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Extract for Know Me Now for Cheeky Pee Reads

With its grey stone foundations and grey rendering around stained PVC windows, Duncaid’s Police Station wasn’t a building to lift the spirits. Grace had passed it plenty of times on her way to work, but had never had cause to step inside. Until today, when Murdoch had insisted upon her ‘dropping by’. He had made it clear that he expected her to come to him, and not him to her.

Grace waited for him in reception, her eyes taking in the posters on the wall. End Wildlife Crime. Stop poaching. Another showed an eagle in full flight. Operation April, Eagle Watch. There were the usual posters on drugs and alcohol but it certainly made a difference having dramatic pictures of wildlife on the walls.

A door banged behind her. ‘Dr Reavey.’

She turned to see Constable Murdoch. His face was stony. ‘Follow me, if you would.’

He led the way into an interview room. Small, blue, no windows. A two-way mirror was set in the wall over a bolted-down table and two chairs. It was where the police interviewed suspects and Grace had no doubt Murdoch had brought her in here to unsettle her. Don’t give him anything. Pretend this is completely normal. Smile.

Murdoch closed the door firmly. Although he didn’t lock it, it felt as though he had. It was like being in a cell. With as much aplomb as she could muster, Grace took a seat. Folded her hands on her lap. Murdoch sat opposite.

‘Well,’ he said.

Grace waited.

‘It appears Connor Baird was murdered.’

He glowered at her. She thought of saying, apparently so, but there seemed little point since he’d now raised a forefinger and was stabbing it her.

‘This does not mean you can demand a fucking autopsy at the drop of a hat in the future. This does not mean you can tell us, the polis, how to do our jobs and it does not mean you’re fucking God around here.’

His face had turned puce, the veins on his nose standing out. She hoped he wasn’t going to have a heart attack. Her de-fib was in the car and since the tiny car park at the back of the police station had been full, she’d been forced to park down the street and it would take her at least two minutes to fetch it.

‘Do you hear me?’ he added furiously.

‘I hear you,’ she said mildly. She decided not to tell him she’d just requested another autopsy, this one on a sixty-six-year old woman out of Bridgeorth who’d died the day before yesterday. Two weeks ago Iona Ainsley had come to her with an infected finger. Grace had put her on antibiotics and things had seemed to improve but then, to Grace’s horror, the infection suddenly deepened and Iona’s health dropped into a severe decline. Despite having been blue-lighted to hospital, Iona had died that afternoon.

‘Right.’ He nodded several times. ‘OK then.’ He brought out his pocketbook and a pen. ‘I need to ask you some questions now.’

‘OK.’

More nodding. ‘OK,’ he echoed on an exhale. To her relief, his colour began to subside. No de-fib required, thank God.

About the author

CJ Carver is the bestselling author of seven crime fiction novels including Blood Junction. She has won the CWA debut dagger and the Barry Award for Best British Crime Fiction. She has been a long-distance rally driver and is the founding judge for Women’s World Car of The Year. Know Me Now is the second book in the Forrester and Davies series.

‘Hard, fast and real - a solid gold A-grade thriller.’ Lee Child

'CJ Carver is one of the best thriller writers working today' Tom Harper

‘A terrific page-turner. Heart-stopping action and a heroine with guile as well as guts.’ Harlan Coben

'An adrenalin-rush of a novel with plenty of heart, Tell Me a Lie is a page-turning thrill.’ Mick Herron

'Action-packed, high-stakes suspense, brilliant characters. A series to watch’ Mason Cross

'High-octane, Jason Bourne game-playing Brit noir.’ Jack Grimwood, author of the bestselling Moskva

A SUICIDE.  A MURDER.  A CONSPIRACY.

DIGGING UP THE PAST CAN BE DEADLY . . .

A thirteen-year-old boy commits suicide.

A sixty-five-year old man dies of a heart attack.

Dan Forrester, ex-MI5 agent, is connected to them both.

And when he discovers that his godson and his father have been murdered, he teams up with his old friend, DC Lucy Davies, to find answers.

But as the pair investigate, they unravel a dark and violent mystery stretching decades into the past and uncover a terrible secret.

A secret someone will do anything to keep buried . . .