Heartstone
Hardcover: 483 pages
Publisher: Five Star (ME) (June 10, 2005)
ISBN: 1594142890
Read the Prologue
Heartstone weaves elements of the Arthurian legend into a contemporary quest tale in which a young woman seeks the truth behind her father's disappearance and the mysterious stone he left her. Maxine Pike teaches English and folklore at a community college on Chicago's north side where she lives with an over-sized dog and vague aspirations.
Shortly after learning her archaeologist father is missing and presumed dead, she becomes custodian of the strange-colored stone he left her. Immediately she begins searching for answers: what happened to her father and what is the story behind the stone? Events are set in motion that will test her courage and faith and force her to redefine her own reality.
However, there are others who lay claim to the stone. There's the young man who believes he's its rightful guardian, and the wealthy psychologist and aspiring media mogul who has far-reaching plans that hinge on the stone and is willing to use anything and anyone to get his hands on it.
Along the way, Max receives some unexpected help from mysterious friends of her father's and, perhaps most unexpected, from her older sister, Olivia. Max's journey will take her from Chicago to London and finally to Alyssum, a remote island off Land's End, and to the reclusive man who owns the island. It is here that she learns the stone's fate and confronts her own destiny.
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"... a cracking good story. I heartily recommend it."
-- Barbara D'Amato, author of Death of a Thousand Cuts
"Those who love myth and legend -- and even those who think they don't -- will devour this engaging story, which expertly weaves Arthurian legend into a modern setting."
--BookList
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The Quint McCauley series:
Murder in Store, 1989
Preston Hauser, owner of a famous department store, asks his head of security, Quint McCauley, to investigate some threatening letters he has received. No sooner does Quint take on the job, than Preston is poisoned by one of his own vitamin pills. With Quint looking on. Suspicion falls on Hauser's young wife, Diana, but Quint quickly learns she's not the only one who might benefit from the millionaire's death.
Error in Judgment, 1990
Now a private detective in the Chicago suburb of Foxport, Quint investigates the apparent suicide of a judge who had just been indicted on bribery charges. The judge's widow stands to lose a sizeable insurance policy if Quint can't prove it was murder. And she asks so nicely.
Masquerade in Blue, 1991
When reporter Jeff Barlowe is jailed for contempt of court for refusing to put a name to his source, he calls on his friend, private detective Quint McCauley to bail him out. Working with the source, an environmental vigilante known only as the Blue Fox who is the lead suspect in the murder of local developer, Quint tries to learn who else wanted the man dead and, at the same time, maintain the Fox's anonymity.
Brothers in Blood, 1993
Jubal and Brig Tanner are brothers who have been feuding for years. When Brig's young girlfriend is killed, most figure the bullet was meant for Brig and the shooter was Jubal. Jubal hires a very reluctant Quint McCauley, who finds himself mired in the horse-breeding industry as he delves into the Tanner family's darkest secrets.
Paid in Full, 2000
When Kurt Wicklow disappears was it a case of an investment advisor absconding with his client's money or was foul play involved? And when the wife of Foxport's former chief of police and a "good friend" of Wicklow's turns up dead, things begin to add up. And Quint finds himself trying to prove the innocence of a man who has just moved in with Elaine, Quint's former lover.
These books are out-of-print, but there are many places to find older books. Some online resources:
Independent Mystery Booksellers, Half.com, Book Sense,
AbeBooks, Amazon.
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