Spotlight: Find My Daughter by Jennifer Chase

Detective Katie Scott Book 13

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: February 17, 2025

Genre: Crime Thriller

She hears footsteps approaching, then the clunk of a heavy lock. Her body is numb in the cold but she stands, determined to fight. A blinding light overpowers her, and the world goes black…

When Detective Katie Scott finds a woman dying in the car garage, blood pooling around her, she reaches her just in time to hear her utter the words: find my daughter.

Katie doesn’t waste a second gathering her team and pulling the case file for the missing child, Anna Braxton, a teen with sparkling blue-eyes and an even brighter future. Staring at the blank investigation board, Katie won’t rest until she fulfills Anna’s mother’s dying wish.

Searching the Braxton’s impeccable family home, Katie finds Anna’s journal, filled with teenage secrets. Buried among the pages, she thinks she finds a lead—a strange man reached out to Anna, just days before she went missing…

But the case takes a terrifying turn when Anna’s best friend also vanishes. Hours later, a girl’s body is found in the embers of a house fire, her yellow satin dress devastatingly beautiful amongst the ashes. Is it Anna, her best friend, or another girl?

One thing is certain: a monster has the closeknit community of Pine Valley in a chokehold, and Katie must get one step ahead of the killer before any more precious young lives are taken. But at what cost?

Excerpt

PROLOGUE

Darkness shrouded the old cellar, causing a continuous chill to trickle down her spine. The dirt floor felt cold against her bare feet and her hands were dry as she rubbed them together. She could smell the musty remnants of what had been stored there in the past and the earthiness of being underground. The four walls seemed to be old stone or brick and they crumbled beneath her fingernails as she tried to claw her way out—but to no avail. Her exhaustion ultimately took over and she sat still, alone with her overwhelming fears. She had been left isolated and abandoned—in the pitch-black.

She hadn’t heard the man in hours, or maybe it was days—she wasn’t sure. In her bones, she knew this time he wasn’t coming back. The plastic-bottled water and peanut butter sandwiches were almost gone; her mouth was constantly dry. Her memory seemed to play tricks on her. How long had it been since she’d gone to the casting call for young aspiring models? She hadn’t told anyone where she was going, not her mom or even her best friend. She’d wanted to wait until she got the job to tell them the great news. It had been exciting; she dreamed of being a model and actress.

Her hands touched the dress she had been given to model—a yellow silk sheath wrap that made her feel beautiful, grown-up, as if she was finally someone who mattered.

She didn’t know how many times she had crawled up the wooden stairs to the small opening into the cellar, checking to see if he had left it open. But it was always the same—bolted shut. She had memorized each stair, which ones were sturdy, which were creaky and unstable. There were nine steps in total.

As hard as she tried, she couldn’t remember how she got there or what the house looked like. Even if she had a cell phone, she wouldn’t have been able to describe where she was—or even what town she was in. She felt a million miles away from home.

But she wasn’t giving up. Though weakened from lack of proper food, she dropped to her knees once again and crawled slowly toward the stairs. Her knees were bruised and scraped from the dozens of times she had attempted to escape—hoping that each time would be successful and she would be free.

As she paused at the first stair, feeling the familiar outlines in the darkness, she used her hands to steady her ascent; each time a stair ahead. Her knee pressed against the first stair, then the second, and the third. The creaks and groans were a disturbing symphony that reminded her of her situation: she was a prisoner in an empty basement and no one was coming back for her.

She stopped halfway to the top; her breathing quickening; feeling lightheaded. Her stomach grumbled. Her hope dwindled. Each time she’d gathered the strength to go up the stairs, it had turned out to be disheartening. She was never going to be free again. How stupid and selfish she had been, thinking she would become a model. She wondered if any of the other girls ended up like this. Or was she the only one whose fate was sealed?

Looking up toward the opening, she thought she heard footsteps. Yes, she had heard something. They were faint, but steady. He was coming. She froze. Her knees and hands were almost numb—her fingers hurt. Should she go back down or keep going?

What did she have to lose?

The footsteps were getting closer. They sounded like a pair of work boots hitting old hardwood floors. There was a strange echo to the movement, which was now above her. She could hear the creaks of the uneven planks; a mismatched harmony.

