and North Wales.
If you’re interested in this genre look out for The Murder Diaries - Seven Times Over, The Sound of Sirens, The Twelfth Apostle and Kissing a Killer, aIl featuring Walter Darriteau.
David has also written a male equivalent chicklit novel dubbed “manlit” by some. The Life and Loves of Gringo Greene features a character who doesn’t treat women well and it comes back to haunt him.
Margaret Henderson Smith, a seasoned writer in her own right, wrote about Gringo Greene:
In its easy style it simply bounces along, every page sheer entertainment, compulsively turned, but at the same time I found myself grateful for the sheer length of this chunky, fun-filled book because I never wanted to reach the end. I feel sure readers will be hankering after a sequel, or a prequel as Carter puts it and I hope the author will oblige.
From the start, the reader readily engages with the characters, the context, the setting, the story. With its low-key running plot gradually stepping up as the story progresses, Carter has the balance just right for he allows no distraction from each of Gringo’s lover’s own tal
es. This has got to be one of the most fascinating books I've ever read, for Carter has the knack of placing the reader in the thick of it. One is hardly aware one is reading, the experience of interacting with the characters is strangely powerful, and I read this with the ease of watching a film.
I congratulate the author on this work for it takes a very clever author to be able to hold the reader’s fascination continuously in this way. He has created a superb male `slick-lit’ character in Gringo Greene and the work has much to commend it. Within its genre, it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read and it goes without saying I highly recommend it.
David’s aim is to release one full-length novel every year, though two would be nice! There’s a much-requested sequel to Gringo Greene in the offing, time permitting. Read more on David’s books and see lots of reviews at: www.davidcarterbooks.co.uk
And you can get in touch and follow David on Twitter @TheBookBloke.
Read more at David Carter’s site.