Showing results by publisher "Chris Culver Books" in All Categories

Someone shot the victim in her chest five times at point-blank range and left her to die in a cheap motel. Her purse has no ID, cell phone, or car keys, and her room is registered to Benjamin Franklin. She’s no drifter, though. She has $2,000 cash in her wallet, a $10,000 watch in her purse, and a $6,000 dress on a hanger on the bathroom door. Detective Mary Joe Court catches the case and identifies the woman as the estranged spouse of a wealthy investment advisor from St. Louis.

When Detective Joe Court walks into the house for the first time, she already knows who the killer is: her department’s newest hire, Detective Reuben Terepocki. He claims he shot in self-defense, but Joe isn’t sure.

Detective Mary Joe Court’s home is her sanctuary. It’s the one place she can let her guard down and be herself. And her home has one rule: No murder allowed. That means no pictures from murder scenes, no interview notes, no files, no death in her home. For years, that rule has worked out well. But now death is knocking on her door. A serial killer the local news has dubbed the Apostate has already taken twelve young people. To stop him, Joe must dig deep into her town’s sordid and forgotten past. But even that might not be enough.