with Carla Acheson
We are delighted to welcome author Carla Acheson to Omnimystery News today, courtesy of Worldwind Virtual Book Tours, which is coordinating her current book tour. We encourage you to visit all of the participating host sites; you can find her schedule here.
Carla's new historical mystery is The Whitechapel Virgin (CreateSpace; February 2014 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we are pleased to introduce you to it with an excerpt.
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ANNIE LEANED DOWN AND FOR A FEW moments did nothing as she watched the orphan girl's shoulders heave as she sobbed. Surprised, she felt a sudden developing pity for the wretch, and laid one hand on the girl's shoulder, a gesture which moments before had been unthinkable.
But now that she had witnessed her like this, she couldn't bring herself to reprimand or strike her when it seemed like some other deviant fellow had got there first.
Looking at her crumpled form it took Annie back to the times when some of her own clients liked a little bit of rough play and she would have to find ways to cover her bruises carefully. The girl knew nothing, she thought, she has so much to learn.
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Photo provided courtesy of
Carla Acheson
Carla Acheson lives in Gibraltar with her family and is a member of the Freelance Writers Association. She works as a book reviewer and has interviewed and published book reviews and articles for best-selling and award-winning authors. Her articles and reviews have been featured in various press publications, as well as Waterstones Quarterly UK Magazine.
Carla is also the founder of the Rock Writers Group formed in Gibraltar in 2009.
Music production, singing, reading and writing have always been the main essential ingredients in Carla's life. For more information about the author, please visit her website at Carla-Acheson.com or find her on Facebook.
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The Whitechapel Virgin
Carla Acheson
A Suspense Thriller
Catherine, a fifteen year old runaway, stumbles into a seedy brothel-house tavern in the back streets of Whitechapel, London. She hesitates at the scene before her, one filled with low class prostitutes and drunkards, but it is late, and the dimly-lit labyrinthine alleyways are filled with deviant fellows and petty criminals.
Weary and hungry, she meets Eddie, the rugged young tavern boy who shows her to a room for the night. She settles down only to be awoken in the early hours by piercing cries from the room next door. Arising to find the cause of the commotion, she becomes witness to a gruesome abortion.
Filled with revulsion, Catherine decides to flee as soon as daylight arrives, but Eddie quickly soothes her fears and convinces her to stay, arranging for her to meet Madame Davenport, the nefarious brothel-mistress who employs Catherine as a serving girl, under the proviso she begins work ‛servicing' men once she is settled in.
Difficulties arise, however, when Eddie's growing romantic affections for Catherine clash with her sudden infatuation for the dashing middle-class gent, Mr Cross. Unknown to Catherine, the lothario is keeping a diary of his affairs with Whitechapel's whores, with the dishonourable intention of turning his writing into a successful "gentleman's, publication". Mr Cross quickly seduces the fresh young virgin, allowing his sexual fantasies to escalate into an unfathomable obsession.
As Catherine tries her hardest to fit into the ways of life at the lodging house, she encounters only jealousy from Eddie, and resentment from the other prostitutes who reside there. Annie, in particular, dislikes the new girl who has blossoming beauty and youth on her side.
Unexpectedly one night, a crime occurs within the narrow landing of George Yard Buildings. Local prostitute Martha Tabram is found brutally hacked to death by a cruel assailant. The police can unearth no explainable motive. The Victorian crime stuns the entire Whitechapel district, causing widespread panic amongst the prostitutes who each fear for their own lives.
Catherine's anxiety increases when Edward Cross begins to show signs of 'odd' sexual behaviour and mental decline, as he brutally tries to expunge the girl of her virtues.
When two more gruesome murders occur in the area, the prostitutes realise that there is no escape from the vicious killer who calls himself Jack The Ripper.
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