Death Line

DEATH LINE No 3 in the Rafferty and Llewellyn cozy mystery series

INSPECTOR FROST MEETS 'DEL BOY' TROTTER & FAMILY. AND MURDER.

ABOUT THE SERIES
The Rafferty and Llewellyn mystery series features working-class lapsed Catholic Detective Inspector Joe Rafferty who comes from a family who think - if they must have a policeman in the family - that he might at least have the decency to be a bent one. Even his Ma, Kitty Rafferty is not averse to illicit bargains and some of his siblings seem to positively stumble into crime.

Given all this, Rafferty's career seems more flotsam and jetsam than solid and Dafyd Llewellyn, his high moral tone partner, only adds to the angst. And when you include murder in the brew...

Synopsis
Jasper Moon, internationally renowned ‘seer to the stars’, had signally failed to foresee his own future. He is found dead on his consulting-room floor, his skull crushed with a crystal ball and, all, around him, his office in chaos.

Meanwhile, Ma Rafferty does some star-gazing of her own and is sure she can predict Detective Inspector Joe Rafferty’s future – by the simple expedient of organising it herself. She is still engaged on her crusade to get Rafferty married off to a good Catholic girl with child-bearing hips. But Rafferty has a cunning plan to sabotage her machinations. Only trouble is, he needs Sergeant Llewellyn’s cooperation and he isn’t sure he’s going to get it.

During their murder investigations, Inspector Rafferty and Sergeant Llewellyn discover a highly incriminating video concealed in Moon’s flat, a video which, if made public, could wreck more than one life. Was the famous astrologer really a vicious sexual predator?

Gradually, connections begin to emerge between Moon and others in the small Essex town of Elmhurst. But how is Rafferty to solve the case when all of his suspects have seemingly unbreakable alibis?

REVIEWS FOR DEATH LINE
‘The detectives brilliantly complement and oppose each other. For those who love Sherlock Holmes-style mysteries, you’ll likely adore Evans’ style, humor and method of detection. A wonderful cozy, rainy-night read rich with interesting characters that all appear guilty and innocent. At every turn you’ll think you know who the killer is, but the true identity and motive won’t come until the end. The reveal is not far-fetched or deceptive – it was there all along and it works perfectly.’
Review by Charlie Courtland of Bitsy Bling Books http://bitsybling.blogspot.com/2011/03/death-line-curl-up-with-cozy-mystery

‘Ms Evans writes with a nice, tongue-in-cheek style and in her policemen has created an attractive pair of sleuths. Recommended.’
MICHAEL PAINTER, THE IRISH TIMES, ON DEATH LINE

'I love English detectives and the team of Rafferty and Llewellyn is no exception. Evans has created a pair that works well together without one over shadowing the other in any way. I love that. I cannot help but compare Evans to Sir Author Conan Doyle, her style is similar although her wit is not as dry, which is another plus in my book. I also liked that Rafferty and Llewellyn recognize and catch the flaws in one another that are sometimes over looked in other novels. In my opinion Geraldine Evans will soon be one of those must read authors whose books sell out in minutes.
Rita Reviews
Rita's Rating: Five Stars

‘One of the best crime plots for devotees is written in the stars in Geraldine Evans’ DEATH LINE.’
PETERBOROUGH EVENING TELEGRAPH

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Geraldine Evans is a Londoner but moved to Norfolk in the UK in 2000. She has been writing since her twenties, but it was only when she hit the milestone age of thirty that she actually began finishing anything. She then wrote a novel a year for six years before she was published. That first published novel was a romance, but she then switched to crime and DEAD BEFORE MORNING, the first book in what became her now 15-strong Rafferty & Llewellyn cozy procedural series (currently only 77p / $1.15 / Euro 0,89), was taken from Macmillan's slush pile and published. They sold it in turn to St Martin's Press and Worldwide (pb). Her other publishers include Hale, Severn house and Isis (audio).

And thus began a writing career covering eighteen traditionally-published and two indie-published novels with most of her backlist also now available as ebooks. Geraldine Evans decided to turn down her publisher's latest contract late in 2010 after reading various blogs (Joe Konrath's, in particular) about self-publishing. It was the information that writers could actually earn a proper living that attracted her. And they were right! Goodbye hated day job! Hello freedom and joy in your work. As 'Del Boy' Trotter would say: 'Lovely jubbly'!

WEBSITE: http://www.geraldineevans.com
BLOG: http://geraldineevansbooks.wordpress.com