A Newborn, a Baby Carriage, and an Ice Cream Cone Leads to a Lingering Mystery in DEATH SENDS A MESSAGE by Kate Flora—Freeport, Maine, Present Day—Independent school consultant Thea Kozak is adjusting to motherhood and enjoying maternity leave, having just purchased a hat for her newborn son, when a hysterical woman gains her attention. The woman, also a new mother, claims her baby has just been kidnapped. Determined not to get involved, Thea flags d...

"Joe Burgess is the most realistically drawn and memorable police detective I've encountered in years. This is as much a moral fable as it is a whodunit." ~Edward Morris, Verified ReviewerOn an icy February night, the body of Steven Pleasant, a prominent Portland, Maine physician, grows cold in his parked Mercedes. All signs point to a john killed by a disgruntled hooker: his pants are unzipped, wallet is gone, and the good doctor has a reputation for ente...

Behind the Veneer of Success Lies a Sinister Secret in Such a Good Man, a Detective Joe Burgess Murder Mystery Thriller from Kate Flora—Portland, Maine—When Dr. Eliot Spence is found dead in his pristine condo, Detective Joe Burgess and his team must delve behind his glossy façade to reveal the doctor's insatiable desires, his wife's mysterious death, and a cache of compromising photos.As Burgess and his colleagues strive to uncover t...

". . . a page-turner of a book, full of exceptionally well fleshed-out characters, an intricate but highly-plausible plot and enough action to satisfy all but the most demanding critic." ~John E. Donovan, Verified ReviewerResponding to a "shots fired" call at an abandoned warehouse, Detective Joe Burgess realizes his worst nightmare when he finds one rookie officer shot dead and two other officers--one his lieutenant--gravely wounded.With two brothe...

"...nailed the culture of a Portland cop...beautifully written, and suspensefully told." ~Mystery Lover, Verified ReviewerWhen a boy raps on Detective Burgess's car window summoning him to a burning commercial building now serving as a mosque, Burgess rushes through the intensifying flames to rescue a screaming woman and her baby locked in a closet.The young mother survives, but suffers traumatic muteness. Autopsy shows the infant was gravely ill, s...

"Real-world, intense, deeply flawed characters. Hard story to tell; even harder to read, but worth every minute. A real page turner." ~Terry P., Verified ReviewerPortland, Maine, homicide detective Joe Burgess needs a vacation. But there's a dead child in Knowlton Park.Rolling up on the scene with a canoe on the roof and fishing poles flapping, Burgess finds little Timmy Watts, viciously stabbed, and carefully wrapped in a new blue blanket.Ti...

"Great characters, interesting plot, action-galore and 'cop-speak' that is realistic enough to put you right in the thick of things, this is a police-procedural that is not to be missed." ~John E. Donovan, Verified ReviewerBurgess's hopes for a calm Columbus Day picnic slam up against reality when two boys spot a dead body in the water.It's Reggie the Can Man—a damaged, alcoholic veteran who Burgess has tried to patch back together since they return...

Jenny Cates thought her life couldn't get worse after her boyfriend's betrayal. But when her mother is attacked, and she discovers the man she thought was her father isn't, Jenny is thrust into a deadly game. On the run from two ruthless politicians—one who wants her dead, the other who wants to use her—Jenny must rely on her own strength to survive. Armed with her mother's secret diaries, she's determined to expose the truth and destroy the campaigns of the men hunting her down.A ...

Thea Kozak's sometimes rocky relationship with Maine state police detective Andre Lemieux has flourished. Now, on the day of their wedding, Thea receives awful news: Andre has been taken hostage by a militant militia group. Their terms: release one of their members from jail.The State of Maine isn't interested in co-operating. Neither is the prisoner.Taking the situation in-hand, Thea goes undercover in the town where she suspects Andre is hidden, and comes face-to-face with ...

When a student is found drowned in the campus pond of a prestigious New England boarding school, Thea Kozak is called in for crisis management. Cooperation abounds until Thea discovers that the young victim was pregnant and the death may not have been an accident. Then administration and students turn tight-lipped. When Thea digs deeper, she unearths a host of nasty secrets beneath the school's genteel facade.Now everyone wants her gone, everyone except the killer who has a very dif...

In Hawaii to help run a conference, Thea Kozak is determined to find time to relax--until the conference chairwoman is found dead.While struggling to keep the conference from descending into chaos, Thea discovers more motives and suspects than she can handle. Throw in hostile local cops, the victim's suspicious husband, and Thea's hopes for trading her business suit for a bikini and some sun are dashed.But with help from an observant little girl, a too-observant pathologist, ...

It's a story torn from the headlines: Teacher seduces her student. But what if that's not the real story? What if the teacher is the innocent one and the student is the bad guy? That's Alexis Jordan's dilemma in Teach Her a Lesson—how to defend herself against a terrifyingly plausible accusation when everyone wants to believe she's guilty.It's a story torn from the headlines: Teacher seduces her student. But what if that's not the truth? What if the teacher is the innocent one and ...