Glass Arrows by Heather Peck is a Kindle Unlimited pick #crimethriller #thriller #ku #giveaway
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  • N. N. Light
    • Nov 9, 2023
    • 5 min read

Glass Arrows by Heather Peck is a Kindle Unlimited pick #crimethriller #thriller #ku #giveaway



Title: Glass Arrows


Author: Heather Peck


Genre: Crime thriller


Book Blurb:

PREY, PREDATOR OR PROTECTOR - WHICH ARE YOU?


Shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Awards prize for fiction 2021


A body is found during a bird-flu turkey cull. DCI Greg Geldard, newly promoted and newly transferred to Norfolk, is about to face the most challenging case of his career.


His investigation starts with one body found amongst dead turkeys but goes on to expose a range of crimes hiding in plain sight, from modern slavery to wildlife smuggling. The body count rises, a friend is threatened, and justice seems a long way off.


Excerpt:


A short, square man, Jackson exuded a generalised aggression that tended to keep most people at a safe distance. He had short hair, short beard, and a short fuse which meant that even in his local pub, both those who knew him and those who didn’t, would pass by on the way to the bar with great care not to jostle him and no more than a quick word of greeting. He lived in a small terraced cottage on the edge of the village, his only companions his ferrets, which spent much of their time mooching round his kitchen. He maintained, to the few who had the temerity to ask, that they kept down the pests. They certainly added to a particular, pervasive atmosphere.


That evening the ferrets were left behind and he loaded his van with the fine mesh net that he used to catch elvers. Once on the riverbank, he shouldered the lightweight net, the long aluminium handle he used with it, the plastic box for his catch, and the old haversack with his snack and bait in it. Thus encumbered he set off through the failing light. Despite his burdens he moved silently and negotiated most obstacles with the ease of long practice.


The light was fading fast by the time he reached his spot just where a brook joined the Ant. Here the bank was clear for a few feet between heavily overhanging elders. Well hidden under the branches he sat on a log to eat his thick cheese sandwich and drink his flask of hot sugary tea. He had hesitated over a can or two of beer, but long caution over mixing rivers and alcohol had decided him on leaving it behind for, he hoped, a celebratory drink later. The half-moon was a dim shimmer tracing a path downriver when he began fishing with his net, and he grunted with a dour pleasure when a reasonable yield of elvers were dropped into his keep box. They wriggled over and round each other like animated spaghetti, no doubt wondering why, after so many thousands of miles from the Sargasso Sea, their journey upstream had now been interrupted by a smelly Norfolk man with net, box and insurmountable greed.


He was just about to plunge the net back into the river for another scoop when he heard the quiet splash of a paddle. Freezing into stillness he listened and watched the water. He was too old a hand to make the mistake of moving away into the trees, knowing that movement was much easier to see than stillness. However, on this occasion the man in the kayak knew where to look, knew where his prey was to be found. Jackson was surprised to see a kayak very like the one he had left in his tin shed, and astonished when he saw who was paddling it.


‘What you doin’ in my canoe?’ he exclaimed. ‘I niver giv you permission ta…’


then saw, too late, just what the paddler was pointing at him. ‘Oh shi,’ he said, trying to back off, but hampered by the net with the long handle. Then something hit him hard in the chest and the last thing he knew was cold water on his face.

*

Earlier that evening, with the moonlight glimmering softly on silky water, the kayak had pushed off from the bank. Mindful of how well sound travelled over water, the occupant paddled with extreme caution, one slow stroke after slow stroke. The fact he was moving with the current helped, and as he slid downstream the kayak hugged the bank, even disappearing under low willow branches from time to time. An otter, disturbed by a foreign smell and foreign shape, plopped into the river just ahead, provoking a muffled expletive from the startled paddler. The rings of the otter’s passage spread on the calm water as the kayak slowed for a moment, the person on board listening intently, then the double-ended paddle lifted and dipped once again. The kayak moved forward.


As it approached its destination, progress slowed some more. Slowly, slowly, it moved through the water, only a faint whisper audible from its passage. Ahead could be seen the light from a muffled torch, and there were sounds of grunting, as someone hauled something heavy from the river. More grunting and some disgruntled muttering hid the sounds of the approaching kayak so effectively that the grunter on the bank was completely taken by surprise.


There was a loud click, a rushing noise and a thud. The man curled forward, hung still for a moment, then fell into the river. The kayaker backpaddled and waited to see if anyone had heard the shout or the splash. Nothing. Where the man had fallen there was a confused swirl of current, a brief glimpse of an arm, or was it a leg? Then nothing. The river closed over the gift, as if it formed some recompense for all that he had taken from it, over very many years.


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What makes your featured book a must-read?


Glass Arrows, set in the unique rural landscape of the Norfolk Broads and coast, is about modern slavery, and the smuggling of wildlife and pets. A complex web of organised crime starts to unravel as someone kills to cover up their activities. Shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Wards prize for fiction, the judge described it as ‘a page-turner that would be enjoyable on screen as well as on the page.’


Giveaway –


Enter to win a $40 Amazon gift card:



Open Internationally.


Runs November 7 – November 16, 2023.


Winner will be drawn on November 17, 2023.



Author Biography:


Award-winning author Heather Peck has spent most of her working life in agriculture, both as a civil servant and as a hands-on farmer. This resulted in a wide variety of experiences, from managing the UK emergency response to the Chernobyl accident to breeding both sheep and alpacas commercially. She has been involved in international negotiations, pesticide legislation, food quality and animal welfare. After leaving government service she chaired an NHS Trust, then volunteered in Citizens Advice and the Witness Service before Covid changed everything and she combined her NHS and agricultural background by training as a Covid vaccinator. She lives in Norfolk with her partner Gary, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 hens and a rabbit. Heather’s books include a crime series for adults and animal-focussed books for children.


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