Hooked From Page One: Jennifer Chase

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✍The First Page: Find My Daughter by Jennifer Chase

FIND MY DAUGHTER: DETECTIVE SCOTT SERIES BOOK 13

By Jennifer Chase

Publication Date: February 17, 2025

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?

Find My Daughter is available at Amazon.

Wednesday 1045 hours

The large conference hall had standing room only. The California Law Enforcement Conference (CLEC) in Sacramento was at full capacity, with guest speakers from all areas of the law enforcement community along with information booths, recruitment, and representatives from various police departments. The overcast, showery day didn’t dampen the annual event.
Detective Katie Scott from the Pine Valley Sheri"’s Department was finishing up her talk on the importance of criminal profiling and how efective it was for her cold-case unit. Dressed in a navy pantsuit and a white blouse, Katie crossed the stage while giving the audience her bullet-point summary,
photographs on the large screen behind her.
“Criminal profiling isn’t about guesswork, wasting detectives’ time on theories. It’s about identifying the perpetrator by building a solid, evidence-based background for them, which is created from crime scene behavioral evidence, victimology, forensics, and the autopsy report. This is what’s going to assist detectives to move forward in specific directions.

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.

Website & Social Media:

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

✍The First Page: Count Their Graves by Jennifer Chase

COUNT THEIR GRAVES

By Jennifer Chase

Publication Date: August 30, 2024

Crime Thriller

A wind chime sways a sweet melody above several pairs of shoes neatly laid out on the welcome the mat: two large pairs, and three small. On the door frame, a perfect crimson handprint, the color of blood…

Out on her morning run, Detective Katie Scott is stopped in her tracks when her service dog, Cisco, alerts her to something. Weaving through the towering pine trees, Katie is horrified to find a little girl alone in the woods, dressed in a white nightgown. The child sobs into Katie’s arms. She’s unharmed, but clearly traumatized. Scooping her up, Katie follows the trail to a large farmhouse. But what she finds there rips the air from her lungs: one, two, three, four bodies laid out side by side, all in matching pajamas.

The Banks family were attacked in their sleep, but how had the little girl trembling in Katie’s arms escape with her life? What twisted monster would do such a thing, and why leave no trace but a single bloody handprint on the doorframe? Katie vows to find answers for this sweet child who has lost everything and everyone.

Working night and day to piece together why this innocent family were targeted, Katie thinks she has her first lead when she discovers the family were under witness protection. Had they seen something they shouldn’t? Was the aim to silence them forever? Questions are still spinning in Katie’s mind when another family is discovered dead in their beds on the other side of Pine Valley.

With the entire department stretched to breaking point with an unprecedented body count and trace evidence stacking up, it’s going to take everything Katie has to track this twisted killer down. But as she closes in on her target, it’s clear someone close to Katie is keeping a deadly secret. How many more innocent lives will be lost before she can bring them to justice?

PRAISE:

5.0 out of 5 stars: A definite must read book and series!

“One of the things that I love about this author’s books is that she doesn’t shy away from the hard or difficult topics. Another is how she creates a realistic quality for the characters and their lives. There are no “perfect” characters or “make believe/fantasy” lives in these books. (That is one of the best things~in my opinion!) Because of these things, as well as many more, her stories are unique, passionate, creative, and intriguing. I have loved all of the stories that I’ve read, and can’t wait to read more.
I would definitely recommend this book, series, and exceptional author.”

“Another great book in the series starring Katie and her dog Cisco. When one family are found all dead in their house apart from one of their little girls who they believed her mummy had helped her escape Katie and her team soon get to work. Someone is hiding who they really are and until Katie finds out who it is no one is safe not even her.
I really enjoyed this book like all of the others in the series that I have read. Looking forward to the next book.” NetGalley

Release Date: October 30, 2024

Publisher: Bookouture

Soft Cover:‎ 978-1835256367; 362 pages; $11.99; eBook $3.99; Free with Kindle Unlimited; also available in audiobook .99

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Count-Their-Graves-completely-unputdownable/dp/1835256368

