Welcome to my guest Carolyn Arnold. She's one of my virtual friends and has kindly featured me on her blog, too. Carolyn's the author of the Madison Knight series, and the Brandon Fisher FBI series. Today, she’s going to tell us about the Madison Knight series.
Me: Carolyn, can you tell my readers about the Madison Knight series?
Carolyn: First of all, it is designed as a stand-alone mystery series, which means you can read these books out of order and still pick up on the series' characters and story line.
Me: Exactly who is Detective Madison Knight?
Carolyn: Major Crimes Detective Madison Knight, fueled by determination to find justice for victims, is a strong, independent female amidst a career dominated by men. If you love a strong protagonist lead, I invite you to meet Madison for yourself.
To find out more about Madison Knight and the series, you can visit my website here.
Me: How many are books are currently available in the series?
Carolyn:Three novels are currently available, but two more are slated for release 2013. FOUND INNOCENT will be the fourth in the series slated to release in fall 2013, and LIFE SENTENCE, the prequel to the series releases August 14, 2013.
TIES THAT BIND
Meet Madison Knight as she and partner must pull together to stop a potential serial killer.
JUSTIFIED
See the softer side of Madison Knight in Justified as she's assigned to a case on Christmas Eve.
SACRIFICE
Madison must risk all, including her career, to bring a killer to justice.
Me: Would you like to share some more information on the first in the series, TIES THAT BIND, and an excerpt?
Carolyn: Absolutely.
This is the book overview:
Detective Madison Knight concluded the case of a strangled woman an isolated incident. But when another woman's body is found in a park killed with the same line of neckties, she realizes they're dealing with something more serious.
Despite mounting pressure from the Sergeant and Chief to close the case even if it means putting an innocent man behind bars, and a partner who is more interested in saving his marriage than stopping a potential serial killer, Madison may have to go it alone if there's not going to be another victim.
Excerpt of TIES THAT BIND:
Chapter 1
Someone died every day. Madison was left to make sense of it. She ducked under the yellow tape and surveyed the scene. The two-story, white-sided house would be deemed average any other day, but today the dead body inside made it of interest to the Stiles PD and a few curious onlookers who gathered in small clusters on the sidewalk.
She’d never seen the officer securing the perimeter before but she knew his type. The way he stood there with his back straight, one hand resting on his holster, the other gripping a clipboard, identified him as an eager recruit.
He held up a hand as she approached. “This is a closed crime scene.”
She unclipped the badge from the waist of her pants and held it front of him. He studied it as if it was counterfeit. She respected those who took their jobs seriously—on a regular day—but not when she functioned on limited sleep and the humidity level topped ninety-five percent at ten-thirty in the morning. “Detective K-N-I-” Her name died on her lips when the front door opened and Sergeant Winston stepped out. She would have groaned audibly if he wasn’t closing the distance between them so quickly. She preferred her boss behind a desk.
Winston gestured for the young officer to let her in. He glared at her before leaving his post. She envied the fact he could leave.
“It’s about time you got here.” Winston fished a handkerchief out of a pocket and wiped at his receding hairline. The extra few inches exposed a large forehead that could have served as a solar panel. “I was just about to assign the lead to Grant.”
Terry Grant was her partner of five years and her junior by three. Damn if he’d give the lead to Terry.
“Where have you been anyway?”
She disregarded his inquiry, jacked a thumb in the rookie’s direction. “Who’s the new guy?”
“Don’t change the subject, Knight.”
She’d have to offer some sort of an explanation for being late. “Well, boss, you know me. Up all night slinging back shooters.”
“Don’t get smart with me.”
She flashed him a cocky smile and pulled a Hershey bar from a front pant pocket. The chocolate had already softened from the heat. It didn’t really matter. She took a bite. Heaven. She spoke with a partial mouthful. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“Call came in. I was nearby. Thought someone should respond.” He went to step over the tape to the sidewalk, but it wasn’t a smooth maneuver. His foot got caught up in the band. He hopped on the other leg to adjust his balance and straightened out. He continued speaking as if he hadn’t noticed. “The body’s upstairs, main bedroom. She was strangled.” He pointed the tip of a key toward her. “Keep me updated.” He depressed a button on his key fob. The department-issued SUV’s lights flashed. “I’ll be waiting for your call.”
