The Edmonton Police Station Thrillers

   From the mean streets of North London, Edmonton to be precise, came a serious crime group that were determined to right the wrongs they found all around them. It has not been an easy task for them as they have found themselves up against a mysterious arranger of suicides and a serial killer who places his victims in the shape of a clock at each scene. The first thing I didn’t want to do with this series of books is to have the same team investigating every new series of murders that came along. This would be very unrealistic, even though most crime fiction would have you believe otherwise.

What would usually happen is the SIO (Senior Investigating Officer) would pick a team from detective constables and detective inspectors, and these would usually be different from the last team that investigated a major incident like a serial killer case. This is the way I have formed the series, with each book being set around a different team, even though sometimes the members of the team might end up working with each other again.

SPIDER MOUTH was the first of my Edmonton Police Station books. Here’s the product description:

A series of gruesome killings, involving a cannibal, a drug addict and a housewife, leads DI Fred Fairservice through North London on the trail of a sinister arranger of deaths. Near each scene of death, the perpetrator has left a spider in the mouth of a dead old person.

It’s the spiders in the old peoples’ mouths that bothers Fred, just because it’s so similar to something he witnessed when he was a child- it cannot be just a coincidence.

With a new detective, DI Mark South, in tow, Fred has to stop the killings, solve the riddle of the spiders, and help find a missing girl called Heather. All before his bosses make him take early retirement, and his violent past catches up with him.

The second of the Edmonton Police Station series is MURDERSON, which is set around a series of grotesque murders where the killer leaves his male victims in the form of a clock at each scene. Here’s the product description:

London and the South West of England are the hunting ground of a serial killer. The brutal killer, nicknamed The Clock, hunts young men in their thirties, kills them and turns their bodies into macabre clock faces at each crime scene.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Webb, a tired middle aged policeman with a failed relationship still haunting him, investigates the series of murders with the help of Dr. Kirill Fedorov, a man who believes he can spot potential serial killer behaviour in children and cure it. Webb also persuades the now fully-grown
Luke Wind, the only British boy that Dr. Fedorov cured and treated like a son,
to help him find the killer.

Fedorov convinces Luke that he should still be able to understand a serial killer’s mind, but when Luke looks into himself he begins to doubt that he has been cured after all, especially when the killings begin to look personal.

The next book in the series will be LAST ALIVE, which will be coming to Amazon Kindle soon; this book follows on the format of having another team investigating a serial killer who targets whole families. Even though the main characters are new to the books, some of the supporting cast are from SPIDER MOUTH and MURDERSON, like DCI Paul Webb, who is second in command to DCS Linsey Freeman, the SIO in LAST ALIVE.

Here’s a short product description:

Two years after a family are brutally slaughtered, with only one survivor left alive, the killer strikes again. After the second the second set of murders, the killer sends another sinister text and smiley face to the surviving member of the family.

Racing along aside the police investigation into the murders, ex- Detective Sergeant Terence Marsland searches for the perpetrator, and soon finds that more than just his reputation is at stake if he fails in his mission- his whole world could be turned viciously upside down.

SPIDER MOUTH can be found at AMAZON KINDLE.

The cover of LAST ALIVE.

UGLY THINGS

When ‘Mate’ finds himself handcuffed to a boat that’s speeding towards a Cornish cliff, he starts to recall how he ended up heading to his doom.

He remembers he had a successful  life as a vain and sex obsessed salesman, which ended when he became disfigured by a new face cream his company was about to market.

On his doctor’s suggestion, ‘Mate’ heads to a quiet fishing village where the waters there are rumoured to cure all ailments. With Obsessive Compulsive Kevin, his only friend, in tow, ‘Mate’ moves to Cornwall where his face might be restored to its former glory.

What he doesn’t count on is the cast of strange characters he meets by the sea, like Janet the pornography obsessed artist. Or Margaret Parks, the sixties film star, who will do anything to be famous again. Then there’s the former East London gangster, Billy Webb, who will torture and murder anyone who gets in Margaret Parks’ way.

All  ’Mate’ wants is to live a quiet and beautiful life again, but his new found friends want to drag him kicking and screaming towards fame, fortune, porn art, exploding boats and ultimately death.

 

 

UGLY THINGS is part satire, part dark and twisted tale of our world’s obsession with beauty, sex and art.

Coming soon to Amazon Kindle.

UGLY THINGS

After a long hiatus, I’ve returned to the world of Kindle books. Well, in reality I haven’t been away, as my books have still been selling on Amazon Kindle. But, I have been lacking when it comes to marketing and general chit chat and blogging.

I’m afraid my new life as a married man and expectant father, has made Kindle life quite a strain: and the baby isn’t even here yet! But, I have managed to get back into the dirty task of editing. Around my small office space lie the rotting remains of my abandoned sentences. And from this literay cull, comes my latest book titled UGLY THINGS, a dark black comedy that deals with vanity, fame and the crazy world of modern art.
Hot on the heels of UGLY THINGS, will be my next thriller which is set in the same police station as Murderson and features some of the same characters, as well as a few new ones. The title and details of my new crime thriller will be published on this blog very soon.

Author of The Week Special feature: Marita A. Hansen- Behind The Hood

Today I’m featuring Marita A. Hansen’s book Behind the Hood. Here’s a little about it:

The cover of Marita A. Hansen's Behind The Hood

Life on the rough side of New Zealand.