The distinct jingle of keys, then the rattle of a heavy lock.

She was going to stand her ground and push past the man to make her escape. It was all she had.

She could barely breathe.

The heavy creak of hinges.

Her body numb. She tried to stand up, ready to fight.

The doorway opened a crack at first, then wider, and finally pushed all the way open.

The blinding light overpowered her. Trying to escape it, she fell backward, flailing her arms in an attempt to catch her balance. She couldn’t focus on anything. She felt every step hit her back and ribs as she tumbled down to the dirt basement. Her head struck the floor. She lost her breath and closed her eyes.

– Excerpted from Find My Daughter by Jennifer Chase, Bookouture, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

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About the Author

Jennifer Chase is a multi award-winning and USA Today Best Selling crime fiction author, as well as a consulting criminologist. Jennifer holds a bachelor degree in police forensics and a master's degree in criminology & criminal justice. These academic pursuits developed out of her curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience with a violent psychopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal investment in every story she tells. In addition, she holds certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling.  

Connect:

Website ➜ https://authorjenniferchase.com/ 

X ➜ https://x.com/jchasenovelist 

Facebook ➜ https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJenniferChase 

Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/jenchaseauthor/ 

Goodreads ➜ www.goodreads.com/author/show/2780337.Jennifer_Chase

Spotlight: A New Life by L.J. Ambrosio

From America to the streets of Paris, A New Life follows two friends as they navigate grief, love, and self-discovery in a city filled with history and hope.

A New Life is a story that lingers long after the last page

Excerpt

They spent the rest of the trip talking about Rhonda and how great she was, from the fight where she tried to protect Ron to the National Cemetery where she was left behind by accident at dusk, not found until midnight.

Louie and Ron had a chuckle over how Rhonda refused to walk on the sidewalks in Paris because of all the cigarette butts on the ground; she had to be pushed around in a baby carriage, because she did not want to burn her paws.

Louie started crying, and Ron comforted him, assuring him that the pain was fine; he needed to accept it.

“Rhonda was so smart,” Louie said proudly. "Some people don’t know the relationship between an owner and their pet. It is so special, so unconditional. Rhonda will always be a part of me. It was nice to bury her here in America, her home country.”

A while later, Ron and Louie arrived at their motel. Ron said to him, "Let’s get the luggage and go to bed. Hey, I was thinking when we get back to Paris, you should move in me with me and stop sleeping in the bookstore.”

Louie could not believe what he heard. Sharing more time with Ron would be special; he was excited to have that time together.

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About the Author

Louis J. Ambrosio ran one of the most nurturing bi-coastal talent agencies in Los Angeles and New York. He started his career as a theatrical producer, running two major regional theaters for eight seasons. Ambrosio taught at seven universities. Ambrosio also distinguished himself as an award-winning film producer and novelist over the course of his impressive career.

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Blog: https://ljambrosio.blogspot.com/

Spotlight: All the Silent Bones by Gregory Funaro

When they were boys, Ray Dawley, Eddie Sayers, and Matthew Kauffman were the best of friends. Then new kid Bobby “Bones” Bonetti fell through the ice at Blackamore Pond. The other boys saved Bobby from drowning, but something else came out of the water that day, something dangerous that would tear their friendship apart and set one of them on a dark path.

Forty years after the incident on the ice, Ray, a retired college professor, has moved back into his childhood home. Eddie is a retired homicide detective, and Matthew is a successful investment banker. Bobby, who is on disability from his job as a corrections officer at a juvenile detention center, has a secret: the darkness that found him under the ice when he was a kid has made him do terrible things.

Following a reunion at Ray’s house, Matthew is found murdered in his car beside the old pond. The killer includes a chilling message that only the three remaining friends would recognize. Could one of their own be a murderer?

All the Silent Bones, a tense and disturbing thriller told from alternating perspectives of morally complex characters, explores the lasting impact of childhood trauma and its influence on adult relationships.

Excerpt

Ronnie Matarese felt a darkness descend upon him, even as he understood that it had always been there, pouring out from those eyes behind the sunglasses and into his apartment. A darkness as indifferent and as cold as the one that had greeted him when he’d returned home. A darkness that feared no light and could not be reasoned with. A darkness that was neither happy nor sad but just was.

