#Extract Dead Pretty by Candy Denman #BlogTour @annecater @CrimeCandy

Dead Pretty by Candy Denman

Published by Crime Scene Books 

Publication Date: 24 July 2017

Genre: Crime, Thriller, Mystery

328 pages

Today I feel extremely privileged to have an extract from established script writer Candy Denman, and the first book of her crime series set on the south coast of England. Candy has a fine pedigree of writing for TV which is reflected well in the section of the book which she has kindly allowed me to feature on the blog tour today. Have a read, and should you desire follow the link to buy a copy of the e-book for yourself to complete the story. I have already added the second in the series to my ever growing list of books to be read this year.

Book Description: 

The first in a series featuring Jocasta Hughes, part-time GP, in the small English seaside town of Hastings.

Working with the local police as on-call Forensic Medical Practitioner, Jo uncovers the gruesome truth that a serial killer is on the loose in the small seaside town where she works - and that she herself has become a target.

Intelligent, witty, well-plotted crime fiction. More cosy than not.

****

Extract from Dead Pretty by Candy Denman

    The sun was not fully up and the last vestiges of sea mist were still lingering around the sea front kiosks as Jo made her way along the promenade, shivering slightly in the cool morning air. It was normally deserted at this time of day, apart from the seagulls wheeling overhead, but today she could see a small knot of people ahead, waiting for her by the public conveniences. There were two undertakers, lounging against their grey unmarked van, smoking and laughing over some undoubtedly tasteless joke. After all, this was a council pickup job, an unknown corpse for delivery to the hospital mortuary, as opposed to a private call-out by a grieving family. No need to put on a veneer of professional empathy. 

Closer to the modern, squat, concrete building were two PCs, the first to be called out and grateful to be able to move away as she approached. The younger policeman, new to death, looked concerned and faintly green about the gills, but the older one, although still only in his late twenties, had seen it all before and was simply fed up that they were unlikely to get off duty on time. 

Jo paused a moment to take in the scene before she knelt beside the body of the young woman lying slumped against the outer wall of the toilets, next to the drinking fountain. She was careful to keep her distance and not to get too close to the body fluids that had pooled beneath the corpse. She put down her medical bag just within reach, but as far away from the immediate vicinity of the body as possible.

“Who found her?” she asked.

“Cleaner. Unlocks the toilets every morning at five thirty. She’s in the caff over the road, getting tea and sympathy and telling everyone the gory details, no doubt.” It was the older policeman who had answered. 

Jo took her time, she liked to fully assess the situation before touching the body, making sure this was not a crime scene before potentially destroying or altering the evidence. The girl looked scarcely out of her teens, but her ravaged face told Jo a story of drug abuse and addiction. Her short Lycra skirt didn’t cover the essentials, revealing the greying thong she was wearing, suggesting prostitution as a career choice, and lower-end-of-the-market prostitution at that. There were nicotine stains on the first two digits of her right hand and a length of rubber tubing still drawn tight around her left forearm. A small globule of blood had oozed from the needle-hole on the dorsal aspect of her left hand. This addict had already knackered the veins in her antecubital fossa, the veins of choice for a junkie, even if they didn’t know the name for their precise anatomical location.

Buy Your Copy Here:   Amazon UK Dead Pretty by Candy Denman

The series continues with the second book Body Heat, which was published in May 2018:

About the Author:

Candy Denman is a crime and TV script writer of programmes such as The Bill, Heartbeat and Doctors. Author of the Jocasta Hughes crime series set in Hastings.

Social Media Link: Twitter: @CrimeCandy

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