She is as fierce as fire whereas he is as cold as ice. He was the life of his family whereas she has a past which is haunting her till now. She does her job to find some hidden truths whereas he does it out of his dream and passion. What will happen when their different world collide with each other?

[2022 Wattys shortlisted story] A missing family. A twenty year old murder. An old ghost story. And a private detective from London. But what do they all have in common? It's the job of DCI Neo Denzel to figure it all out. In the quiet town of Marton, Shropshire, a place where nothing really happens, a car sits abandoned. The Bennett family have simply disappeared without a trace. It's the job of the town's DCI to find them, but with so little evidence it could prove impossible. Until Charlie Hoggins is hired to find the missing family. It doesn't take long for the DCI to get his feathers ruffled by the interloper into his case, and yet she may end up being one of his most useful assets, as long as he can remember that the case comes first. As their feelings change for each other, will they ever solve the case and finally put their ghosts to rest?

❝ Things are only as beautiful as you make them, Charlie. Including murder. ❞ It's the opening night of Burton Abbey's production of Romeo and Juliet and all is going smoothly - that is until the climactic death scene. Romeo takes a big gulp of the poison to be with his lover, except it really is poison and Elijah, who plays Romeo, is now dead. Charlie Monet, in charge of props, is the first suspect but soon the suspicion around her turns to worry as it seems she's the next target. Khaleel Rahim, an aspiring writer, is dying for a mystery to solve at his new school. When he sees Charlie sneaking around at night he thinks he's finally found something worth writing about. After discovering Charlie's ability to see visions of the past, Khaleel decides that they're the perfect pair to solve the mystery. With threatening notes, a quiet library and poison disguised as props; somebody in the school is blurring the lines between theatre and reality and the fast friends are about to discover that there's more to boarding school than just silly rumours. [2022 Watty's Shortlist]