Home of author Declan James
Expect page-turning crime fiction written by someone who served in the trenches for over a quarter of a century. These are dark, disturbing mysteries with small-town secrets and plot twists you won't see coming.
The coldest ground
Forty years ago, on a frigid, wintery morning in southern Ohio, seven-year-old Michael Adkins vanished into thin air.
Two years later, his case long gone cold, Michael’s remains were found in a well-searched area, just one hundred yards from where he disappeared. The discovery provided no answers, only more questions.
Last week, Michael’s now elderly mother walked into Detective Jake Cashen’s office with a chilling clue that just arrived on her doorstep. A disturbing letter filled with details only someone close to the decades-old crime could know. Jake knows it’s false hope. A cruel prank likely perpetrated by some heartless internet troll. He’s seen things like this before. But he promises Michael’s still grieving mother to look into it one last time.
When Jake traces the letter to its source, what he finds blows the case wide open and exposes a web of secrets and shocking truths buried beneath the coldest ground.