Title: Dark Deed on a Dark Moor
Author: Jo A. Hiestand
Genre: British Mystery
Book Blurb:
Under usual circumstances, being a beneficiary in a person's will is heart-warming and perceived as an honor. However, this circumstance is not usual, for the bequest is a two-ton granite millstone. And the beneficiary of this gift wants former police detective Michael McLaren to find out who the gift-giver is and why she received it.
McLaren reluctantly agrees to delve into the questionable gift and soon becomes enmeshed in the larger mystery of a bride left at the altar and two murders--one old and one contemporary. Both of which send him on a chase for a killer in a rain-soaked night and threaten his very life.
Excerpt:
“Tell me again how you got this...this...” Michael McLaren, having arrived not five minutes before at his friends’ home, tapped the base of the gritstone slab with the toe of his boot. The action had no effect on the gigantic stone chunk; it didn’t budge from where it slanted against the back wall of the garden. He took a breath, confused and curious about the item and the reason for its sudden appearance, and looked at his friend, as though the answers were etched on his face. “...how you got this...”
“Millstone,” Jamie, his best mate, supplied, his gaze on the circular mass. His frown seemed to hint that he wasn’t too happy about it either.
“Millstone. Right.” McLaren nodded, the tone of his voice betraying his opinion even if he didn’t vocalize it in a few choice words. He opted for diplomacy over opinion and instead of expressing his judgment, said, “How’d you get this reminiscence of Derbyshire’s bygone days? Granted, it’s a lovely bit of Olde England, but it’s so...large...and bulky to give to someone.”
Paula Kydd, Jamie’s wife, ran her fingertips over the top section of the stone's curve. Her green eyes appeared nearly black as she stood in the shade of the birch, a whiff of wind disarraying her dark blonde hair. “It came two days ago. We very nearly weren’t home for delivery.”
“But we were. Bloody bad timing.” Jamie looked as though he was swallowing something unpleasant.
“I mean, it’s a very nice gesture,” Paula hurried on, smoothing over her husband’s remark as if the sender were within hearing range. “I’m honored someone thinks enough of me to send me something, of course, but...a gift of a millstone?” Her voice rose, underscoring the astonishment showing in her eyes.
McLaren shifted his gaze from the perennial border of summer-blooming daylilies and liriope to stare at her, unsure if he had heard her correctly. “A gift? It’s not your birthday, and I know it’s not your wedding anniversary, though you might want to forget you’re married to Jamie...” He flashed a smile at his friend. “Okay, kidding aside. Why’d you get it? And why a millstone, of all things? But maybe more importantly right now, who sent it?”
She shrugged and jammed her hands into the pockets of her linen shorts. “Evidently, I’m the beneficiary of this—what did you call it?...remembrance of Derbyshire’s bygone days—in some chap’s will.”
McLaren gave the stone a lingering look before turning his attention back to Paula. “I assume the giver’s name was on a note or in the will, or even as an explanation via the solicitor. At the very least, a name should’ve been on the delivery receipt. Ancestry aside for the moment, who sent it?”
Paula tiled back her head, clearly exasperated. “Some chap named Carl Upton.”
“And you don’t know him.”
“I don’t know any Carl and I don’t know any Upton. Not from my childhood nor now. It’s rather unnerving.”
Jamie flicked a twig off the top of the millstone. “When it arrived, I rang up the police. I tried to tell them we didn’t know this bloke and didn’t want the thing and the delivery company wouldn’t take it back and how could we rid ourselves of it. But the officer said there’s no crime in this. Anyone can give anything to anybody as long as it’s not against the law.” He tossed the twig onto the lawn. “Daft. The whole thing is bonkers. We don’t want it and we don’t know a thing about the sender.” He eyed McLaren and took a deep breath. “Uh, Mike...”
McLaren’s eyebrow shot up to match his rising voice tone. “Yes?”
“You finished that case of the haunted lake last month.”
“Thanks. I’m so glad you remember. I thought for a while that I’d dreamt the whole thing. And before you tear on, I haven’t finished my stone wall repair jobs. I have a list that’s staring me in the face each time I sit at my desk.”
“But you could shove some of them back a few days.”
“Shove them back for...what? What are you suggesting?” He asked the questions with hesitation, afraid of the answer.
The reply rushed out nearly before McLaren had finished his sentence. “We’d like you to look into this.” Jamie grabbed his wife’s hand and squeezed it. “We want to know who left it to her. Know besides his name, I mean. Like, what he did for a living and such. More importantly, why he bequeathed her the thing. Why to Paula and why a millstone. Paula—well, neither of us—know this Carl Upton chap. It’s a mystery.”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3rCoXFp
iTunes: https://apple.co/384l6Kl
Kobo: https://bit.ly/37sLDkJ
What makes your featured book a must-read?
The mystery starts right away in the first chapter: friends of former police detective Michael McLaren are gifted a millstone. Why would anyone give a multi-ton hunk of granite as a gift, especially as a thank you for saving the wife of the person bequeathing this? That’s mysterious enough, but there’s the added puzzle of the beneficiaries not knowing the sender. I think the mystery is rather unique, and I like the little bit of history about millstones too.
Giveaway –
Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card:
Open Internationally.
Runs August 7 – August 14, 2024.
Winner will be drawn on August 15, 2024.
Author Biography:
A month-long trip to England during her college years introduced Jo to the joys of Things British. Since then, she has been lured back nearly a dozen times and lived there during her professional folk singing stint.
Jo’s insistence for accuracy--from police methods and location layout to the general “feel” of the area--has driven her innumerable times to Derbyshire for research. These explorations and conferences with police friends provide the details filling both her McLaren mystery series.
In 1999 Jo returned to Webster University to major in English. She graduated in 2001 with a BA degree and departmental honors.
Jo lives in the St. Louis area with her cat, Marlowe, and way too many kilts.
Social Media Links:
Booklisti: https://booklisti.com/johiestand
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BritishandUS/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/AnglophileJo
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/joahiestand
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/JoHiestand
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoHiestand
Website: http://www.johiestand.com