Northern Roulette (DCI Cooper Book 4)

by B Baskerville

  Cooper frowned. “But I took the test at work. I came out of the toilets and bumped straight into one of the new DCs. I was a mess. My face was flushed and I looked completely unprofessional—”

  She thought back to sitting in the cubicle, coming out with tears in her eyes and Saffron Boyd assuming she’d been upset about her father’s passing.

  “No,” Atkinson said. “It was upstairs in the bathroom bin.” He pointed to the ceiling. “It was wrapped in loo roll and stuffed in a toothpaste box.”

  There was a pause while they both stared at each other. Then the sound of footsteps padding into the kitchen caused them to turn their heads towards the door.

  Tina didn’t look up as she dropped her textbook-laden school bag onto a chair and filled the toaster with four thick slices of brown bread. When she turned to look at Cooper and Atkinson, they both wore the same expression: heads tilted left, mouths open like confused goldfish.

  “What? I’m famished.”

  “Sit down, Tina,” Cooper said. She pulled a seat away from the kitchen table, its legs squeaking against the tiled floor.

  Cooper’s mind raced. She was unable to comprehend what was happening. It didn’t make sense; Tina was on the pill. She had put up a very convincing argument about taking contraception earlier in the year. But whilst Tina was disciplined to military levels with some activities, she could be scatterbrained and unfocused in others. If she’d missed a pill or two— Cooper’s mind whizzed back to the flight - turbulence, a rude air steward, and Tina throwing up.

  If she and Josh had— Oh, no.

  Their awkwardness, their hushed conversations, Tina’s sudden dislike of seafood.

  Cooper was worried about becoming a mother again. Was she really about to become a grandmother?

  DCI Cooper will return

  - Meet Athena Fox -

  - Also by B Baskerville -

  - Message from the Author -

  Dear reader,

  If you’ve enjoyed hanging out with Cooper and Tennessee (or even if you haven’t!), please consider writing a review on Amazon or Goodreads.

  You can find out the latest news and behind the scenes information, and sign up for my newsletter at betsybaskerville.com.

  If you’d like to connect with me online, I can be found on Facebook (B Baskerville - Author) and on Twitter (B__Baskerville), where I usually spend my time looking at photos of dogs.

  Speaking of dogs, I’d like to thank those of you who entered the competition to have your dog featured in Northern Roulette. It was a tough choice, and I wish I could have written more dogs into the plot to accommodate all the entries. In the end, it was Fflei - AKA - Fleabag, whom I could picture accompanying Charles Pennington on walks around Holy Island on chilly, blustery mornings.

  Thank you to the lovely Amanda and Jane for reading an early draft of Northern Roulette and for being such great friends to me in the dojo. You ladies are two of the nicest face-punchers I’ve ever met!

  Thanks also need to go to Mama and Papa Baskerville, who drove me and a very squirmy pooch to Lindisfarne to take the photo for the cover of Northern Roulette. If you’d like to read more about how I created the cover, please visit my website.

  Speaking of the cover, do you recognise the tall, mysterious man walking towards Lindisfarne Castle? That’s my partner - Rob. Is he portraying Tennessee, the handsome detective who’s always there when Cooper needs him? Or is he our strong, obsessive perpetrator, making his way to Cove’s Haven to enact retribution? You decide.

  - About the Author -

  Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, Betsy often refers to herself as an author by day and a ninja by night. If she’s not writing, she can be found working up a sweat in the dojo.

  Aside from kicking things, Betsy loves walking her Welsh terrier, sailing, eating absurd amounts of food, watching UFC and reading crime fiction.

  As well as the DCI Cooper series, she has written stand-alone novels The Only Weapon In The Room and Dead In The Water.