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133 pages

English

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Victor Madison was a man who never took "no" for an answer and Private Investigator Paul West immediately sensed that he could be trouble the moment he walked through his office door. He didn't ask, he demanded that West find his only daughter, Cindy, who had been missing for over two years. Money was no object. Police Inspector Charlie King, West's former partner, was the lead investigator into Cindy's missing case which was a cold one but was once again active when he was given permission to work on it with West. Their investigation took them to Alabama where they became involved with a collection of fascinating and questionable characters, including a local sheriff who made them his deputies; a bank manager with self-serving interests; a charismatic pastor and cult leader who knew a dark secret; and a besotted enabler who would go to any devious means to protect him... and she did. Madison's daughter was found, but not in the manner the reader could ever guess, or imagine. The suspense, in this page-turning mystery, never wanes right up to the last page and the chilling climax.

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Publié par	Austin Macauley Publishers
Date de parution	04 mai 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781528968294
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0175€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Murder Never Sleeps
Douglas Hall
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-05-04
Murder Never Sleeps About The Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgments OTHER BOOKS BY DOUGLAS HALL PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen Twenty Twenty-One Twenty-Two Twenty-Three Twenty-Four Twenty-Five
About The Author
DOUGLAS HALL
A graduate of the University of Toronto, Douglas Hall was appointed senior press officer for IBM Canada Inc. After seven-and-a-half years of extensive media relations, he began a 32-year career as a Canadian radio and television personality. He hosted a number of nationally syndicated Canadian shows on both radio and television including: The Doug Hall Show , Daybeat , The Anatomy of Living , Taking Sides , Your Opinion , Bestsellers and What is Truth as a panel member along with Paul Hellyer, former Canadian minister of national defense; CBC personality, Lorraine Thomson; and Bob Hesketh, CFRB radio newscaster. Author, broadcaster, newspaper executive, Charles Templeton was moderator. Hall’s TV shows were also telecast on cable and independent U.S. stations.
Hall was the only multiple screenwriter for the 20 th Century/NBC/CTV science-fiction series, The Starlost . He was also the executive/producer for a number of television musical biographies including : Englebert Humperdinck , Paul Anka , Chet Atkins and Gordon Lightfoot .
Hall’s 26 published books include: thirteen mysteries, five novels, from which three are children’s, and three biographies including: The Real Patsy Cline and The Mamas & The Papas. Hall’s books have been published in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and the Soviet Union.
During Hall’s career, he travelled extensively on TV assignments to the United States, Europe, Scandinavia, the Soviet Union, Lebanon, Syria, Jordon, Israel, Haiti and Iraq.
Hall is a life member of the Writers Guild of Canada, a member of ACTRA and for a number of years, he was a member of the Toronto Men’s Press Club.
Dedication
It is hard to believe that as I close in on my 91 st year and Joyce in her 88 th , with me still writing and Joyce still editing, that together we have produced 28 books with the 29 th in progress since the first one The Brittle Thread came out in 1968. We are now working totally on The Paul West Mystery Series and are well into the fourth Murder In Time . We shall keep at it for as long as we can. I could have never done it without her.
Copyright Information ©
Douglas Hall (2020)
The right of Douglas Hall to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528935517 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528968294 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Acknowledgments
There are many people I want to thank for their invaluable help and support. Without them, this book would never have seen the light of day. First and foremost, there is Joyce, who critiqued and edited the manuscript page by page. Her remarkable skills with syntax, plotting, spelling and grammar are second to none.
I have had many excellent publishing professionals who have worked on my 26 books over the last 50 years but I have to say: Executive Editor, Daniel Smith; Vinh Tran; and his amazing production team including Luke Davies are right at the top. They are a delight to work with and I wish I had met them and Austin Macauley 26 books earlier.
Without them, this book would not be what I hoped it would be, and that is a worthy addition to The Paul West Mystery Series .

