Carter & Fergus: Book One: The Widows of Folkestone (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798258047175)

Ten years ago, the men who ran the agency were murdered. Now, their widows are taking the cases.

Folkestone, England. 1918. The Great War is over, but the foggy, coastal streets are crawling with returning soldiers, smugglers, and killers. For ten years, Lin Suling and Robina Fergus have lived quietly in the shadows, grieving the brilliant detective husbands they lost to a staged car crash.

But when a local is brutally attacked and the police look the other way, the widows decide they are done waiting. They unlock the doors of Carter & Fergus Investigations once again.

Lin is the brain-a patient, cryptic Chinese immigrant who uses the invisibility of old age as her greatest disguise, and her sharpened umbrella as a lethal blade. Rob is the muscle-a fiercely loyal Scottish aristocrat who can play the posh lady perfectly, until her brawling temper and hidden silver dagger come out to play.

Their first case back seems simple, until an elderly clockmaker is found dead of a "heart attack." Lin and Rob discover the old man was murdered for a secret cipher hidden inside an ancient pocket watch. The code exposes a ruthless military smuggling ring dealing in stolen French church gold.

To catch a corrupt Major, Lin and Rob must navigate a treacherous underworld of dockside thugs, high-society liars, and blind police inspectors. But exposing the gold means stepping into the crosshairs of Sir Alistair Manning-the untouchable billionaire who ordered their husbands' deaths a decade ago.

If they want justice, they can't rely on the law. They'll have to burn the system down themselves.

Atmospheric, fast-paced, and darkly satisfying, The Widows of Folkestone is a gritty historical mystery perfect for fans of noir thrillers and fierce, brilliantly underestimated heroines.