It’s a pleasure to welcome Robert Crouch back to Linda’s Book Bag to celebrate his new book No Easy Answers. It’s my privilege to host an extract from No Easy Answers today. If you’d like to see other posts featuring Robert Crouch and his books please click here.

No Easy Answers is available for purchase here.

No Easy Answers

Confronting the past can be deadly.

As Christmas approaches, murder is the last thing on Kent Fisher’s mind.

When contractors employed by local entrepreneur Stephen Fox discover the remains of a woman on the site of Kent’s original animal sanctuary, old family secrets come to light, threatening those closest to him.

Fox believes it’s his missing wife. Despite intense pressure and a lucrative fee, Kent still refuses to investigate, having promised not to take on more cases.But when the police launch a murder inquiry, can he keep his promise?

Or will he investigate?

If he does, he risks interfering with a criminal investigation and losing the woman he loves.

If he doesn’t, the wrong person could be accused of murder.

 

‘A fantastic series that just gets better and better.’

An Extract from No Easy Answers

One

Fifty-two days since the wedding.

Thirty-nine days since the abduction.

Twenty-four days since the funeral.

Twelve minutes since I left Meadow Farm Animal Sanctuary to walk to St Andrew’s Church.

Maybe it’s time to stop counting and start living again.

But I don’t want to talk to Stephen Fox on this chilly Monday morning in early December.

He stands on the path to the graveyard, gripping the tapsel gate with both hands. He swings it back and forth on its central pivot, as if weighing up choices. The uncertainty undermines the swagger of a self-made man, keen to show off his success. He promotes himself as an entrepreneur, processing unwanted resources to protect the environment and combat climate change. But in reality, he’s a builder in an expensive Italian suit. His Hollywood suntan, white teeth and gelled back grey hair can’t disguise his rough hands and bitten fingernails.

While he still runs the building company he started thirty years ago, he makes his money processing the waste builders leave behind. He has machines to crush concrete and produce hardcore. His fleet of vehicles move anything from skips to redistributing shingle from one end of Eastbourne beach to the other to bolster coastal defences. He’s recently opened a state of the art recovery facility for sorting and recycling domestic and commercial waste.

It doesn’t make him an environmental champion, or someone I want to work for.

“Mr Fisher, I want you to find the person who killed my wife.”

****

Brilliant opening Robert. It really makes me want to know more. 

About Robert Crouch

Robert Crouch brings something familiar but different to the traditional murder mystery.

Drawing on his experiences as an environmental health officer, he created amateur sleuth, Kent Fisher. Being neither a police officer nor a private investigator, Kent brings a fresh and original twist to the classic whodunit.

When he’s not writing most complex murder mysteries, Robert enjoys roaming the gentle hills and beautiful coastline of the South Downs with his wife. Armed with a camera or two, he likes to capture the wildlife and settings that play such a big part in his novels.

You can find out more on Robert’s website, and if you sign up to Robert’s reader’s group you’ll receive a free copy of Fisher’s Fables. You can also follow Robert on Twitter @robertcrouchuk and find him on Facebook.