The Investigator — Chris Taylor

A woman who thought she could run away from her past... At fourteen, Kate Collins ran away from home. Ten years later, her mother has disappeared without a trace. Faced with no other choice, she returns home. Kate's convinced her stepfather's responsible, but he's a highly decorated police officer. Who's going to take her accusations seriously? Banished to a small country town to repent after reporting his city superiors for corruption, Detective Riley Munro is hardly going to accuse the town's recently retired Commander of murder. But Kate's fear and distress seem genuine. Reluctantly, he agrees to investigate. After making rudimentary enquires, he's told Kate's mother is on a cruise. The information pans out and Riley's convinced the former Commander is innocent. Riley's on the verge of closing the case when he receives a subtle threat from his boss to leave Kate's stepfather alone. Why would the new Commander feel the need to warn him off? And why would his boss go out of his way to blacken Kate's character? Things get even more intriguing when Riley discovers not only is Kate's mother in a wheelchair, she also hates the water. Is Kate telling the truth? Is her stepfather, the former Police Commander, guilty of murder?