A murder, a missing student and a professor with a past he can’t outrun

The debut novel in the Alex Ballintine Mystery Series

It’s the fall of 1983. Former detective Alexander Ballintine has settled into life as a college professor in the former mill town of Taft, New Hampshire. But his world is upended by the murder of a prominent local businessman and the sudden disappearance of a former student. Drawn back into the world of criminal investigation, Ballintine must navigate academic politics, family secrets, and his own haunted past as he searches for the truth.

Ballintine teams up with the unconventional and resourceful new department assistant, Daphne Norris, and uncovers a tangled web of betrayal, hidden motives, and long-buried resentments. Racing against time to clear an innocent name and stop a cunning killer, Ballintine is forced to confront the choices that drove him from law enforcement, and to decide how far he’s willing to go for redemption and justice.