Did Alison’s mom give you a ride?”
“Yeah,” Katelyn murmured. She glanced in his direction. Concluding that there had been a development in an ongoing drama, the center of which being a thirteen-year-old boy named Zack Daniels, Chris opted to say nothing.
She watched his back while he poured a glass of milk to go with his brownie. Katelyn had inherited his fair coloring— from his steel gray eyes to his light auburn hair. Chris had been in his mid-twenties when his hair gradually turned silver at the temples. By the age of forty-five, his hair was an equal mixture of silver and brown curls. While he drank his glass of milk, Chris saw Katelyn’s eyes darting from the tablet to the cupboard behind him and across the room. She couldn’t look him in the eye.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She bit into her brownie and squinted at the screen on her tablet.
“What happened at school today?”
“Nothing happened.”
Chris let out a deep sigh. “How’s Zack?” Katelyn swallowed and set down the tablet.
“What happened with Tara?”
“She’s a bitch,” Katelyn said. “That’s what happened.”
Chris tried not to roll his eyes over yet another drama between Katelyn and her arch rival, Tara. The war had been ongoing since October. Both eighth graders were pursuing the same boy. Bouncing between the two of them like a tennis ball, Zack enjoyed the attention of two girls fighting over him way too much. The boy wasn’t worthy of either of them.
“What’d Tara do this time?” Chris asked with a heavy sigh before taking another sip of his milk.
“She told everyone that you’re a perv.” This got Chris’s full attention. “She said you raped a teenage girl when you were in college and got her pregnant. Then you killed her and that’s why you ran away to join the FBI.”
“What the—”
“It was some girl named Sandy.” Chris felt as if his soul had been ripped out of his body to take him back to another time and place—to when the nightmare had begun.
Sensing that something was up, Sadie and Mocha stopped surveilling a family of squirrels invading the bird feeders to turn their attention to the scene brewing in the kitchen. Their eyes were wide like orbs. Thor was more interested in the carrot that Emma had given her before racing to the study to email her friends.
“It’s not true. Right, Dad?”
“What’s Tara’s last name?” Chris asked in a soft voice. “Sinclair,” Katelyn said. “Her mom is some big wig on the county commission. Her dad is—”
“Victor Sinclair,” Chris said. “He’s the county prosecutor.
I know. I know them all very well.”
“You didn’t do what they say you did, did you, Dad?” Katelyn stared up at him.
“No!” Chris slammed the glass down so hard onto the counter that the milk inside splashed over the rim. “How can you even ask me that? You know me. You’ve seen me with your friends. What makes you think I’d take advantage of a young girl like that?”
Katelyn’s eyes were wide with fear.
“Do you really think that I’m that warped?” Chris demanded an answer. She sobbed.
The sight of her tears broke Chris’s heart. “I’m sorry.” He went around the counter to take her into his arms. Refusing to let him touch her, she raced up the back staircase to her bedroom. She had the last word in the conversation with the slam of her door.
Grief, frustration, and anger from the last twenty months built up inside him. If he didn’t do something, he would explode. Desperate for some way to release the pressure, he turned around in circles.
With a deep roar, Chris grabbed his glass of milk and hurled it at the wall. The glass shattered. Milk splattered all over the floor much to Sadie’s and Mocha’s delight.
~~~
ICE:
A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery
Book 1
By Lauren Carr
Starting a book that is the first in a series is an exciting opportunity for me, especially with author Lauren Carr. First, she introduces all of her characters first thing and gives a short description. We know, as her fans, there will always be animals, and a solid family environment setting. I've read most of all of her series, but this one is totally new! Meet Chris Matheson, a retired FBI agent, who has come back to live with his mother on their home place after the sudden death of his father...
The wife and mother of his three children was killed in a terrorist attack. Chris' mother is unique as a woman and mother, as well as grandmother, and has the guts and stamina of someone with whom most readers will immediately bond and enjoy getting to know.