As if he needed to say that. Sometimes she wondered if he valued talk more than action.
With the Sergeant gone, she could feel the eyes of the young officer on her. He stood there judging her from a distance. What was his problem anyway? She took another bite as she turned her attention to the house.
Terry came out. “Too bad you had to show. I think I was just about to get the lead.”
“I’d have to be the one dead for that to happen.” She allowed a small smile to show as she brushed past him.
“You look like crap.”
The smile faded. She stopped walking and turned around. Every one of his blond hairs was in place, making her self-conscious of her short cut, wake-up-and-wear-it style. And his cheeks held a healthy glow, no doubt from his morning two-mile run. She hated people who could do mornings.
“What did you get? Two hours sleep?”
“Three, but who’s counting?” She took another large bite.
“You were up reviewing evidence from the last case, weren’t you?”
She didn’t feel inclined to answer.
“You can’t change the past.”
She didn’t feel hungry anymore and wrapped up what was left. “Let’s just focus on this case.”
“Fine, if that’s how it’s going be. Victim’s name is Laura Saunders. She’s thirty-two. Single. Officer Higgins was the first on scene. Call came in from the vic’s employer, Southwest Welding Products, where she worked as the receptionist.”
“What would make the employer call?”
“She didn’t show for her shift at eight. They tried reaching her first, but when they didn’t get an answer, they sent a security officer over. He found the door ajar, called downtown. Higgins was here by eight forty-five.”
“Who—”
“The security officer? Terrence Owens. And don’t worry we took a formal statement, let him go. Background showed notta, not even a speeding ticket. We can function when you’re not around.”
She cocked her head to the side.
“He also testifies to the fact he never stepped one foot into the place.” Terry paused and laughed lightly. “Said he’s watched enough cop shows to know it would contaminate the crime scene. You get all those people watching those stupid TV shows, and they all think they can solve murder.”
“Is Owens the one who made the call downtown?”
“Actually, procedure for them is to route everything through administration. A Sandra Butler made the call. She’s the office manager.”
“So an employee doesn’t show for work, they send someone to your house?”
“She said it’s part of their safety policy.”
“At least they’re a group of people inclined to think positively.” Madison felt sweat droplets run down her back. Disgusting. She moved toward the house.
“You can’t take that in there.” The young officer came hurrying over. He shoved the clipboard under his arm, tucked a pen behind an ear. He jabbed a pointed finger toward the chocolate bar.
She glanced down at it. Chocolate oozed out of a corner. He had a point so she handed it to him. His jaw tightened. She forced a smile and patted his shoulder. “Good job.” He walked away with the bar dangling from the wrapper he held pinched between two fingers mumbling something indiscernible.
Terry said, “You can be so wicked sometimes.”
“Why thank you.”
“It wasn’t a compliment. And since when do you eat chocolate for breakfast?”
“Oh shut up.” She punched him in the shoulder. He smirked and rubbed his arm, same old sideshow. She headed into the house with him following behind her.
“Stairs are to the right.”
“Holy crap, it’s freezing in here.” The sweat on her skin chilled, and she found it a refreshing welcome.
“Yep, a hundred and one outside, sixty inside.” Two steps from the top, Terry spoke over a shoulder. “And just a forewarning. It’s not your typical strangulation.”
“Come on Terry, you’ve seen one, you’ve—” She stopped talking, stood in the bedroom doorway. Terry was right.
Want to read more? You’ll have to purchase Carolyn Arnold’s book. Speaking of which, where can we find TIES THAT BIND?
Amazon Kindle US
Amazon Kindle UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Apple
Sony
You may also find out more about Carolyn Arnold and her books at: http://carolynarnold.net
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