June 12, 2020June 12, 2020 by Jacquie Biggar

Release Day for Virtually Gone #MurderMystery #Crime

It’s release day!

Julie Crenshaw, Connor O’Rourke, and Matthew Roy are back! Virtually Gone picks up from The Beast Within‘s police investigation of murdered young women on Victoria’s Galloping Goose Trail.

Investigative reporter Julie Crenshaw stumbles upon the case of a lifetime–one that could cost her everything.

When Julie is called on to investigate a string of sexual abuse cases, she doesn’t expect to land in the crosshairs of a serial rapist. Soon she’s in a race to find the facts before a killer makes her the headline.

Detective Matthew Roy is frustrated with his inability to track a rapist terrorizing his city. Added to that, his partner’s reporter girlfriend is dogging his every step and won’t heed his warnings. Time is ticking with the perpetrator escalating his crime to murder. Matt needs to find the killer soon, or chance losing someone he cares for- the question is, how?

★★★★★ “This author is an auto-buy for me. Each of her novels including this one is a perfect mix of angst, suspense, humor, and steaminess.”

Exclusive Excerpt

Julie sat at her computer in the madhouse that was VIBS headquarters and tried to concentrate. Something about the way Matt had avoided her questions bothered her. Of course, it was part of the dance journalists and the police did on a regular basis. Death was always awful, but this seemed… different. If only she could put her finger on it.

“Hey, Doll-face, what do you have there?” Henderson invaded her personal bubble to watch the playback of her interview with the detective.

Julie frowned at the cutesy name tag but moved aside so Ron could see. When she’d first transferred here from Chicago, the chip on her shoulder had clashed with the laid-back attitude of the station’s lead reporter. It had taken a near-death experience—her second one—to make her realize he was a good guy under all that persuasive charm.

She eyed the half-eaten donut in his hand and her stomach grumbled, reminding her she’d been running late this morning and hadn’t stopped to eat. And then she remembered why she’d been running late and smiled.

Of course, he caught the lustful look in her eyes and attributed it to his food. He shoved the thing in his mouth and swallowed it down. “Sorry, I’d share, but…”

“But you’re a pig,” she said, humor restored. “And furthermore, it was your turn to buy.”

“Hey.” He threw his hands in the air, sending grains of sugar scattering. “I did buy. They just didn’t make it through the door.” His smile was pure mischief and had the desired effect of making her laugh. “That’s better,” he said. “You were looking grim when I arrived.”

She sobered and nodded toward the screen, frozen on a seemingly peaceful bridge with broadleaf maples shading the walkway. “There was another sexual assault,” she said. “The victim didn’t survive this time.”

Ron stared at her for a moment before using his foot to tug an office chair from across the cluttered aisle to her side. He sat, knees butting into hers, and grasped her hands. “Listen, Jules, I know you want to do your job, but after what you’ve been through, maybe you should give this one a pass.”

He was talking about the ABC Killer who’d almost taken her life, of course. But he hadn’t, and it was all the more reason she needed to investigate stories like these. If she could save just one woman from the terror she’d felt, or the horror the woman today had gone through, it was up to her to do that. A calling almost. Besides, if it was Ron, he would never quit.

“I can’t,” she said simply.