VAULT OF
SECRETS
By
Hawk McKinney
BLURB:
Vault of
Secrets is a compelling tale of intrigue, murder, deception and redemption that
leads retired Navy SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram in search
of the connection between seemingly random murders and a banking
conspiracy. Working with the local homicide investigator, who just
happens to be a former Navy buddy, Craige Ingram's attempts to protect a lonely
widow and solve the case before another person dies are only thwarted by a psychotic
killer whose motivation is based on pure pleasure. The instincts and
skills Ingram and his buddy acquired as Navy SEALS are tested to their limits.
EXCERPT
3
Predawn
risers were at Duke’s breakfast diner in booths and at tables. The aroma of fried eggs, pancakes, grits,
bacon and country ham filled the air.
Gray caught Craige up on Sedgewicke’s autopsy reports—chronic
degenerative heart condition, sky high cholesterol and arterial disease.
“His
heart wasn’t what killed him. Got us a
crafty one here,” Gray sighed. “CDC
Atlanta verified Fred’s gas chromatography runs on the poison.” Handed Craige the folder.
Craige’s
eyes zeroed to the big, bold word—ACONITE.
“Lethal dose of aconite in Royce’s tissues,” Craige said. “Gives the how but not the way it was slipped
to Sedgewicke.” He looked through the rest of the toxicology report. “Not very original. Rome’s Julio-Claudian's treacherous family of
brigands was in some ways a lot more honest than most of us and far more
sophisticated with aconite. They called
it wolfsbane and used it often. Wife of
old Octavian Augustus, a determined old dowager, the Empress Livia, it was
rumored to be her favorite method for eliminating rivals. She kept her supplier on call. Augustus wouldn’t eat anything except food
prepared by his own slaves. Livia wanted
her son Tiberius to succeed to the purple.
She was afraid Augustus meant to be rid of Tiberius, so she dusted her
husband’s figs with the bane. People do
get away with murder and simple makes for better odds.” Craige glanced at the
next page. “This gone beyond your
office?”
“Only
CDC,” Gray said. “Your crack about
possible killings we don’t know about keeps troubling me.” He scratched his
wiry mustache. “Marshall’s suicide,
Sedgewicke murder, two women dead, the Stanley break-in.”
Craige
closed the folder, his face stony serious. “I’ve never done, what I’m about to
do. Ask you for a favor...”
“No…” Craige’s monotone hardness surprised
Gray. “But I gather that’s about to
change.”
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
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
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6 comments:
Thank you for your time in hosting Vault of Secrets from my Ingram mystery series -
Hawk MacKinney
www.hawkmackinney.net
Thanks for hosting!
This has been fun! Good luck with your book Hawk MacKinney. I look forward to reading it! Thank you for sharing.
Pansy Petal -
It is fun - thanx for the comment - enjoy the read -
Hawk MacKinney
www.hawkmackinney.net
Liking the Aconite discussion :) Another for the wish list, it appears.
petoskystone -
Yes…Aconite came in handy…maybe the title, or one of the others in the Ingram mystery series will end up under the Xmas tree…enjoy!
Hawk MacKinney
www.hawkmackinney.net
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