The Scandal, page 39
part #3 of Stone and Oliver Series
Benjamin Stone and Christopher Adam
Further Reading
Don’t miss the first instalment in the gripping Stone and Oliver series: The Lost
Alex arrives home from holiday to find that her ten-year-old son Daniel has disappeared. It’s the first case together for Northumbria CID officers David Stone and Frankie Oliver. But as the investigation unfolds, they realise the family’s betrayal goes deeper than anyone suspected. This isn’t just a missing persons case. Stone and Oliver are hunting a killer.
Click here to start reading The Lost today!
Then read on for the second thrilling case in the Stone and Oliver series: The Insider
When the body of a young woman is found by a Northumberland railway line, it’s a baptism of fire for the Murder Investigation Team’s newest detective duo: DCI David Stone and DS Frankie Oliver. The case is tough by anyone’s standards, but Stone is convinced that there’s a leak in his team. Until he finds out who, Stone can only trust his partner. But Frankie is struggling with her own past. And she isn’t the only one being driven by a personal vendetta. The killer is targeting these women for a reason. And his next target is close to home . . .
Click here to start reading The Insider today!
Acknowledgements
High five Team Orion: my wonderful editor, Francesca Pathak; publicist, Alainna Hadjigeorgiou; marketing guru, Lynsey Sutherland; designer Tomas Almeida and freelance copy-editor Anne O’Brien to whom this book is dedicated. I wouldn’t be the writer I am without any of you.
To every single reader, writer, blogger, bookseller and librarian who has taken the time to organise or attend events, read, review and recommended my work to others – especially Forum Books who’ve launched every one of my titles in the village where I live – I appreciate all you do for me.
Thanks to Professor Sarah Hainsworth, personal friend, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Aston University whose knowledge of knives was invaluable in writing this book. And Garry Willey who I first met when he was a court reporter and I was a Crown Court Liaison Officer. His memory of Newcastle Crown Court is better than mine.
No dedication would be complete without tipping my hat to all at A.M. Heath Literary Agency, especially Oli Munson, agent and friend for almost a decade, who once read an unsolicited debut, saw potential and offered to represent me. There must’ve been a fairy sitting on my shoulder that day – it seems she’s still there.
A big wave to my wonderful family: Paul, Kate, Max and Frankie; Chris, Jodie, Daisy and Finn; Mo – partner, collaborator and unsung hero – who I suspect would love to swap places with my keyboard but has never voiced that out loud. She is simply the best.
About the Author
Mari Hannah is a multi-award-winning author whose authentic voice is no happy accident. A former probation officer, she lives in rural Northumberland with her partner, an ex-murder detective. Mari turned to script-writing when her career was cut short following an assault on duty. Her debut, The Murder Wall, (adapted from a script she developed with the BBC) won her the Polari First Book Prize. Its follow-up, Settled Blood, picked up a Northern Writers’ award. Her Kate Daniels series is in development with Stephen Fry’s production company, Sprout Pictures. She is currently Reader in Residence and Chair for the Harrogate International Crime Writing Festival. Mari’s body of work won her the CWA Dagger in the Library 2017, an incredible honour to receive so early on in her career.
Find out more by following Mari on Twitter @mariwriter or visiting her website www.marihannah.com
Also by Mari Hannah
STONE & OLIVER SERIES
The Lost
The Insider
KATE DANIELS SERIES
The Murder Wall
Settled Blood
Deadly Deceit
Monument to Murder (aka Fatal Games)
Killing for Keeps
Gallows Drop
RYAN & O’NEIL SERIES
The Silent Room
The Death Messenger
Copyright
AN ORION EBOOK
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Orion Books
Ebook first published in 2018 by Orion Books
Copyright © Mari Hannah 2019
The right of Mari Hannah to be identified as the author
of this work has been asserted in accordance with 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, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor to be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
All the characters in this book are fictitious,
and any resemblance to actual persons, living
or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978 1 4091 7410 3
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London, EC4Y 0DZ
An Hachette UK company
www.orionbooks.co.uk
Table of Contents
Dedication
Praise for Mari Hannah
Title Page
Contents
Prologue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
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18
19
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39
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84
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Acknowledgements
About the Author
Also by Mari Hannah
Copyright
Mari Hannah, The Scandal
