I’m delighted to welcome Lorraine Mace, author of the D.I. Sterling thriller series onto my blog today. Lorraine’s novels have been described as dark, gritty and (sometimes) gruesome. The latest in the series is Love Me Tender.
IF HE WANTS YOU . . . THERE’S NO ESCAPE.
A brutal murder . . .
Responding to a tip-off, newly promoted Detective Chief Inspector Paolo Sterling arrives at an apartment block to find the dismembered body of a young woman. And with no indication of a break-in, all signs suggest the killer was known to her.
An abduction in plain sight . . .
Then the victim’s friend is snatched with no witnesses and the unanswered questions mount up.
At the same time, Sterling’s team are leading the surveillance of a local club, thought to be involved in a drug operation. But when one of his colleagues ends up in hospital close to death, Paolo begins to lose his grip.
A detective on the edge . . .
With the odds stacked against him, and time running out, can DCI Sterling uncover the truth before it’s too late? Or will this case finally tip him over the edge?
Lorraine Mace returns with the fifth instalment in her dark, gritty and unflinching DI Sterling series. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons, M. J. Arlidge and Karin Slaughter.
First chapter of Love Me Tender
Where was it? Where had Grandpa hidden it? From the moment the bastard had stopped breathing, Boy had been searching. He’d already spent hours turning Grandpa’s room inside out, but he wasn’t ready to give up. It would be here somewhere, he knew it. The old man would never have thrown it away. He stood in the middle of the bedroom, shifting his weight from one side to the other, the floorboards creaking in protest. A waft of sickly sweet odours assailed his nostrils, reminding him he didn’t have long before the undertakers would arrive. Funny to think the people Grandpa had employed and abused would now be responsible for sending him off. The old bastard had made their lives hell while he’d been alive. Now was their opportunity for payback and he wouldn’t blame them if they took it.
Boy glared at Grandpa’s corpse, lying in comfortable state on the bed.
“Where did you put the box?” he hissed. “I know you would never have chucked it out.”
The stench made him gag; he wished he’d turned the heating off in this room, but he couldn’t give up the search – not until he’d found it. The box would be in here somewhere. Maybe the wardrobe had a false back, he thought, turning towards it. As he spun, the rug caught his heel and he fell, tumbling down in a heap. Just as well the old man was dead, otherwise he would have had to listen to another of Grandpa’s lectures on how fucking useless he was.
He pulled himself upright and then reached down to straighten the rug. That’s when he knew he’d hit the jackpot. The floorboards didn’t quite meet as they should. He put his fingers into a well-worn groove and lifted out a loose section of wood. As he’d suspected, Grandpa had been hiding money away from the taxman. A large cashbox took up most of the space and Boy knew just where to find the key to it, but money wasn’t the prize he wanted.
Hands shaking, he pulled out the Tupperware sitting next to the cashbox. The plastic container was empty, but still stained with her blood. This was it – his holy grail.
Boy sat cross-legged next to the bed, no longer bothered by the smell, and hugged the container, allowing his memories to flow.
He’d just turned fourteen when Grandpa had brought Grammy’s heart home in this box.
Cover(s) reveal!
Authors love being able to reveal the covers for their books, which means each new release brings its own joyful celebration. It’s very rare that an author gets the opportunity to showcase not one, but four brand new covers (if not brand new books).
When the fifth in the series, Love Me Tender, was released earlier this year I instantly fell in love with the cover, so you can imagine my delight when my publisher told me they had requested the designer to update the first four in the series to match the tone of number five. I’m delighted to be able to share this with you.
Born and raised in South East London, Lorraine lived and worked in South Africa, on the Island of Gozo and in France before settling on the Costa del Sol in Spain. She lives with her partner in a traditional Spanish village inland from the coast and enjoys sampling the regional dishes and ever-changing tapas in the local bars. Her knowledge of Spanish is expanding. To stop her waistline from doing the same, she runs five times a week. Author of the D.I. Sterling series of novels, Lorraine has been engaged in many writing-related activities. A columnist for Writing Magazine, she has recently stepped down from writing two columns for Writers’ Forum and also her role as head judge of the magazine’s monthly fiction competitions in order to concentrate on her own writing. She is currently writing two standalone psychological thrillers for Headline Accent
She also runs her own private critique and author mentoring service.
Social media links
Find her at:
Website: www.lorrainemace.com
Blog: http://thewritersabcchecklist.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lomace
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LorraineMaceAuthor
Amazon Bestseller
‘Has to be my favourite read of this year, hands down! I couldn’t put it down… I was not stopping until I knew the whole story!… Amazing!’ Books With Loz ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Amazon: https://geni.us/B08GKRRPWHSocial
Karen King: Author 