Bobby “The Machete” Bonetti had not visited Ronnie to warn him or give him a beating. He had come to kill him. Ronnie suddenly knew this as surely as he was sitting there, and he was both terrified and furious that he hadn’t realized it sooner, when he still might have had a chance to escape. More than anything, though, Ronnie was sad. He wasn’t ready to die—he wasn’t even thirty—but there was no turning back from the elves at the bottom of these stairs. That was what this crazy SOB was trying to tell him.

Ronnie began to cry, softly at first then harder as Bobby finished his story.

“So my mother, she lets me go, but I just held on to the door- frame and didn’t dare look back. She was still there. I could hear her breathing. And in my mind, I watched her, mouth open and eyes blinking as she looked around like she usually did when she came out of one of her episodes. A minute later, I hear the sofa springs in the parlor. She’d been sleeping in there for weeks because the elves hid under her bed, she sometimes thought. But still, I didn’t move. I just stood there, staring down at the darkness in silence.”

Ronnie searched Bobby Bonetti’s sunglasses but saw only murder in the smudge of his reflection, light and shadows on a face that looked like a skull. This was not the way he was supposed to go out, sniveling on his bed like a pussy and not knowing why. And thatwas the hardest part. Not knowing why. Not knowing what he had done—no, not had done but would do. And just as quickly as the darkness had descended, Ronnie saw a light. It was faint at first but coming fast, like when he was speeding through the cross-harbor tunnel up in Boston.

“You said you were here because of something I would do,” Ron- nie said, making no attempt to hide the desperate, trembling hope in his voice. “Not because of something I did but because of something I would do. That’s what you said, right? What is it? Tell me what you think I’m gonna do, and I swear on the souls of my dead parents that I won’t do it. Please, I’m begging you, Mr. Bonetti. You have my word.”

“I would give anything to have that kind of silence again,” Bobby said. “A silence so precious that, when it’s broken, it stings you like a box of bees.”

Then Bobby shot him.

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About the Author

Gregory Funaro is the NY Times best selling author of Disney-Hyperion's ALISTAIR GRIM'S ODDITORIUM (an Amazon Best Book of the Month for January, 2015) and ALISTAIR GRIM'S ODD AQUATICUM (2016), which received a Kirkus starred review. WATCH HOLLOW (HarperCollins, 2019) received starred reviews from School Library Journal and ALA Booklist, and was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. The exciting sequel, WATCH HOLLOW: THE ALCHEMIST'S SHADOW, was published in February of 2020. He has also written two thrillers, THE SCULPTOR and THE IMPALER, for Kensington/Pinnacle. Gregory is a professor emeritus and lives with his family in Rhode Island, where he is busy working on his next novel. Please visit his official web site at www.gregoryfunaro.com.

Connect:

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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3144748.Gregory_Funaro

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Spotlight: Unearthed: The Lies We Carry & The Truths They Bury by Chanchal Garg

In this searing memoir, Chanchal Garg reveals the spiritual and sexual abuse that shattered her sense of self and forced her to question a life defined by duty and sacrifice. Raised as a devoted Indian daughter, she was taught never to question authority-until a transformative moment during a yoga class, while pregnant with her daughter, awakened a truth she could no longer ignore.

That realization set her on a solitary journey, as she lost her faith, community, and the life she had always known. Without the support she had once relied on, she had to learn to trust herself, reclaim her bicultural identity, and redefine what it meant to be both Indian and American-on her own terms.

Unearthed is a powerful call to every woman who has ever felt silenced-an invitation to trust your inner voice, reclaim your story, and return to yourself.

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About the Author

Chanchal Garg is a speaker, author, executive coach, and conscious leadership facilitator. She transforms lives by helping clients break through limiting beliefs and build authentic, liberatory connections. Drawing on her MBA and her lived experiences, she addresses difficult truths directly while fostering environments of openness and collaboration.

For over eight years, Chanchal has facilitated Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business’s most popular elective course on interpersonal dynamics, impacting over 500 future business leaders. She is also the founder of Real Space, a thriving coaching practice, where she guides leaders to transcend cultural and societal constraints, harnessing their personal power in both work and life.

