Her Last Mistake - Detective Gina Harte Series 06 (2020) Read online

  Once again, thank you so much for choosing Her Last Mistake.

  Carla Kovach

  The Next Girl

  Detective Gina Harte Book 1

  Get it here!

  You thought he’d come to save you. You were wrong.

  Deborah Jenkins pulls her coat around her for the short walk home in the pouring rain. But she never makes it home that night. And she is never seen again…

  Four years later, an abandoned baby girl is found wrapped in dirty rags on a doorstep. An anonymous phone call urges the police to run a DNA test on the baby. But nobody is prepared for the results.

  The newborn belongs to Deborah. She’s still alive…

  THE GRIPPING THRILLER EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT – if you like Lisa Gardner, Robert Bryndza or Clare Mackintosh, you will absolutely love The Next Girl. A completely unputdownable page-turner with an ending that will blow your mind.

  Buy now!

  Her Final Hour

  Detective Gina Harte Book 2

  Anything can happen behind closed doors…

  The gripping new novel from the author of bestseller THE NEXT GIRL. Her Final Hour will have you hooked!

  Melissa Sanderson is the perfect wife and mother. She dotes on her daughter, and lives in her dream home in a quiet cul-de-sac in the suburbs.

  But looks can be deceiving.

  Something is amiss in that house – all the neighbours think so. Some say Melissa is having an affair. Others say she’s been drinking too much.

  Then one night, sirens wake up the whole neighbourhood.

  Melissa Sanderson is dead.

  AN ABSORBING THRILLER WITH AN ENDING YOU WON’T SEE COMING – if you like Lisa Gardner, Robert Bryndza or Clare Mackintosh, you’ll love this absolutely heart-stopping thriller from Carla Kovach.

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  Her Pretty Bones

  Detective Gina Harte Book 3

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  THE UNPUTDOWNABLE NEW THRILLER FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE NEXT GIRL

  She’s just the girl he’s looking for…

  A young woman falls from a vehicle speeding down a quiet road. Battered and bruised, she turns her head to the person who comes to her aid. ‘Help her’, she whispers before her eyes close.

  Days later, the body of another young girl is found in a shallow grave just a few miles away. The similarities between the two girls are startling – same age, same frail body, same shocking red hair.

  As the town fears there’s a serial killer living amongst them, Detective Gina Harte must put aside her own struggles at home, and catch the killer before he finds another perfect girl.

  AN ABSOLUTELY HEART-STOPPING CRIME THRILLER FROM CARLA KOVACH – if you like Lisa Gardner, Robert Bryndza or Clare Mackintosh, Her Pretty Bones will have you hooked.

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  The Liar’s House

  Detective Gina Harte Book 4

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  Samantha stumbled out of the party and on to a busy street only ten minutes away from her home. But she never made it home…

  Seven years after Samantha’s disappearance, on what would have been her thirty-fifth birthday, her best friend Diane is shocked to find a letter addressed to Samantha on her doorstep.

  Opening the envelope, Diane pulls out a birthday card and a finger nail painted in dusky pink nail polish. The same shade Samantha always wore. The same shade she was wearing the night she went missing.

  When police analyse the nail, they don’t get the result they expected. Instead of linking them to Samantha, the nail belongs to another woman, Jade Ashmore. And Jade was murdered the night before the envelope was delivered…

  THE COMPLETELY ADDICTIVE NEW CRIME THRILLER FROM BEST SELLING AUTHOR CARLA KOVACH – if you love Lisa Gardner, Robert Bryndza or Clare Mackintosh, you’ll love The Liar’s House. Gripping from the first page – you won’t be able to put it down.

  Order now!

  Her Dark Heart

  Detective Gina Harte Book 5

  Order here!

  Rory is waiting at the door of the pre-school – a painted picture of his mother Susan in his small hand. But Susan isn’t going to see the picture, because she has vanished.

  Susan Wheeler is a devoted mother. She would do anything for her three children. She drops them off and picks them up every single day. Until one day when Susan kisses them goodbye and then never comes to pick them up.

  Susan’s mother Mary is worried. Susan is recently divorced and has been finding things hard recently, but she loves her kids – she’d never leave them.

