The Scientology Murders
Page 29
Three weeks after his mother was sentenced, the county agency that had taken charge of Harry placed him in permanent foster care. The foster family’s name was Doyle. The father, John—Jocko to his riends—was a sergeant with the Clearwater Police Department. The mother, Maria, was a Cuban exile, who ran her home with endless amounts of love, and the efficiency of a Marine drill instructor. There were no other children, and after two years Jocko and Maria Doyle petitioned the courts to adopt Harry and make him their son. Harry had no objection and the courts saw no reason to deny the request. Harry had never known his father, he was simply a man he vaguely remembered who had occasionally come into his mother’s life, remained awhile, and then left again. They had never married and by the time Jimmy was born he was gone for good.
Harry remained with the Doyle’s for eleven years. Over time he learned to care for them, but he never allowed himself to love them, or to look on them as his parents. His affection tended more toward respect and gratitude for the care and love they had generously given him. Trust was never an issue for Harry. Throughout the time he lived with them, Harry Santos Doyle never went to sleep without first locking his bedroom door . . .
End of Excerpt
More about The Dead Detective
(the first novel in the Dead Detective series)
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“The Dead Detective is a meaty story that offers an intriguing and conflicted protagonist, a darkly fascinating victim, solid police procedural detail, a knowing look at the Tampa Bay area and its politics, an unlikely murderer, and a creepy denouement that hints that Harry [protagonist] will be back.”—Booklist
“In his first new novel in seven years, Edgar Award–winner Heffernan delivers a readable, tidy police procedural that echoes any number of popular television series, from The Mentalist to Criminal Minds, whose many fans will find this series debut enjoyable.”—Library Journal
“After a lengthy hiatus, Edgar-winner Heffernan (A Time Gone By) makes a welcome return . . . Tough, troubled Harry Doyle will keep readers in line.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Heffernan has a classic lean, tough-guy style and effectively combines tense drama with the nuts-and-bolts details of investigation. And he knows the territory, from Tarpon Springs to Tampa.”—St. Petersburg Times
“We have a feeling that Heffernan is setting us up for more dead detective novels, which we welcome like the zealots we are.”—Time Out Chicago
“William Heffernan is one of the finest craftsmen in mystery fiction. The publication of a new Heffernan novel is an event worth cheering, and The Dead Detective is no exception. A mystery treat. A literary treat.”—John Lutz, author of Slaughter
“William Heffernan has written some crime fiction classics, and this much-anticipated return delivers a promising new protagonist, a plot with all the heat of its Florida Gulf Coast setting, and a finale that settles with beautiful, gentle menace. The Dead Detective is a veteran pro proving that he has much more to offer. Heffernan writes in a way that challenges the mind and the soul.”—Michael Koryta, author of Rise the Dark
“The Dead Detective breathes new life into the classic police drama. Jam-packed with strong characters and a powerful plot, this is as fine a book of its genre as I’ve read in decades.”—Reed Farrel Coleman, author of The Devil Wins
“They say that the dead talk to Harry Doyle. They know he can hear them because he was dead once, himself, murdered by his own mother and brought back to life by a sharp-eyed cop. Now Harry has become a detective himself and he’s landed a case with echoes of his own haunted past where the dark forces of celebrity, sex, and religious mania conflate in shocking murder. Heffernan sends cold chills through the Florida heat with his singular new creation.”—Cathi Unsworth, author of Without the Moon
Harry Doyle was murdered as a ten-year-old child and brought back to life by two Tampa cops. Twenty years later he has dedicated his life to putting killers behind bars as a homicide detective who has the unwanted ability to hear the postmortem whispers of murder victims. Dubbed “The Dead Detective” by his fellow cops, Doyle now faces his most difficult case—a beautiful murder victim who was a notorious child molester. It is a case that will shake Harry to his very core.
The Dead Detective is available in hardcover from our website and in bookstores everywhere. The e-book edition is available wherever e-books are sold.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to Nancy Williams, whose generosity and caring love are a constant source of amazement; to Beth Hovind, Tania Lewis, and Walter Kloepfer, for their valuable insights into Alaska; to Johnny Temple, for his steadfast support; and, as always, to the great lady who has been my literary agent for the past thirty-eight years, the incomparable Gloria Loomis.
WILLIAM HEFFERNAN is the Edgar Award–winning author of nineteen novels, including the international best sellers The Corsican and The Dinosaur Club, as well as The Dead Detective, When Johnny Came Marching Home, A Time Gone By, Cityside, and Beulah Hill. He divides his time between his forty-foot trawler in Florida and visits to his children around the country. Prior to turning to fiction thirty-six years ago, Heffernan was a New York City newspaper reporter who was nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize.
About Akashic Books
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Akashic Books is an award-winning independent company dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstream, or who have no interest in working within the ever-consolidating ranks of the major corporate publishers. Akashic Books hosts additional imprints, including the Black Sheep for Young Readers, the Akashic Noir Series, the Akashic Drug Chronicles Series, the Akashic Urban Surreal Series, Infamous Books (curated by Albert "Prodigy" Johnson of Mob Deep, Kaylie Jones Books (curated by Kaylie Jones), the Edge of Sports (curated by David Zirin), Punk Planet Books, Dennis Cooper's Little House on the Bowery Series, Open Lens, Chris Abani's Black Goat Poetry Series, and AkashiClassics: Renegade Reprint Series.
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