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The Seafarer’s Secret
by Carol Ann Collins
The Seafarer’s Secret
Cozy Mystery
Setting – North Carolina
Publisher : Beaufort Books (March 26, 2024)
Paperback : 310 pages
ISBN-10 : 0825310288
ISBN-13 : 978-0825310287
Digital ASIN : B0BZBCSG86
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Secrets are revealed. Lies are exposed. And in order to have a future, William and Eva will have to delve into the past.
William Templeton, widower and police chief of Eden, North Carolina is working the scene of a local woman’s drowning when the body is found with an old gold coin in her pocket – identical to a coin that was discovered on Catherine’s body, his estranged wife, over a year ago. Catherine’s case, originally deemed a tragic accident, has been reopened, forcing William to step down as police chief.
Historian and Blackbeard expert, Eva Knightly, is brought into the investigation to help identify the coins and can’t understand why her good friend Catherine never mentioned anything about it. When more coins surface at a local church, Eva and William know it’s more than mere coincidence. With the entire town whispering about Blackbeard, cursed coins, and lost treasure, it becomes hard to separate what is true and what is a myth.
The Seafarer’s Secret is a thrilling cinematic mystery featuring the exigent slow-burning romance between William and Eva as they work together to reveal the secrets and lies of Eden, North Carolina. Though, in order to have a future, they’ll have to look deep into the past to keep from being a modern-day killer’s next victim.
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Enjoy this peek inside:
“I guess I probably shouldn’t ask about the coins you gave to Eva Knightly.” William worded it that way because he knew Robert wouldn’t be able to stop himself from wanting to know more.
“What about them?” Robert asked, exactly as William
intended.
“Where did you get them?”
“I thought she would have told you.” Robert’s expression
remained unchanged. “They were placed in the offering plate,
the Sunday after Gabby’s death.”
“You don’t know who put them there? Have any suspicions?”
Robert gave a small smile. “You and Catherine attended here
for a good number of years. You know we don’t snoop around
offerings people don’t want to be recognized for. Nor do we ques-
tion anonymous gifts.”
William knew of a least a dozen times Catherine had dropped
cash into the passed plate without any sort of information as to
who it was from. He suspected Robert knew she had done so as
well. But maybe that wasn’t the same case with the coins.
“Why don’t you want the coins back?” William asked. “They
might be worth a lot.” He knew for a fact they were. When he
made it home after learning what they were from Emerson, he’d
looked up the estimated value online. For Robert to refuse a gift
that large made no sense.
“I don’t think God wants anything to do with the Devil’s
Coins.”
“Perhaps God wants you to redeem the coins. To use them for
good.” William couldn’t understand Robert’s reasoning for giving
them away. “If someone dropped them in the offering, surely they
wanted you to do something with them. Change some lives. Give
to missionaries. Heck, do you know how many families live in
poverty in our county alone?” The more William thought about
it, the more he couldn’t see where Robert was coming from.
“I don’t think so. Not those coins.”
“Why not?” William pressed. “They’re only metal. Surely metal
can’t hurt anyone.”
“Because they’re cursed.” Robert’s voice grew louder, but he
wasn’t yelling. Yet. “Cursed and so will be any man, woman, or
child who dares to lay claim on them.”
William had only seen Robert this worked over a few times
before. Always, it’d been over an issue Robert was passionate
about. William found it hard to believe old coins fit into that
category, no matter who they might have belonged to once.
William chuckled, trying to lighten the fear in Robert’s voice.
“Come on. You don’t really believe that, do you?” But it was clear
he did.
“Of course I do, and if you were smart, you would believe it
too and have nothing to do with those coins.”
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About Carol Ann Collins
Writing allows Carol Ann Collins to combine two of her favorite things, history and romance. Her work is a combination of historical fact, pure fiction, and a vivid imagination. Though she is an introvert who had no problem staying inside during quarantine, she enjoys traveling with her husband and two adult children. In her spare time, she is an avid book collector and bargain shopper who loves to combine the two. To date, her favorite find is an 1869 edition of Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain purchased for $10.
Author Links: Website / Instagram / Goodreads
Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Bookshop.org – Kobo
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