Wednesday 0645 hours
Detective Katie Scott ran every morning unless weather or work prohibited it. This particular morning she was motivated to switch up her usual running routine. It was good to change a habit—at least she thought so as she climbed the steep incline to get to the Bramble Trail. Her life had returned to normal with her fiancé home safe, and the stream of cold cases she was investigating was buzzing through her mind. She preferred to clear her head in solitude, in rural settings, before beginning her
demanding day.
“C’mon, Cisco,” she called behind her.
The jet-black German shepherd immediately stopped sniffing the low-lying bushes and downed pine tree limbs and easily bounded up the trail behind Katie with his focus now completely on his partner.
After two Army tours in Afghanistan as a bomb K9 team, Katie was able to bring her military dog Cisco home with her to Pine Valley, California. Even though the dog was a retired veteran, he often accompanied Katie on her cases when large areas needed to be searched or when she needed extra security.

She is an affiliate member of the International Association of Forensic Criminologists, and member of the International Thriller Writers.

Her latest book is Count Their Graves.

Website & Social Media:

Website – https://authorjenniferchase.com/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/jchasenovelist

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

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

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

✍The First Page: The First Girl: Detective Katie Scott Book 11

THE FIRST GIRL: DETECTIVE KATIE SCOTT BOOK 11

By Jennifer Chase

Publication Date: December 19, 2023

Crime Fiction/Thriller

The cold night breeze slams the barn door shut with a sickening crash. The girl curled in the corner wakes with a start. Her gold butterfly necklace catches the pale moonlight as she clutches it tight, thinking of her family. Will she ever escape? Or is this the last face she’ll ever see?

Detective Katie Scott stares in horror at what she and her service dog Cisco have discovered: seven shallow graves, the bodies of young women each wrapped carefully in a blanket and buried in makeshift coffins. Miles of abandoned farmland stretch out from the treeline behind her. Has Katie uncovered the horrifying graveyard of a monster who has been stealing Pine Valley’s daughters for years?

Katie quickly identifies one of the victims as Abigail Andrews, a beautiful young woman who disappeared fifteen years ago. Katie is heartbroken that she’ll have to tell Abigail’s mother her darling girl is gone.

When Katie is ambushed working late at the scene, fired upon by an unknown assailant, she knows she must be close to finding the killer. But the shooter vanishes into thin air. And when a new young woman is taken, dark haired and dark eyed like the others, Katie realizes her time is running out. Can she stay alive long enough to track down this twisted murderer before another young life is stolen too soon?

“Fast paced, characters intelligent and had each others back. The plot was a bit harrowing, but from what plot entailed I was confident one of the main protagonists, Katie had the situation under control. At least the best of her capabilities as the situation warranted. This ebook was fresh, tasteful and powerful. It was a boon to read about a female with military experience who maintained a level head and who put her knowledge to practice.” ~Amazon

“AMAZING characters (including Cisco of coarse) & suspense in a twisty plot that sucks you in & never lets you go. Highly RECOMMEND the entire series for some great reading.” ~NetGalley

“AMAZING characters (including Cisco of coarse) & suspense in a twisty plot that sucks you in & never lets you go. Highly RECOMMEND the entire series for some great reading.” ~Goodreads

The First Girl is available at Amazon & Other Retailers.

Detective Katie Scott drove with purpose as she steered the police sedan. She merged onto a country road off the main highway leading out of the Pine Valley area to meet with the family of a missing cold-case victim, Abigail Andrews. She glanced at her partner, Detective Sean McGaven, and smiled as he busily scoured his tablet looking for more information surrounding the case. She loved the way he was so thorough before they talked to anyone.
The landscape quickly changed to the dense forest that Pine Valley was known for. The morning was overcast with clouds obscuring the sun and a blustery wind blew. The view began to darken as they weaved along the country road where in addition to the dreary weather the tall pine trees acted as a giant
canopy. The automatic headlights switched on, casting shadows among the dense trees.
“Anything?” Katie asked McGaven.
“Nothing new,” said McGaven. “Hopefully, Mrs. Andrews will be able to give us more insight into the time her daughter disappeared. Maybe she’s remembered something.”