Chanchal wrote Unearthed: The Lies We Carry and the Truths They Bury as a deeply personal reclamation—and as an offering. Her voice has been featured at events like Lululemon’s International Women’s Day gathering and on podcasts such as She Has the Mic and I Don’t Give a Should.

Spotlight: The Light Runner by Ally Walker

Things aren't as they appear to be at Bainbridge Psychiatric Hospital. Decorated war hero and politician Captain Oliver Haskell has voluntarily committed himself following the murder of his wife, scientist Hannah Haskell, in the parking lot of her workplace, Wellglad Pharmaceuticals. His case is assigned to Dr. Ella Kramer, a young psychiatrist just out of her residency with a troubled past of her own. After interviewing the captain, Ella starts to listen to her other patients at Bainbridge, who seem to be operating in another reality altogether. But it is when their reality bleeds into Captain Haskell's that Ella is forced to choose between the two worlds and learns to trust her gut about what really happened to Hannah Haskell that night. Detective Paul Moran who is investigating the murder smells a rat-or, perhaps, in this case, a rabbit-as he attempts to unravel what has taken place and its strange connection to the hospital's patients.

The Light Runner, the first installment in the Realities series from debut author Ally Walker, is an edge-of-your-seat metaphysical thriller that will mesmerize and haunt you from the first page to its shocking end.

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About the Author

Ally Walker is a noted television and film actress, screenwriter, and director who made her television debut in the NBC daytime soap opera Santa Barbara before landing films such as While You Were Sleeping, Universal Soldier, and Happy Texas. She played the leading role of Doctor Samantha Waters in the NBC crime drama series Profiler, for which she received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actress. She later portrayed villainous Agent June Stahl in the FX crime drama, Sons of Anarchy; starred in USA Network’s sci-fi thriller Colony; had a recurring role in A&E’s Longmire; and worked alongside Adam Scott in the Fox comedy Ghosted. She also produced and directed the award-winning documentary For Norman…wherever you are that shined a light on LA County’s foster care system. This was followed by her independent film, Far More, which she penned and directed. Far More won Best Screenplay at the Milan International Film Festival. The Light Runner is her first novel

Spotlight: Three Dogs, Two Murders, and a Cat by Rodney Strong

Nicolette Briggs Mystery Book 1 

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Nicolette Briggs doesn’t do humans.

As Wellington’s premier, and possibly only, animal detective, Nicolette mostly investigates missing pets and cases of animal cruelty. So when her latest client asks her to investigate a case of a poisoned cat, it seems right up her alley. Until a body shows up, then another, and suddenly despite her resolve to not get involved, Nicolette is right in the middle two murder investigations. Or is it just one killer?

When someone breaks into her house and one of her dogs is injured, Nicolette’s reluctance turns to determination to not only solve this thing before the police, but show up her stubborn police detective brother in the process.

Along the way she has to navigate a daughter about to turn 15, a dwindling bank account, and a dysfunctional family that seems determined to fix her. Not to mention a killer who’s turned their sights her way.

No wonder she doesn’t do humans.

Three Dogs, Two Murders, and a Cat is the first book in the clean, cozy mystery series. Gilmore Girls meets Nancy Drew, with a touch of dysfunctional families, a touch of humour, and a touch of caring.

Excerpt

‘I don’t do humans.’ 

Nicolette waited for the inevitable questions, what do you mean you don’t do humans, who hurt you, you shouldn’t be afraid to let people in. It was ridiculous because Nicolette wasn’t afraid of anything – for herself. 

‘Fair enough,’ the woman responded. 

Nicolette couldn’t conceal her surprise. Perhaps this old lady was different from everyone else who looked at her in confusion when she made that statement, before deciding there was something wrong with her. Like she was a broken watch. But Nicolette wasn’t broken, she just told time differently. 

Nicolette looked down at the tabby cat lying on the charcoal-coloured carpet. Now, cats she did, and dogs, and occasionally farm animals (although there wasn’t much need for that in downtown Wellington city). 

She caught the woman watching her and returned the stare, which was rewarded with a grin. Alice Atkinson certainly seemed different than most elderly ladies Nicolette met.

‘I can’t imagine there are many others in your line of work,’ Alice said. 

Nicolette tensed for a second, then forced herself to relax. ‘I’m the only one that I’m aware of.’ 

