Cold by Stella Cameron

Cold                                         


by Stella Cameron

Coming Sept 1

 Introducing Alex Duggins

You can’t outrun the past…

…and tripping over a frosted corpse is a complication that could destroy Alex Duggins’ attempt to restart her life.

The discovery of a murder victim threatens to unearth some old secrets, including her own.

As the tiny town of Folly-on-Weir braces for a chilling winter and snow blankets Britain’s Cotswold Hills, a killer faces a deadline. A terrible crime was believed to be safely hidden, but time and conscience can wear on a secret.

The clock ticks and with the police breathing down her neck, Alex knows she’s at the top of the suspect list.

Desperate to clear her name and find the real murderer she begins to peel back the layers of deception that have long-concealed one of the town’s darkest secrets.

But time is also running out for a killer who has nothing left to lose. What’s one more murder? Someone intends that Alex will be the next snow-covered body found in the beautiful hills above the town.


Excerpt:

     When they had started up the stairs, cold hit Alex's spine in what she thought of as the start of a premonition. The prickling of a thousand pins started climbing until they covered her back and sprayed over her scalp.

     She turned around slowly, slowly.

      Glass panels flanked the heavy front door with a fanlight above.

     All the panes in the fanlight were green, not what she would have chosen and she intended to replace some of them with other colors to warm the light when it came through.


     Her scalp contracted even more. Her face felt tight.

      The dog had stopped beside her and he, too, stared toward the front of the house. His hackles had risen and his lips were pulled back from his teeth, but he didn't make a sound.

     The motion sensors came on and a green glow washed over the hall floor.

     She couldn't move, or breathe.

     Call the police.

     They won't get here in time. In time for what?

      The lights went out. Air rushed from her lungs. There was a wind with the snow. It could easily have blown a fallen limb across a beam and triggered the lights.