Alex Desocarras is investigating two abductions linked to a human trafficking ring when a lead implicates a fellow high-ranking RCMP officer. ..". a gripping thriller which I couldn't put down." Goodreads reviewEnd of Innocence, a debut novel in a mystery thriller series, introduces Det. Alex Desocarras, an Indigenous RCMP Sgt. stationed in the town of 100 Mile House in British Columbia's beautiful and rugged South Cariboo.
A young girl, Carey Bolton, is kidnapped in the small Northern town of Terrace, BC. The RCMP have no leads and no ID on the young man who was seen driving her away. Weeks later, her distraught family's hopes are raised when an anonymous caller claims Carey is being held at an address in East Vancouver, BC, 1,200 kilometres from home. The Vancouver Police act quickly but find the house vacant.
Carey's desperate mother asks family and friends living in Vancouver to follow up. Several hours later, they find a woman at the house, but she claims to be alone. Suspicious and looking for answers, filmmaker Morgan O'Meara returns early the next morning. Finding the house vacant, she leaves a note. Three days later, Morgan disappears.
Complete serendipity lands Morgan O'Meara's case in Alex Desocarras' jurisdiction. When Detective Jeri Fernice of the VPD MPU contacts Alex with evidence that her abduction is linked to that of a missing child, Carey Bolton, he agrees to work with her.
Following a hunch on who the anonymous caller might be, Alex is quickly forced undercover when he finds evidence that implicates a fellow high-ranking RCMP officer in both abductions. And at least one other.
About the Author: The West Coast of beautiful British Columbia is where I finally settled down, but I was born and raised in Ontario. My mother's folks were from Scotland and England. My father's mom was Irish, both sides. His dad was born to an Algonquin woman who lived in a village on Eagle Lake, not far from South River, Ontario. Most of the Algonquin in that village died of disease and I don't yet know if my great-grandmother was one of those. The few Algonquin that survived were moved to make way for two settler families. The Algonquin village is now the Mikisew Provincial Park.
His dad's father-one of my grandfathers, was Daniel Van Clieaf, Sr.. His father emigrated from Belgium. Tracing my family tree back to Europe, I discovered it was quite rich with input from many other corners-as are most, I suspect. When people ask, I say my heritage is mixed, which hardly does it justice, but that's a story for another time.
I've been an outreach worker, a carpenter's helper, a terrible short order cook, an okay waiter and a bartender who understood that a dry martini meant "just a few drops of vermouth" (or none). I taught first aid for a while too. One winter, I taught first aid, tended bar and nearly died of boredom typing legal briefs. I've worked in more offices than I can remember and on a few factory floors including a salmon cannery and a packaging facility for plastic wrap. The second job ended when I stuck my hand in a pot of hot glue near the end of the third shift, but in my defense, it was the middle of the night! Fortunately for me, I already had the first aid training-and the promise of another, less treacherous job.
Music has always been one of my passions. While I studied music, I worked at Octopus Books in Vancouver, a wonderful place for a lover of words. So wonderful in fact, that many weeks I was book rich with not quite enough left for groceries! I went back and forth between writing and music for a while before music won out. For many years, composing, arranging and teaching music was my life. A life filled with music is a wonderful thing, but there was something else I loved just as much and that was writing.
Book 2 in the Alex Desocarras series will be published November 2018.
I love hearing from readers! You can connect with me via my website: www.valerievanclieaf.com.