OTHER BOOKS BY DOUGLAS HALL
The Brittle Thread
The Girl in 906
Not Made for Defeat
The Long Way Down
The Kirsty Affair
The Worshippers
Seconds to Disaster
The China Conspiracy
Playing It Safe
Playing It Safe – Away from the City
Playing It safe – Home, Summer – Winter
Country on CD
The Real Patsy Cline
The Mamas & the Papas
Britons Pride
The Chiliad Murder(s)
Murder & the Minden Star
The $cam Murder
Speak Up It’s Murder
Murder at Lake Madison
Deadly Premiums
Murder in the Boardroom
Murder Can Kill
Murder in Time
Murder Unchained
Murder Never Forgets

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS
*In order of appearance
Paul West – private investigator
Mandy Perkins – executive assistant
Cindy Madison – missing girl
Victor Madison – Cindy’s father
Martha Madison – Cindy’s mother
Inspector Charles King – lead investigator
Amber Ferguson – Cindy’s closest friend
Scott Ferguson – Cindy’s boyfriend
Harry Ferguson – Amber and Scott’s father
Pastor Sammy Proctor – scam artist
Pastor Paul Proctor – heir apparent
Sheriff Virgil Culpepper – Moody Brook Alabama
Stephanie ‘Brock’ Brockhurst – administrative assistant
Jayden Mayfield – bank manager
Gaylord Brunson – lawyer
Thelma Jean Turner – Cindy Madison’s friend
One
IN A REMARKABLE CAREER, that was closing in on its first decade, Paul West had seen many interesting individuals walk through his office door to ask for his help, but when Mandy Perkins, his executive assistant and factotum, or as she jokingly called it, ‘his go-for girl’, ushered Victor Madison into his office, he had never seen his like before. He immediately recognised Madison having seen his picture in the business section of the daily newspaper, as well as reading about his legendary business acumen as a leading venture capitalist who began in a sparse office over a drug store with a borrowed five thousand dollars from his father-in-law. Through shrewd dealings, he built his company into a multi-million-dollar financial giant by investing in founding or struggling companies which he influenced and guided for a large slice of future profits before selling his interest back at an inflated profit. An imposing man with his lean, hard, six-foot-five stature and chiselled features topped off with a full head of salt and pepper hair he dominated every room or conversation and was a master of intimidation. When West shook hands, he had to look up at Madison who towered over him.
It was customary for Mandy to sit in on the initial meeting, and she took her seat in a chair to the left of West’s desk. Madison watched her with a questioning scowl as she activated the desk recorder and voiced his displeasure at a third party being present. West quickly informed him that he never conducted an initial interview without Mandy being present and would not make an exception this time in spite of Madison’s protest that he would be discussing sensitive issues and would feel more comfortable with just West hearing what he had to say. Realising that it could be prejudicial to continue, Madison began with, “Mr West, I won’t waste your time with needless chatter as I am a man of few words. I came to see you because I always do my research and found you to be the best man available, and I want to engage you. If you accept, I will demand your full time and energy which means you will have no other distractions.”
“What you are saying is that you would expect me not to be splitting my time with another case?”
“Precisely!”
West could have told him that he was between cases, and, at the moment, there was not one pending that interested him. “And just what is it you want me to do?”
“Find our daughter who went missing over two years ago. I don’t care what it costs or takes to do it, just do it!”
“You have to give me more details before I say yes or no. I assume you have filed a missing person with the police?”
“Yes.”
“Why come to me if the police are investigating?” It was a natural question but one that obviously struck a chord from Madison’s abrupt reaction.
“I will say this and only say it once. The local police and especially the lead investigator Inspector Charles King have been a total disaster. Two years after my daughter, Cindy, went missing, not one thing about her disappearance has been discovered, and it is now a cold case. All King would tell me was that if he has any further information, he would get in touch.”
West was surprised to hear Madison refer to King in such a negative tone. For the last ten years, he was on the force, before his career was ended by a suspect’s bullet in a takedown, they were partners, and he respected his investigative skills. He was about to tell Madison but decided this was not the time, instead, he asked, “I need a description of your daughter.”
Madison took an envelope out of his inside coat pocket. “I was sure you would need that so here is the last picture I have of her. It’s her high school graduation picture. She loved children and wanted to devote her life working with them. She was enrolled at university the following September and wanted to become a paediatric doctor.”
“I’ll need her vital statistics.”
“They are all on the back. This is what I gave to King when I filed the missing person report.”
West turned the photograph over and handed it to Mandy. “You are very thorough, sir.”
“I am always thorough. I leave nothing to chance which is something you will find out as we mov