Böcker av Christopher Jansmann

The past and present collide for Vasily Korsokovach in his latest adventure.Taking time off as a cop is always problematic - even more so when you are the Deputy Chief of Police. Despite his best attempts to keep the real world at bay long enough to celebrate the budding life he is building with his significant other, Vasily Korsokovach is forced to cut his Las Vegas vacation short after a body is discovered in the choir loft at St. Elspeth's Cathedral. Dressed in clothes straight out of the late 1970s, the victim was clearly not an invited guest to the special requiem mass being held for a recently departed Sister; stranger still is the personal connection that surfaces, yoking Vasily to a past he long thought was behind him - a past that threatens to derail the near year of happiness he's enjoyed with the man he knows to be his soulmate, Alejandro Ortega-Cortez.Separating the personal from the professional becomes further complicated when an unusual provision in the will from Alejandro's late father surfaces. While it's never easy navigating complicated family issues - something Vasily knows all too well from his own personal experience - Alejandro's appear particularly cruel, leading Vas to worry that unfinished business in his boyfriend's past might well keep the duo from getting to their happily ever after. Knowing how insanely lucky he is to have the diver-turned-career counselor in his life, Vas aches to take their relationship to the next level but the scales need to balanced - for both of them - before it can happen.Torn between helping the man he loves and getting to the bottom of the case, Vasily chooses to do both as only he can. Chasing clues from Southern California to Tucson, Arizona, the detective soon discovers that the choice of victim was anything but random - and that death often comes at the hands of a patient murderer intent on timing their revenge for just the right moment.For what is a requiem if not a remembrance of lives - and loves - that have passed...?

This isn't what success is supposed to look like.Sean Colbeth should know; as one of the most accomplished investigators in the State of Maine, the Police Chief of Windeport is used to the quiet accolades that come with a job well done. But solving the first major crime the village has seen in decades brought with it unexpected fallout: not only did he fracture relationships with just about everyone he held dear, the abrupt departure of his best friend is an open wound that refuses to heal.And when Vasily Korsokovach's absence directly contributes to the death of an elderly resident, Sean realizes his career is on the line once the Village Council puts him on administrative leave pending a full review of his department. More than aware it would be prudent to lay low - and not having anything else to do for a bit, anyway - Sean decides a change of scene is in order and heads to California to consult on a case in what he assumes will be two weeks of relatively easy work. A welcome chance to rest, recharge and reflect on his future as a cop.Except it's anything but.Unexpectedly reunited under less than ideal circumstances with his old partner, the duo quickly discover passions can be as unpredictable as the Santa Ana winds. As the duo delve further into the shocking murder of a star high school athlete, Sean realizes murder is still murder - no matter the coast.

Twenty years and a lifetime ago, Windeport Police Chief Sean Colbeth had his teenage heart badly broken when the girl he thought he loved dumped him for another guy in the most dramatic manner possible. Young love burns hot and fast, to be sure, but it wasn't until Suzanne Kellerman stepped into his life that Sean figured out just how deep the wounds to his soul had been, and how carefully he'd been hiding them from the world.And from himself.On a sultry July 4th holiday weekend two decades later, a chance discovery in one of the last standing icehouses in the county threatens to reopen those very wounds in the cruelest possible way. Tantalizing clues emerge that connect whatever happened in that lonely spot along the St. Mark's River to the disappearance of the very guy responsible for Sean's torment all those years earlier, a long forgotten cold case that continues to haunt his predecessor long after retirement.Forced to revisit his childhood in a village where people have known each other for generations, Sean tries to separate fond memories from harsh realities as he pursues a killer that never expected to be hunted.