  Susan’s sister Clare is furious. It’s just like her to go missing. It’s not the first time, either. Susan has always been a troublemaker. Always seeking attention. She knows Susan has been lying to the family for years. And she knows that Susan has been sneaking out of her family home for weeks…

  As the hours turn into days, even Clare becomes fearful for Susan. And, when Mary discovers Susan’s diary, she begins to uncover a dark secret from her childhood. Something no one in the family knew. When the final diary entry leads the police to a man who is discovered dead in a local park, they’re left wondering whether Susan has vanished because she is a victim. Or because she is a suspect…

  An explosively compelling crime thriller from bestselling author Carla Kovach – if you love Lisa Gardner, Robert Bryndza or Clare Mackintosh, you’ll love Her Dark Heart.

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  Acknowledgements

  It takes more than just me to produce a book, so this is where I get to express my gratitude to all those who helped me along the way with Her Last Mistake.

  Firstly, my editor Helen Jenner is the best. Her edits are invaluable and I don’t know how I’d manage without her. I like to think that I know it all but I don’t – hehe. Helen helps me to shape my manuscript and she definitely makes it sparkle. On top of that, I love working with her. Thank you, Helen. May we continue to create more books together.

  I’m always in awe of the Bookouture publicity team. Noelle Holten and Kim Nash – you’re the best. Thank you so much for making my publication day special and spreading the word far and wide, and thank you for shouting about promotions and news as it arises. I couldn’t do this without you both.

  Bloggers – you are amazing. You give your precious time to read and review our books and I can’t thank you enough. I’m grateful to everyone on the blog tour and for making my publication week so exciting. I’m also thankful to the NetGalley reviewers for their time too.

  Bookouture authors, you are a fantastic and encouraging team so thank you millions. The Bookouture family is a truly unique group of people. The encouragement that is given and received almost makes me want to shed a tear of happiness. Long may our lovely relationship continue.

  Thank you to my brother-in-law, Clive Buckley, who helped me with the airport policing procedures. Also, I’m hugely appreciative of DS Bruce Irving for patiently answering all my police procedural questions. I love our chats and may they long continue. Any errors are my own and I’m grateful for their input and expertise.

  I’d like to thank a very special group of people, my beta readers. Brooke Venables, Vanessa Morgan, Su Biela, Anna Wallace and Derek Coleman. Your feedback really helps and I’m grateful to have such good friends. You’re also an incredibly talented bunch and I’m honoured to know you all.

  Another quick thank you to cover designer, Toby Clarke, and Helen Jenner! I love this cover. It is absolutely stunning.

  And there’s more! I have so many people to thank. Thank you Peta Nightingale for keeping me up to date with everything. It’s always a pleasure to hear from you.

  Lastly, I’d like to thank my husband, Nigel Buckley. This particular book was difficult to write as my father has been in and out of hospital. I appreciate all the encouragement you gave me when it came to knuckling down with work during hard and emotional times. Mega big fat thank you!

  We – both author and publisher – hope you enjoyed this book.
We believe that you can become a reader at any time in your life, but we’d love your help to give the next generation a head start.

  Did you know that 9% of children don’t have a book of their own in their home, rising to 13% in disadvantaged families*? We’d like to try to change that by asking you to consider the role you could play in helping to build readers of the future.

  We’d love you to get involved by sharing, borrowing, reading, buying or talking about a book with a child in your life and spreading the love of reading. We want to make sure the next generation continues to have access to books, wherever they come from.

  Click HERE for a list of brilliant books to share with a child – as voted by Goodreads readers.

  Thank you.

  *As reported by the National Literacy Trust

  Published by Bookouture in 2020

  An imprint of Storyfire Ltd.

  Carmelite House

  50 Victoria Embankment

  London EC4Y 0DZ

  www.bookouture.com

  Copyright © Carla Kovach, 2020

  Carla Kovach has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-78681-884-3

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Books by Carla Kovach

  Contents

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Epilogue

  Hear More from Carla

  Books by Carla Kovach

  A Letter from Carla

  The Next Girl

  Her Final Hour

  Her Pretty Bones

  The Liar’s House

  Her Dark Heart

  Acknowledgements

  *

  Copyright