Blood and Gold, Book 3 in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series
by Hawk MacKinney
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BLURB:
Blood and Gold,
the third book in The Craige Ingram Mystery Series, once again tests the
instincts and skills of retired Navy SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige
Ingram. Lust, greed, body parts and unrestrained wild sex parties are what
await Craige Ingram when he leaves the comforts of his South Carolina home to
visit his former SEAL buddy, Detective Spinner Krespinak. Set in the Colorado
underbelly of a sordid sable and faux glitz ski mecca, Detective Spinner
Krespinak suspects drugs have made their way to the snowy playground that is
Aspen. An Olympic ski hopeful is brutally murdered, Spinner vanishes, and
Craige Ingram is shot as events spin out of control with a Catch-22 no one
anticipates.
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Excerpt
The
drive up the narrow mountain rutted road was a risky, hands-on-the-wheel icy
slid-and-skid. With a grim set to his
jaws, Spinner didn’t say a word the whole way.
They parked among the jumble of squad cars. Craige avoided the taped-off areas while Spinner huddled with
Loopy. Silently they paced-off and
studied the layout of each room of the mansion…each room except the one where
death waited to greet Spinner. No one
except Craige and Loopy knew how Spinner wasn't as detached as he appeared. Spinner traced and retraced his steps. Seeing beyond Spinner’s detached veneer of
the professional, Craige could read the surly stir of emotions Spinner was
struggling to control.
Finally…there
was nothing left except to face the grizzly business of felony homicide and the
dead. Spinner went back to where Loopy
was busy. As though wanting to avoid
seeing what waited in that room, he said, “Any ideas about the time of death?”
Loopy
said, “Only a rough approximation at this point. I'd approximate somewhere between eight in the morning and two or
three in the afternoon. We haven’t
moved the bodies yet, but from what indications of livor mortis I could see,
I’m leaning toward it being earlier.
Central heat was off…fireplace ashes are still warm. Once we determine algor mortis changes in
the body temps, I’ll be able to narrow that some. We've already picked up thirty to forty different sets of
prints. Could easily be twice that
before we finish. Most so smudged
they're no good. The rancher who lives
at the valley turnoff said cars were going back and forth all night. How it wasn't the first time they had
all-night mountaintop blowouts up there.
We bagged used condoms from all over this place—bedrooms, baths, all
over the house. We’ll compare DNA with
that of the victims. See if we get any
matches that narrow down any persons of interest. Looks to be marijuana and freebase by the fireplace and in the
breakfast room. And what is likely
Mexican black heroin on the carpet in the den.
Lord only knows what else we'll turn up. I’ll be surprised if we don’t find Silk or S-K. There's at least a case of empty aerosol
cans, probably for heavy-duty huffing.
We'll see what the lab tells us…hopefully that’ll fill in more details.”
Spinner
said, “Before Frannie left for Denver last night, Ski came by and borrowed my
wheels to get here. Brought them back
about noon. Christy and the two men had
to be alive at the time Ski left.
Depending on road conditions, it takes about an hour to get from here
back into town. The low last night was
below zero, but there was no heavy weather—no wind.” His eyes flashed hurt and anger, a silent reckoning stirring
somewhere deep and hidden. “Ski would
party 'till the last minute.” Spinner
hesitated. “Least, I’d like to think it
was that. I wouldn’t like thinking he'd
use me as an alibi.” The thought of the
possibility was a heart-pain that sliced deep into his soul. “Give me a few minutes before you zip them
up.”
Loopy
nodded. “No hurry. Take what time you
need.”
A
very still Spinner turned a masque-face back to the bed…emotions churning his
features. A lump knotted his
throat. Looking down at Christy’s
lifeless body, the bullet hole a vulgar insult to a death mask of frozen
beauty…it seemed somehow otherworldly.
“…never could trust your flighty-canary way of life.” The niche occupied by carefree fun-loving
Christy seemed stark and empty.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
With postgraduate degrees
and faculty appointments in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has
taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. In addition to
professional articles and texts on chordate neuroembryology, Hawk has authored
several works of fiction.
Hawk began writing mysteries
for his school newspaper. His works of fiction, historical love stories,
science fiction and mystery-thrillers are not genre-centered, but
plot-character driven, and reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas
and Oklahoma. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel nominated for the prestigious
Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes
Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his serial protagonist in the
Craige Ingram Mystery Series… murder and mayhem with a touch of romance. Vault
of Secrets, the first book in the Ingram series, was followed by Nymrod
Resurrection, Blood and Gold, and The Lady of Corpsewood Manor. All have
received national attention. Hawk’s
latest release in the Ingram series is due out this fall with another mystery-thriller
work out in 2014. The Bleikovat Event, the first volume in The Cairns of
Sainctuarie science fiction series, was released in 2012.
"Without question, Hawk
is one of the most gifted and imaginative writers I have had the pleasure to
represent. His reading fans have something special to look forward to in the
Craige Ingram Mystery Series. Intrigue, murder, deception and conspiracy--these
are the things that take Hawk's main character, Navy ex-SEAL/part-time private
investigator Craige Ingram, from his South Carolina ancestral home of Moccasin
Hollow to the dirty backrooms of the nation's capital and across Europe and the
Middle East."
Barbara Casey, President
Barbara Casey Literary
Agency
Links:
www.hawkmackinney.net
3 comments:
Blood and Gold sounds very intriguing. I have not read any books from the Craige Ingram Mystery Series. I will have to check them out. Thanks for the introduction.
Nancy ALLEN - Hope your Blood&Gold intro takes U back to Vault of Secrets & other titles of the Ingram mysteries on my HOME page - the Sci-fi titles are touring this month. Thanx for stopping by & commenting -
Hawk MacKinney
www.hawkmackinney.net
Dina RAE - Thank you for hosting the Book Blast of Blood & Gold from the Ingram Mystery-thriller Series, with the serial Scottish-Normandr protagonist SEAL/PI Craige Ingram & other seal-mates in the series.
Hawk MacKinney
www.hawkmackinney.net
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