The Temenos Remains by Heather Peck is a Kindle Unlimited pick #crimethriller #ku #giveaway
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    • Nov 14, 2023
    • 4 min read

The Temenos Remains by Heather Peck is a Kindle Unlimited pick #crimethriller #ku #giveaway



Title:           The Temenos Remains

 

Author:        Heather Peck

 

Genre:         Crime thriller

 

Book Blurb: 

      

PEOPLE HAVE GONE MISSING. SOME ARE TURNING UP – DEAD

 

Ritual burials are rare. Finding them – rarer still. When three turn up, Greg Geldard knows he has a problem. Can he find the killer’s latest victim before it’s too late?

 

Excerpt:

 

Climbing out of his car was a very different experience at Hemsby than it had been in Great Yarmouth. In Yarmouth, partly protected from the wind by the surrounding buildings, the overwhelming impression had been of the menacing waters surging and retreating in the river. Here, in the full teeth of the easterly powering in from the Urals with seemingly nothing in between, Greg found it hard to stand straight and even breathe. A rain-lashed figure in streaming oilskins proved to be Jim. Half crouching in the lee of the car they communicated in bellows, augmented by waving arms.

 

Greg was given to understand that part of the cliff face was close to collapse – yet some homeowners were still reluctant to evacuate.

 

‘Show me,’ he yelled into the wind, his words snatched away even as they left his mouth. Jim got the meaning, if not the sounds, and nodded inside his hood.

 

‘This way,’ he waved, and the two of them staggered down a rutted lane towards the cliff edge.

 

As they came within sight of the sea, Greg gasped. He was used to seeing it in a range of modes, from summer’s glassy calm to winter’s rolling breakers. This was something else. From the base of the cliff to the horizon was a seething mass of breakers taller than a man, rolling in to besiege the cliff with the force of an entire army of trebuchets. The whole surface was lined and splashed with white foam, catching the glow from the floodlights of the emergency services. Under the scream of the wind he could hear the crash of the waves hitting and overtopping the sea defences, and feel the secondary crash as they hit the cliff beneath his feet. He took a step back involuntarily, and as he did so, with a rumble audible even over the wind, a section of land that had previously been someone’s garden tipped, split, and rolled to the waiting sea below. The bungalow hung on a moment or two longer, then lost its fight with gravity, sagged, and slithered over the edge in a long, slow glissade.

 

The two men turned and stumbled over the rough ground to the adjacent property, set a little further back from the cliff edge. As they approached, they saw that uniformed officers and a couple of men in Environment Agency tabards appeared to have won the argument with the residents. Watching, they saw an elderly couple ushered to the dubious safety of the cars on the road behind. One of the constables broke away and came up to Jim.

 

‘That last cliff fall did the trick,’ he said, ‘and probably only just in time. That, and finding out what the real problem was.’

 

‘Which was?’ asked Greg.

 

‘Their hens in the back garden. Once we promised they could take them, we started to make progress. One of the Agency lads boxed them up and put them in their car. God knows what the volunteers at the Parish Hall will do with them, but at least this lot are safe now. Christ!’ he added as a rumble signalled another slice of cliff descending to the hungry sea. ‘Really was just in time, wasn’t it?’

 

The first glimmers of yellow light on the horizon showed the extent of the damage. The shattered remnants of two bungalows were balanced precariously halfway down the muddy cliff. Broken timbers and individual bricks, mortar still attached, were all that remained of a third. Scattered along the beach from Hemsby, southward as far as the eye could see, was the sad detritus of homes and lives: fridges and freezers, tables and chairs, sinks, toilets and miscellaneous household wares.

 

Jim and Greg, tired at the end of a long and sleepless night, approached the cliff edge with caution. Ahead of them, taking risks that neither felt comfortable with, was one of the Environment Agency staff. He was peering over the edge and even as they watched, one foot slipped in a manner that brought their hearts into their mouths.

 

‘Get back,’ shouted Greg, ‘nothing’s worth the risk,’ but the man ignored him and leaned out again, this time holding his phone out at arm’s length to take a photograph. He came back then and made his way over to Greg and Jim as fast as he could over the uneven ground.

 

‘There’s something down there,’ he said, gasping. ‘I thought so earlier, but now it’s lighter, I’m sure. Look.’ He proffered his phone. ‘I hoped I was just seeing things. But I’m not, am I? It’s an arm.’

 

Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub): 


 

 

 


What makes your featured book a must-read?

 

4th in the Greg Geldard Norfolk Mysteries, set in the unique rural landscape of the Norfolk Broads and coast, The Temenos Remains deals on the one hand with a serial killer and the delusions that drive his actions, while societal and police attitudes to sex workers and misogyny impact the investigation. A Firebird Book Award Winner 2023, it’s a gripping and suspenseful read, with a fascinating insight into the mind of a serial killer.

 

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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