It's 1962. A small town in the South is rocked by the brutal murder of Berndatte Willams, a "colored" Seventeen-year-old girl, who's been bludgeoned until nearly unrecognizable. The sheriff, Allen Walker, is an upstanding and well-respected man who is determined to get to the bottom of what might be the grisliest case of his career. However, as the crime unfolds, revealing prejudice, Racism, covered up abuse, and sexual philandering in and around the school, he begins to realize two things: one, there's such a hotbed of crime and immorality in the heart of his small town that if he doesn't root it out, it could destroy them all. And two, all the evidence points toward one suspect: his own daughter, Nancy, Berndatte's classmate and supposed friend. The town wants to cover this up, less concerned about a black girl's death than about ruffling feathers. Sheriff Walker is terrified the truth will destroy his family if he keeps pushing for answers-he can't uncover the cabal without exposing his daughter. If he quits now, he abandons a lifetime of intentional integrity and the town he loves as home. But if he keeps going, he might just be sacrificing his little girl's life.
Frankenstein's Guide (Book 1, the LiteraTours Cozy Mystery Series)
59 parts Complete
59 parts
Complete
Jessica "Ike" Wordsworth can dive into books, but she isn't prepared for a monster - and a ruthless murderer killing her tourists.
Ike is fighting the aftermath of a nasty divorce that left her husband in custody of her homesitting business - and her beloved cats.
With nothing but a turquoise construction trailer to call her home, Ike invests her last quid and becomes partner in a tour company specialising in bespoke trips for book-lovers. When the guide hired to take on the first tour drops out at the last minute, Ike has to take over and steer her guests towards the cradle of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein".
All to soon she realises there truly are monsters on the loose, one of them a ruthless killer who's targetting her tourists.
To unearth the truth, Ike will have to cooperate with her moronic partner, Gary Sands, 13th Baron of Nettlehole and founder of LiteraTours. When they don't succeed in stopping the killer, she realises she'll have to take the plunge and draw on some rather unusual skills her family has been hiding from the world . . .
"Frankenstein's Guide" is the first instalment in the "LiteraTours Cozy Mystery series".
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]
Cover designed by Ren T