{"title":"Simon Toyne","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"the-black-highway-hardcover","title":"The Black Highway - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLaughton Rees is back in the latest novel from the bestselling author of the Sanctus trilogy--this time, with a case that hits uncomfortably close to home and threatens the thing Laughton values most: her daughter.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eForensic specialist Laughton Rees is not ashamed of her checkered past--after all, her youthful indiscretions led to the birth of her daughter Gracie, the person she loves most in the world--but when Gracie's father unexpectedly turns up in their lives again, Laughton is automatically wary.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShelby Facer is a dangerous man, formerly imprisoned for his involvement in an international drug trafficking ring, and no matter what Laughton once felt for him, she doesn't want him anywhere near Gracie. But when Shelby claims that he has information about an especially difficult murder case she is working, she can't turn him down.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA body with no head or hands has recently turned up in the river Thames, and the police are at a loss until Shelby identifies the man. The victim was part of a highly secretive smuggling ring Shelby was involved with during his and Laughton's youth--which Laughton's father, former commissioner for the Metropolitan police, was investigating before he died.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLaughton throws herself into her father's old files to try to trace the connections between past and present, but as she and DCI Tannahill Khan circle closer to the truth, the case becomes dangerously personal. When another body turns up, mutilated just like the first, the victim is no stranger to Laughton. She'll have to face the darkest parts of her past to find the man behind the murders--before he takes away everything she loves.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50103239442655,"sku":"9780062329851","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/6HpngOxmzM9780062329851.webp?v=1781090553"},{"product_id":"the-clearing-paperback","title":"The Clearing - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn this gripping suspense novel from the bestselling author of the Sanctus trilogy, lead forensic expert Laughton Rees is back, this time investigating a series of missing women in a small town near the Forest of Dean--where she uncovers a dark and sinister plot, decades in the making.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNever go back into the woods. Never go back and never look back...\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMidsummer's Eve. Bonfires dot the English countryside and flicker in the ancient Forest of Dean as costumed revelers dance and drink the night away.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut when the sun rises, a local girl, Maddie Friar, has vanished, last seen heading to a party in a forest commune called \"The Clearing.\" Her sister Adele reports her missing but the local police say Maddie was a known party girl and probably ran off with some boy, or maybe the \"Cinderman\" got her, referring to a local legend of a forest spirit said to haunt the woods in search of a lost daughter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEminent criminologist and academic Dr. Laughton Rees also knows about the Cinderman. She has found dozens of historical missing persons cases in these woods, all women, all attributed to this legend. But she doesn't believe in legends; she believes in facts, so she heads to the forest and, with help from Adele, starts questioning everyone, from the mysterious Earl, lord of the crumbling abbey in the heart of the forest, to the charismatic leader of The Clearing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut as Laughton slowly begins to unravel the legend of the Cinderman and realizes it is bound by blood to Adele and Maddies' dark past, she also discovers too late that the truth is far uglier, and far more dangerous, than any mythical monster.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50104393629919,"sku":"9780063390744","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/sCl7pBEnk99780063390744.webp?v=1781108210"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/simon-toyne.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}