Blog Tour - Hush Little Baby
Hush Little Baby
by Jane Isaac
I would like to thank Aria Fiction for inviting me on this Fabulous Blog Tour.
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Book Information
Someone stole a baby...
One sunny day in July, someone took three-month-old Alicia Owen from her pram outside a supermarket. Her mother, Marie, was inside. No one saw who took Alicia. And no one could find her.
They silenced her cry...
Fifteen years later, a teenager on a construction site sees a tiny hand in the ground. When the police investigate, they find a baby buried and preserved in concrete. Could it be Alicia?
But the truth will always out.
When Alicia disappeared, the papers accused Marie of detachment and neglect. The Owens never got over the grief of their child's disappearance and divorced not long after. By reopening the case, DC Beth Chamberlain must reopen old wounds. But the killer may be closer than anyone ever suspected...
The latest crime thriller featuring Family Liaison Officer DC Beth Chamberlain, Hush Little Baby is tightly plotted, fraught with tension and impossible to put down. Perfect for fans of Cara Hunter and K.L. Slater.
Pre-order links: Amazon: https://amzn.to/2AM9evY Kobo: https://bit.ly/2TiC7Gv Google Play: https://bit.ly/2Tp2tXf iBooks: https://apple.co/2BLTfyz
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Excerpt
The detective chief inspector tapped the screen. ‘In the description given at the
time, Alicia’s mother said the child was wearing a towelling vest and a nappy. The
contents of her changing bag, also taken with her, included a cream shawl, similar to the one this child was wrapped in. The burial site, if we can call it that, is less than two miles from the Owens’ home at the time, and not far from where Alicia went
missing.’
‘Could it have been as long as fifteen years?’ Nick asked.
‘They can’t be completely sure before they
run tests, but potentially, yes.’
‘So, we think it is her?’
‘From what we’ve uncovered so far, it seems likely. Pete’s been out to see the
farmer who owns the land.’
DC Pete Winston approached the front of the room. He was a tall man, with short
dark hair and soft brown eyes. The buttons on his shirt gaped slightly over an
overhanging paunch. ‘The land was owned by the Moreton family before it was sold
for development,’ he said. ‘Old man Moreton must be in his seventies now. He ran the farm with his only son, it had been in their family over a hundred years. He claims he had no idea how the body came to be on his land.’ Pete lifted a hand and circled an area on the map, indicating the location of the farm and the land attached to it. A purple-headed pin close to the edge marked the area where the remains were found.
‘Moreton was quite clear that this particular field—’ Pete tapped the crime scene twice ‘—has been used solely for crops for the last thirty years. It’s several acres away from the farmhouse and not overlooked. There are no bridle ways or walkways that run through, or close by, and it was edged with high hawthorn hedging along the roadside, until recently when the developers cut it back.’
‘How did they access the field?’ Nick asked.
‘Through a locked gate at the bottom of the road.’
‘So, he’s saying nobody else had access apart from farm workers?’
‘Not legitimately. He did admit there were a few breaks in the hedging back in the
day, caused by badgers and other animals, where someone may have climbed
through.’
Nick’s face crumpled. ‘Surely the farmer or a labourer working the land would
have noticed something freshly buried, or that the soil was disturbed.’
‘Yeah, I mentioned that. Moreton wasn’t convinced.’ Pete glanced down and sifted
through his notebook until he found what he was looking for. ‘This was one field in a
farm of over 700 acres. They combine crop and cattle. The work is constant. They
harvest, cultivate and sow the crops. Often fields aren’t touched for months in
between. If the block was buried at the right time, the soil could have had plenty of weeks or months to settle afterwards.’
Beth narrowed her eyes. Once again, it indicated a level of knowledge and
planning. To know when the seeds would be sown. Although it would have been
cumbersome to transport a concrete lump that size into the field. The killer would
have had to dig quite a hole to conceal it. ‘How far does their machinery penetrate the soil?’ she asked.
Pete shot Beth a knowing smile. ‘Down to a maximum of thirty centimetres.’
Which meant if the block was buried deeper than thirty centimetres it could have sat there for years, undisturbed. Beth gave an appreciative nod. ‘What about the
builder working the digger this morning?’ she asked. ‘How come they didn’t notice
they’d hit the concrete block? Especially if they were working through soil.’
‘They’d been breaking up the foundations of a dilapidated barn nearby. Some of
the remains were mixed in with the soil in that part of the field. They probably didn’t
give it a second thought.’ Pete snapped his notebook shut. ‘The farmer’s putting
together a list of labourers he’s used. They’d know the area, be aware it was remote.’
Freeman thanked Pete and sunk his hands deep in his pockets. ‘As I said, if this is
Alicia, the quickest way to confirm identity would be through a DNA check against
her parents. Depending on how busy the labs are, we’d hopefully know within two to three days.’
‘I’ve already taken a sample from the mother,’ Beth said. ‘It was couriered to the
lab this afternoon.’
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Author Bio
You can reach her via her website at www.janeisaac.co.uk Sign up to her book club at http://eepurl.com/1a2uT for book recommendations and details of new releases, events and giveaways.
Follow Jane:
Facebook: @JaneIsaacAuthor
Twitter: @JaneIsaac
Author Website: www.janeisaac.co.uk
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