It’s 1979. Cassell Springs, Washington, is a typical small town, where people love one another, respect one other and look out for one another. They leave their doors unlocked and invite neighbors for barbecues. Chief Baker and son Barney were part of that life for as long as many people can remember. Everyone loved them, told them their problems, trusted them with their children.
So, who jabbed a Swiss Army knife between Baker’s eyes then ran him over, splattering his body along 100 feet of Route 504? Surely not Barney, too underweight even to be accepted to the police academy. Yet Barney is the State Police’s only suspect.
Interim Chief Ian Merryweather doesn’t agree. He’s sure the murderer is still living and working among them. He’s read the statistics, that killers often kill again. Armed only with a load of clues that seem to have no relation to one another, Ian struggles to piece things together.
Early in 1980, Mount St. Helens begins spewing smoke and ash and for a while Ian is distracted by the gawkers, tourists, and scientists who’ve flocked to the area. In the diner on the morning of May 18, 1980, one innocent comment is spoken. As Mount St. Helens unleashes noxious fumes, unbreathable ash, and boiling mud on the northwest United States, the killer strikes again.
Voices From the Ashes is published by Hilliard & Harris Publishers of, Boonsboro, MD., and is available at fine booksellers nationwide.
What's the difference between living and living on the run? In August, if you'd asked Paige Carmichael, she would merely have shrugged her shoulders and gone to the Mall. By the middle of September she'd had a taste of the worst life can offer.
Her fiance, Stefano Santangelo, killed his closest friend, and associate, in cold blood. Paige saw, and Stefano knew she saw -- and she had to run, or be next on his list.
Trying to outsmart his henchmen proved to be the toughest test of her life.
