Blog tour: Heather Osborne's Orchestrating Murder . Summer Reads Sneaky peek

Available here

Blurb:

 What happens when the protégé becomes the maestro?

 By day, he wears a mask, concealing his true nature from the world. By night, he conducts his plans, carefully composing death for those deemed less worthy in his eyes of existence.

When bodies of convicted felons start turning up, Detective Gregory Shaw is called upon to investigate. His suspicions fall on a well-known attorney, but can he prove his hunch holds merit?

Author Bio: Heather Osborne, an author of crime and historical novels, was born and raised in California. She has a Bachelor of Science in Criminology and Victimology. In 2009, she met her husband and moved to Scotland. Along with her novels and short stories, Heather also has written and directed several plays. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, writing (of course!), and theatre, as well as caring for her young son. Among her published titles are: The Soldier’s Secret, a historical romance set during the American Civil War; Bitter Bonds, a tale of black magic in the deep South in the 1840s, and the Rae Hatting Mysteries series.

Sneaky Peek

Dr. Espinoza was already snapping off his gloves by the time Detective Shaw arrived at the coroner’s office the following morning. He pushed through the swinging doors and met Shaw on the other side.

“Well?”

Espinoza sighed. “It’s an odd case. We found no signs of drowning, initially, so I can conclude his body was most likely dumped in the duck pond.”

“Any viable fingerprints?”

Shaking his head, Espinoza sighed. “His fingerprints have been burned off, teeth bashed out. His face is so contorted, we have little to go by, except a tattoo of a sword impaling a heart on his left bicep.”

“Cause of death, if it wasn’t drowning?”

“I need to run a few more tests. We found some puncture wounds on the arms and chest, with the flesh dissolved. On the forearm, some of the veins were collapsed. It’s as if they were eaten away. The only thing I can possibly surmise is he was injected with hydrochloric acid. It’s possible that his fingerprints were removed the same way.”

Shaw’s eyes widened. “You can’t be serious. What sort of sick bastard does that?”

“One who wants to inflict an immense amount of pain in a short period of time. There was some white residue inside the punctures as well. We’ll send it to tox for analysis. My best guess is the victim was injected and then had the acid neutralized somehow.” He shrugged. “But I’m just a coroner. That’s your racket to figure out the whys and hows.”

“Unfortunately.” Shaw rubbed the back of his neck. Carol and the kids would be home that weekend; she had called shortly after he had left the teens in the hands of their suitably annoyed parents. “Can you forward me the tox report ASAP? I have some family stuff to take care of tonight, but I plan to look for an ID in the morning. DNA?”

“Of course. I took swabs and I’ll forward them on to the crime lab as well. It’ll be about 72 hours for results, since we had a rather sizable sample. They’re on backlog as well, so don’t hold your breath.”

“Shit.” Shaw groaned. “The Cap’ll want this wrapped up quickly, before the media gets ahold of it and blasts it on the six o’clock news. Another, ‘Are our streets really safe?’ double feature.”

Espinoza tucked his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. “If you’re lucky, it’ll be kept under wraps for a while. Look, I better clean up in there. If I find anything else, I’ll call you.” He retreated back through the double doors.

“Shit,” Shaw swore again. This really wasn’t want he wanted to be doing. He’d much rather be pouring back through the evidence surrounding the Corrine Evans case than dealing with some twisted fuck killer.

Heading back out to his truck, he winced at the early September heat, a stark contrast to the glacial air-conditioned coroner’s office. Rolling down the window, Shaw sped off to the precinct. He hated the waiting game.

You can connect with Heather here:

Website: www.heatherosborneauthor.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/HAOsborne

Twitter: @hosborneauthor

Amazon Author Page: http://author.to/HeatherOsborne