In this South Auckland neighbourhood where gang culture, drink, drugs, sex and violence is already a way of life; a vicious attack on a teenage girl sparks a ripple effect of revenge and fury. Live the carnage through multiple viewpoints as the tale unfolds to a bloody climax.

Warning: NOT for the fainthearted.

Reader Reviews:

“INTENSE! I could probably leave my review at this one word and that would say it all. What a nerve wracking read. At first I thought there were going to be too many point of view characters for me to get involved emotionally, but they all tied back to each other perfectly. I had no problem keeping track of who was who and how they related back to each of the other characters. By the last three-quarters of the book I had the phones turned off and the Do Not Disturb sign hung on the door. I had to know what was going to happen and I didn’t want any interruptions. Marita Hansen did not disappoint. I can’t wait to read the sequel…” Amazon Review.

“This may be a work of fiction, but the author has used her knowledge to give us an eye-opening and realistic look into a very rough culture. This book is quality, one not to be missed.” Smashwords Review.
Opening Sample

MAIA

Maia Daniels knew she should just ignore the boys. Walk past, don’t listen, she told herself. Don’t talk back.

It was ten o’clock on a Saturday night. The gang were sitting on a wall outside Claydon Pub, passing around a smoke. She’d seen some of them at high school, when they decided to turn up that is.

Whooping and yelling came from the pub. A television blared loudly, no doubt replaying the All Blacks’ rugby match against the Wallabies. Maia stopped at the driveway as a purple Holden drove into the car park. Music blasted from inside the souped-up machine, the bass pumping its steady beat out into the night.

Maia, c’mere, Tama Harris yelled.

The gang leader was eighteen, tall and solidly built, with a wide, flat nose. He’d shaved off his hair recently, replacing it with a curved pattern called a moko. Usually, the tattoo adorned the face, a sign of a Maori warrior, something to be proud of. But Tama was no one to be proud of, nothing but a dreg who constantly harassed her. Unlike the other boys, he wore his hoodie tied around his waist, his ripped jeans and muscle shirt unsuitable for the cold autumn weather. Maia figured he was probably high on something, either from the weed in his hand or the empty bottles at his feet, or both.

Hey, Maia! Are ya a double d? a podgy boy with spiky blond hair shouted.

They sure felt like it, Tama replied, his hand actions eliciting laughter from the gang.

A blush ran across Maia’s cheeks. Shit, she hated her breasts. Even in her oversized sweatshirt they still grabbed attention. She pulled her hood further over her head, and rounded her shoulders. After another car passed, she hitched up her track pants and walked across the muddy driveway.

Tama hollered, Oi! I told ja to c’mere.

She looked back, aching to give him the finger, but instead jammed her hands into her pockets. God, she was a moron for sneaking out, but … Ben’s raves were always awesome. Why couldn’t her mum let her go? It wasn’t like she did drugs, and the boys at the party were just mates.

Tama’s scowl changed into a grin. He threw his joint onto the ground and jumped off the stone wall. With a jerk of his head, he indicated for the gang to follow.

Maia’s heartbeat picked up. Still concentrating on Tama, she stepped off the kerb and onto Waiata Crescent. The blast of a horn made her leap back. The front passenger leaned out of a battered sedan, and swore at her. Ignoring the pimply git, she scooted around the car and across the side road.

A loud wolf-whistle made her jump. She glanced over her shoulder. Tama’s eyes were fixated on her, promising things she didn’t want.

He grabbed his crotch. I like ya from behind, Maia.

All the boys, except for Mikey Thomas, laughed. Tama’s cousin looked away as though uncomfortable with what was happening. He was fourteen and in her class at school. She thought he liked her; either that or he had a staring problem. Yeah, she’d only noticed because she was usually checking him out too.

Maia wondered if she could lose the gang by cutting across the highway. Traffic was heavy, making this option just as dangerous as stopping for Tama. Further up the road, past the tyre yard, the video and liquor stores’ lights were on. The neon sign of the happy video man was a welcoming sight. It was maybe a hundred metres away. She thought she had a chance of outrunning Tama. She was fast, damned fast. If she’d showed up to school enough, she probably would’ve been on the track team.

Maia, pretty Maia, Tama taunted. I’ve got sumpthin’ to show you.

Maia wasn’t sure whether it was a knife, or something else in his pants. She knew he carried a switchblade. He’d stabbed her brother in the arm once when Nike attacked him with a baseball bat. She’d always wondered whether this was why Tama harassed her. But she couldn’t blame Nike for it. Leila, his girlfriend at the time, had caused the fight. The bitch had cheated on him with Tama, then cried rape after he found out.

Leave me alone, Tama, she said, remembering the last time he’d approached her. She’d kicked him in the balls for grabbing her breasts. Nike said he’d beat the living snot outta you if you came near me again.

I’d love to see him fuckin’ try. Plus, you owe me, bitch.

Maia knew she should keep her mouth shut; that whenever she spoke it got her into trouble. Her mother had told her countless times, You speak too much, Maia, you should listen more.

She grinned, unable to help herself. What do I owe you? More bruised balls?

She heard a slicing noise behind her, the sound of a switchblade being opened. Shit!

Get her, Tama yelled.

You can find Behind the Hood at the following distributors:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon DE

Smashwords
Marita A. Hansen was born in New Zealand, where Behind the Hood is based. Marita loves to write, compose compicturistic art, coach youth football, and referee the occasional match. She also has a blog-site where she chats about art, books, and anything that comes to mind at maritaahansen.blogspot.com