Vengeful Heart

A Hannah Hart mystery by JC Clark. (Coming soon)

Private investigator Hannah Hart’s typical day is trailing cheating spouses. So when a murder case lands in her lap, the challenge is welcome, except for one problem – the lead suspect is her former college roommate, Merritt Fitzpatrick.

The morning after Merritt’s wedding reception in the Concord, Massachusetts historic Colonial Inn, she awakens in the honeymoon suite to find her husband, Parker Conway, gone. His body is discovered in the room used as a morgue during the American Revolution. With his wrists tied to the bedposts, police are quick to allege kinky sex gone bad. The victim’s father, a Massachusetts State Senator, is certain Merritt, now a wealthy widow, orchestrated his son’s death. The senator uses his influence to get Boston Detective Mike Gavin, whose reputation is irrefutable, assigned to the case joining the local police investigation.

Desperate to find the killer before she is railroaded into prison, Merritt implores Hannah to prove her innocence. Although eager to help her friend, Hannah must go up against a fast-moving police inquiry driven by a ruthless politician, compelling evidence that points to Merritt, and Hannah's personal relationship with Mike Gavin.

Hannah also faces an ethical dilemma between advocate and investigator setting in motion a series of events that force everyone involved to make painful choices.

While Gavin and Hannah have collaborated successfully in the past, he fears her inexperience and lack of objectivity will hinder the investigation. Adding to the case’s complexity is the battle the two detectives privately wage over their feelings for each other and how it could affect their careers. Despite Gavin’s concerns, a determined Hannah forges ahead tirelessly digging into the past of both the Fitzpatrick and Conway families as well as the senator’s current political adversaries to unmask other suspects. At the same time she faces an ethical dilemma between advocate and investigator setting in motion a series of events that force everyone involved to make painful choices. When her life is threatened, followed by another murder, Gavin has to acknowledge darker forces are afoot.

Concord, Massachusetts, with its historical legacies, conjures an atmospheric setting.