Torch Song — Jo A. Hiestand

"Do you know what it's like to lose a child to murder?" An up-and-coming singer of 1940s-style torch songs, Janet Ennis tragically died five years ago in what the police labeled an accidental fire. But Janet's mother, Nora, believes it to be murder and arson. And she's hoping ex-cop Michael McLaren can prove it quickly, for she's losing her memory to dementia. As McLaren pokes through the case details, he becomes emotionally involved with the dead woman, succumbing to the spell of her singing and her beauty. Yet, Janet Ennis isn't the only person from the past who threatens his peace and sanity. A series of arsons on his own property hint that he's upset someone connected with this case, someone capable of harming him and his fiancée, Dena Ellison. And one dark night another danger confronts McLaren: the nemesis from his personal past, Charlie Harvester. The man he tangled with, the man who was responsible for McLaren leaving his police job. Can McLaren solve the cold case while Nora is still able to comprehend the facts and die in peace, or does Harvester have other plans that will stop McLaren in his tracks?