Sam Hansome & Anne Talanted Cold Case Crime Stories

These crime fiction short stories of mine can be found over at my fiction blog and Authonomy. Born and raised in Dorset, it is a pleasure to base a set of stories in a county I know so well. These short stories started off as an entry for a crime fiction competition in 2011 and have continued from there.

The Southern Cross

''No Mercy Shown.' The legend on the small headstone makes Sam's blood run cold. Apart from the inscription the grave is unremarkable, hidden in a sprawling yew in the corner of the graveyard. How many people had passed by on their way to church without knowing? He sighs and turns, motioning to the driver of the small digger to carry on opening the grave...'

Sam Hansome is a freelance investigator with the Forensic Science Service, based in Dorset. He and the rest of the team have a new case to work on, a young woman buried alive in the corner of a graveyard in a sleepy village. Sam believes it is the work of a serial killer and has several other cold cases from the 1980's he thinks are connected to this murder but what, or who, is the link?

Thirteen, Unlucky for Some

'Ellen pauses, frozen mid-action in horror at the grisly object impaled on the end of her fork. All around her, the freshly turned soil of plot thirteen seems to reach up and suck at her boots, pulling her down into the ground, it is all she can do to let out a high, thin scream...'

In this short story Sam and the team are investigating a body part found on an allotment. It leads to a missing person but can they find her before it's too late?

The Ghosts of Christmas Past

'The Old Manor on the corner at Five Monk Woods is shrouded in a veil of river mist as the dawn begins to draw the ghosts of old trees into the cold air... '

A Christmas dinner with a difference as a fatal road accident uncovers a body from the past. Can Sam and the team find out who it is before the time runs out?