‘Good,’ replied Alice. ‘Being unique is important.’

‘Wish it paid the bills more,’ Nicolette muttered, bending to scratch the cat behind the ear, immediately earning her a faint purr. She gauged the tabby to be about eight years old, lean but with an air of domestication. She was way too relaxed to be feral. 

‘She’s not mine,’ Alice said from her position on the couch. ‘Silvermoon has a no pet policy, but that doesn’t stop half the residents feeding her.’ 

Nicolette straightened up to look out the window of the second-floor apartment. Residents of the Silvermoon Retirement Village were walking and chatting, enjoying the sun, while others sat in the middle of a small rose garden opposite the apartment building. Past the fence line there were glimpses of the Wellington harbour lying below the suburb of Wadestown. It was like something out of a promotional video. She wouldn’t have been surprised to find that they were all paid actors. 

Nicolette eased herself onto the floor and leaned against the wall. ‘When did you first notice she wasn’t well?’ 

 Thin, small and wrinkled, Alice was easily the oldest person Nicolette had ever met, but she was no one’s vision of a friendly grandmother. 

Her eyes were steely as she replied, ‘Four days ago. She was all floppy. Vanessa insisted she be taken to a vet.’

‘Vanessa?’ Nicolette asked. 

‘She’s my… employee, I suppose you could say.’ 

‘What was the vet’s diagnosis?’ 

‘That Maddy had been poisoned. They kept her for a few days because… well.’

‘They weren’t sure she’d survive,’ Nicolette finished. 

‘But this morning they said she was doing better so Vanessa brought her home and now I’m playing nurse maid.’ 

The cat eyed Nicolette without lifting her head from the carpet. Her breathing was shallow but regular. Nicolette had completed a year of veterinary training before an incident involving a professor had forced her to leave. In a way it had been the best thing that might have happened to her. She was bright enough to be a vet, but her temper and lack of tact would have made her a public relations nightmare for any veterinary clinic. 

‘Why did you call me?’ 

‘It was my friend Freda’s suggestion. You did some work for her granddaughter and came highly recommended.’

Nicolette looked up at the tone in Alice’s words. ‘But you don’t see any merit in me being here.’ 

Alice held her gaze. ‘I didn’t. A detective who specialises in animal cases seems highly improbable.’

Nicolette shrugged. She’d heard it before. ‘You didn’t?’

Alice nodded and leaned forward in her chair. ‘That’s right. Because I do do humans. In fact, there have been several times when my life depended on my ability to read people. And I have a good feeling about you Nicolette Briggs.’

‘A good feeling,’ Nicolette repeated.

‘Alright then, more specifically, you’ve barely looked around since you entered. Your focus has been on Maddy. Your tone with me is brusque at best, but when you’re talking to the cat your voice is soft, even if your words aren’t. And when I said she’d been poisoned, you clenched your right hand, like you wanted to hit someone.’ 

Nicolette looked down and was surprised to find her hand was still curled in a fist. She forced her fingers to relax. 

‘Alright, my turn,’ said Nicolette. ‘You’re tough, but some of that bluster is to hide that you care about this cat. You say she isn’t yours, yet you agreed to look after her, despite telling me that half the residents feed her. Presumably, anyone could have done this, but here you are. That tells me that you’re used to getting your own way. You probably paid the vet bill as well.’

‘What if I told you I don’t care for her at all. I just don’t like seeing animals abused.’

‘I would point out that we’re on the second floor.’ 

Alice cocked her head to the side with a curious expression. 

Nicolette pointed to the front door of the apartment. ‘No cat flap.’ 

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About the Author

Rodney Strong quit a 9-5 job in 2016 to finally pursue his life long dream of becoming a writer (he still has the very first play he wrote at age 6). He lives in Porirua, New Zealand, with his wife, two children, and two cats. When he's not writing he attempts to stay away from chocolate, runs (sometimes), reads, and enjoys spending time with his young children (who contribute a lot to the running and craving for chocolate).

He always has a couple of projects on the go, but for now is focusing on his series of cozy mysteries.

One of his cats likes to help with the process by sitting on the laptop, while the other likes nesting on his shoulders (which was cute when he was a kitten, but now the cat is 11 years old, is less so).

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