All text and photos © Louise Marley unless otherwise stated                                                      Site Design: Seaweed Hut

Marley

Louise

Murder at Raven’s Hollow

(An English Village Murder Mystery #3)

When decades-old human bones are discovered beneath the old glasshouse behind Foxglove & Hemlock, the local florist, DS Harriet March and DI Ben Taylor find themselves digging into Raven's Edge's murky past. As a frosty wind whips down the cobblestoned lanes of the village, the two detectives feel an ominous chill that has nothing to do with the weather…

The discovery coincides with the arrival of enigmatic novelist Iris Evergreen at Raven's Hollow, a gothic monstrosity of a mansion that's been sitting empty for years. Harriet is shocked to uncover a web of hidden secrets connecting the skeleton, Raven's Hollow and, most alarmingly, her own family history.

Just as Harriet begins to piece together the puzzle, a heavy snowfall blankets the village. And there, half-buried in a snowdrift outside Raven's Hollow, lies another body – this one still warm. As sirens wail in the distance, Harriet realises with a shiver that this killer is anything but history. The past and present have collided in Raven's Edge, will DS Harriet March be the one to pay the price?

Extract

Prologue

Twenty-five years previously…

The dream always began the same way.

Fish finger sandwiches for tea (slightly charred), while their mother loaded her little car with one large suitcase, two buckets and spades, and a deflated blue dolphin. Mum locked the front door, waved to old Mrs Moore across the square, who knew absolutely everything about everyone, and then they were off, weaving in and out of the rush-hour traffic and singing along to Britney, Christina, and P!nk.

‘Are we there?’ her little brother asked, as soon as they’d left the city.

She rolled her eyes. She’d seen the map. She knew the trip was going to take at least two and a half hours. She’d already asked.

‘Soon, darling, soon,’ Mum replied.

‘Are we there?’ he asked, as they eventually left the motorway and lurched along a series of winding lanes.

Mum laughed. ‘Almost.’

‘Are we there?’ he asked, as the car was swallowed by a deep, dark forest.

Mum turned in her seat, her ponytail swinging. ‘Not long now,’ she smiled. ‘Do you see the river?’ She pointed through the passenger window. ‘Look down to the bottom of the slope.’

They could see the river glinting silver through the trees, so they nodded, but without enthusiasm. It felt as though they’d been driving for ever.

‘That river leads straight to the beach. Keep a close eye on it. You’ll see kayaks at first. As the river becomes wider, there’ll be dinghies and yachts and pleasure boats. The bigger the boats, the closer you are to the sea.’

Both children stared hard at the river. There were no boats to be seen, only a few bored-looking seagulls. Her brother’s eyes began to close.

Mum winked at her in the rear-view mirror.

It was hypnotic watching the river curve leisurely between the trees. The distance to the opposite bank slowly widened. There were still no boats. Maybe it was too late in the day? The fading sunlight bounced off the water, hurting her eyes, so she turned her attention to the other window and the forest.

It was then that she saw the monster.

It flew out of the dark wood and ran alongside the car, its eyes glowing white fire.

She screamed, even though she knew it couldn’t really be there.

‘Darling,’ Mum soothed, turning her head, ‘what on earth is the—’

A loud bang rocked the car. The windscreen shattered like a spider’s web.

(This was the part where the nightmare began.)

Mum slumped over the steering wheel. Without her to guide it, the car lurched off the road, tilted and began to roll. Over and over. Faster and faster.

Branches scraped the side of the car with an ear-splitting shriek. Her head smacked into something hard. She saw stars, but they weren’t real. None of this was real.

She felt it was important to remember that.

‘It’s only a dream, only a dream, only a dream…’

There was an explosion of white.

The car stopped spinning. Her world shifted into something calmer. The air was thick and hot, sound was muffled.

Her brother was screaming.

Her mother was silent.

‘Mum? Mum!’

The front of the car had filled with water. It was lapping at the dashboard and around the gear stick. Her brother still cried, but quietly now, as though he knew no one was coming.

She tried to open the door but it was jammed, even when she swivelled around in her seat and kicked it. She banged her fist on the window… and that’s when she saw him.

A man on the edge of the riverbank, staring as though he didn’t know what was real either.

She slammed her palm against the window. ‘Help us!’

Why didn’t he do something?

What was wrong with him?

Was he just going to walk away?

Amazon UK

Amazon USA