Last week I got in touch with the detective who worked on my father’s case. Milton Walsh wasn’t a fireball twelve years ago when my father was murdered, and he’d only gotten lazier. Persuading him to talk to me was like prodding a frog to walk upright. He actually called me “little lady.” I took it, because I needed his help. When I asked to see my father’s case record, he gave it to me willingly, which is a no-no. That tells you what kind of cop he is.

I intend to do what the Newport News Cops couldn’t—find out who killed my father. I don’t have any special skills to work with. But by using my wits at least I’m still alive. I almost wasn’t. While I was working in the Bahamas, I got into a dire situation. I haven’t lost the jittery feeling from being thrown overboard off a boat and left for dead. I came home with enough reward money to sustain me while I investigate my father’s death.

So here I am, in my hole-in-the wall furnished apartment not far from where my father was killed, sitting at my battered Craigslist desk. The case files that I copied, and the photos that I stole from the file are in front of me.

My father was the strong man in our lives. My sister and I adored him. When my father was murdered, my mother started drinking. At fourteen, it fell to me to keep the household together: to get my sister and me to school every day, make sure we had food in the house, pay bills, and make appointments.

My father’s boss, Alvin, took pity on us and gave my mother a job, so we had enough money for essentials. And he turned a blind eye to the times when she couldn’t make it into work.

At the time it seemed kind and fair, but, twelve years later, I know that life isn’t fair. So why did Alvin help? He’s the first person I’m going to question. Did he know something about my father’s death?

I read through the files again, carefully, jotting down the few facts I can glean from the notes. On his way home from work my father stopped for a beer at a bar that he and the men he worked with on the docks frequented. He sat with a few friends, had one beer, and left in a cheerful mood. And then, about three blocks from our house someone shot him. No witnesses. At least none that the cops found.

I jot down a list of possible motives: Was he having an affair? Did he discover a nefarious secret at work? Did someone have a grudge against him? Was my mother having an affair and the guy shot my father? Was my father in financial trouble? Did he gamble? Did he have another life we knew nothing about?

By the time I finish reading the reports, jotting down notes, it’s mid-afternoon and I’m hungry. I haven’t had time to buy groceries, so I walk a couple blocks to a deli and eat a tuna sandwich. Then I walk to the area where my father was killed. I stare at the street corner where he lay dying, as if I can conjure up answers. I end up at the bar. I don’t go in. Not today. But I wonder if anyone there remembers what happened and whether they’ll talk to me. Finally I make my way back home. Tomorrow, I start for real.

Perilous Waters, A Jessie Madison Thriller Book #1
Genre: Thriller
Release: April 2024
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

FBI dive instructor Jessie Madison’s survival skills are stretched to breaking point when she is plunged into danger in this exhilarating thriller – the first in a pulsating new series.

Jessie Madison escaped to the Bahamas when she made a terrifying discovery at home and a bad decision got her dismissed from the FBI training program. Three months later, Jessie is ready to return to Virginia to pick up the pieces of her shattered life – until she and a friend are attacked during a boat ride and thrown overboard, with devastating consequences.

Jessie is determined to bring their attackers to justice. Who are they? What were they looking for on the boat? And can she trust Nick, the handsome but enigmatic stranger who claims he wants to help her? Jessie must draw on all her survival and investigative skills if she is to stay alive long enough to get answers . . .

About the author
Award-winning author Terry Shames is the author of the Samuel Craddock mysteries. As well as winning the Macavity Award for Best First Novel, A Killing at Cotton Hill was also shortlisted for The Strand Critics Award. The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake won the RT Critics Award for Best Mystery. Her books have also been shortlisted for Left Coast Crime Awards for Best Mystery. Perilous Waters is her first thriller.

Terry grew up in Texas, and her Samuel Craddock series is set in the fictitious town of Jarrett Creek, which is based on the fascinating people, landscape and culture of the small town where her grandparents lived. Terry now lives in Marina del Rey, California with her husband, Max the kitty, and Monty the dog. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and on the national board of Mystery Writers of America.