Chris is somewhat unsettled as the book begins, especially when his daughter comes home from school with the gossip that he had once raped a teenager and killed her! Instantly I was sympathetic to this new series lead. Gossip and lies are so destructive, but when a murder of a former friend which has haunted Chris for years suddenly comes alive again, it overwhelmed him. Even knowing that the FBI had cleared him years ago or he would never have been accepted as an agent, he became enraged when he realized that those in his home town still consideres him guilty of rape and murder.
Chris had felt sorry for Sandy Lipton. She apparently didn't date much so when she asked him to take her to senior prom, he hesitantly agreed. After the dance, he quickly delivered her back to her door... The sad part of this story is that Sandy had built up a fantasy of Chris as more than a friend and everybody knew it...
Soon it was discovered that she had become pregnant, actually, raped, while Chris had proceeded on to Quantico to begin training. Until his father notified him that he had been slapped with a paternity suit. But Sandy and the baby of her being raped had soon disappeared...
Soon it was discovered that she had become pregnant, actually, raped, while Chris had proceeded on to Quantico to begin training. Until his father notified him that he had been slapped with a paternity suit. But Sandy and the baby of her being raped had soon disappeared...
Worrying about her son being able to get back into community life, his mother suggested that Chris join a local book club, mostly made up of retired law enforcement investigators, who enjoyed reading murder mystery and thrillers. Elliott, who had a personal interest in Chris' mother, soon invited Chris to join...
But neither Chris, nor his mother, actually knew what this group was doing! From the moment I met these characters, I found myself considering that I was now a part of... The... Geezer... Squad... I was hooked!
Then I fell in love when I met Sterling! Chris had been devastated by the loss of his father...and also Winston, his canine companion...over a short time period. The daily interaction with a dog had been an important part of his life... And so the family helped to fill that loss by bringing Sterling into the family. The only thing they were told about Sterling was that he could be goofy... What?! Chris immediately wanted to know... Sterling is also a retired law officer but somewhere along the line I figure he either learned a lot of human characteristics from his former handler who was shot, as was Sterling. His handler had died... Or....Sterling could understand humans... I'm still not sure which... But his scenes are hilarious and will have you laughing in surprise, especially when some are done behind Chris' back
The number of criminal acts in this book is high, but they are spread across cold cases and deaths that are occurring in the present. Chris' own cold case becomes a priority for the Geezer Squad when Chris shared his own story. The group had already been working on an assumed serial killer case which they'd been investigating and to which the numbers attributed to this individual was increasing. What they didn't expect was that the same MO for those cold cases would be turning up on recent murders!
Multiple cases, multiple villains, and a mighty geezer squad to help gather information for the police and the FBI! Carr continues to up the stakes when you read her books. With this book and the number of bodies involved, I didn't even try to determine whodunit! This first in series has set the framework for a wide diversity of future novels. I'm already anxious to move on to the next and this one is not even out!
Preorder Your Copy Today!
Lauren Carr's New Release & a New Series!
Coming February 26, 2018
Carr's ability to successfully integrate amazing characters into a solid family and community environment of loving individuals is truly amazing. The unique touches for each character, including the animals, reveals a loving, caring writer that works to ensure her readers are pleased with the world in which they have entered, and when finished, wanting more!
At this point, I'm predicting the cold case mysteries will become my favorite of her books--Can you believe it, given the praise I've shared for all of her previous books!?! I'm a fan that continues to be joyfully surprised at each book and anxious to grab the next...There are only a few authors demanding this kind of attention from me. Lauren Carr is a must-read author. Start with this book if you, by chance, have not yet read this fantastic, best-selling mystery writer. And here's a personal recommendation from me, her books are continually reasonably priced and within reach of most readers of all ages... I appreciate that!
'Nuf said... Now's the time to pre-order!
GABixlerReviews
Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!
Now, Lauren has added one more hit series to her list with the Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries. Set in the quaint West Virginia town of Harpers Ferry, Ice introduces Chris Matheson, a retired FBI agent, who joins forces with other law enforcement investigators to heat up those cold cases that keep them up at night.
Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
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