Massachusetts State Police Trooper Leigh Abbott is a homicide detective who goes to the wall to find justice for her victims. But when confronted with a single bone as the only evidence of a victim’s death, she teams up with Boston University forensic anthropologist Dr. Matt Lowell to not only find the rest of her victim, but also their identity and means of death. Their first case leads them to a serial killer who nearly makes them his next victims. But as sparks fly and their relationship moves from the lab to the bedroom, they continue their mutual goal of finding justice for the victims whose story only Lowell and his team can hear―the dismembered, skeletonized, burned, drowned, and decomposed.

Dead, Without a Stone to Tell It

Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries #1

'This first in a planned series by a pair of scientific researchers is both exciting and informative, sure to please fans of forensic mysteries.' - Kirkus Reviews

'Strong, edgy story-telling told with pacing that keeps you turning the pages. A convincing look behind the forensic curtain that reveals science and soul' - Don Graves, Mystery Reviewer

When a human bone is found on a lonely stretch of coastline, a determined homicide detective and a reluctant scientist risk their lives as they join forces to bring a serial killer to justice.

Trooper Leigh Abbott has something to prove, both to herself and to the chauvinistic men in her department. She’s been assigned a difficult challenge: solve a murder where the only evidence is a single bone. To identify the victim and find the killer, she must join forces with forensic anthropologist Matt Lowell. Matt’s initial refusal to join the team is only the first in a series of setbacks.

Matt and Leigh’s skills and tenuous partnership are tested when the evidence leads them to a burial ground of unidentified victims, where, to their horror, they stumble upon a freshly ravaged corpse. As the body count rises, the team must piece together a deadly puzzle spanning years of clandestine killings.

Before long, the serial killer raises the stakes and Matt and Leigh find themselves marked as targets. Now they must stop the killer before they become the next victims.

Read an excerpt - DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT – Chapters One to Three

Find it on Goodreads here.

Reviews:

Kirkus Reviews: "This first in a planned series by a pair of scientific researchers is both exciting and informative, sure to please fans of forensic mysteries."

Don Graves, Canadian Mystery Reviewer: "Strong, edgy story-telling told with pacing that keeps you turning the pages. A convincing look behind the forensic curtain that reveals science and soul"

Reviewing the Evidence: "Danna and Vanderlaan hit all sorts of nails squarely on the head in this opening salvo in what we can hope will be a long and sturdy mystery series."

My Shelf Reviews: "Riveting, realistic and suspenseful, Dead, Without a Stone to Tell It is a deftly woven story and the best forensics mystery I've read in years."

Gumshoe Review: "An exciting climax will leave the reader breathless."

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No One Sees Me 'Til I Fall

Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries #2

Only the joint forces of science and law enforcement can help when a young woman is found brutally murdered with her identity erased.

Massachusetts State Police Trooper Leigh Abbott and forensic anthropologist Matt Lowell come together to solve their second case when the remains of a young woman are found, thrown away like garbage at a local landfill. But what seems straightforward becomes something much more sinister when the victim’s bone damage reveals a shocking history of abuse. It will take reliving the horrors of Matt’s military background, all the team’s forensic skills, and Leigh’s intuition combined for them to catch the killer and give the victim the justice she deserves.

Find it on Goodreads here.

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Reviews:

The Reading Room: "A satisfying length of a story where the progression of the characters and supporting characters is played out in a thrilling new case of forensic identification and smart police work."

Off The Shelf Book Reviews: "I read this in one sitting as I couldn't actually put it down."

A Flame in the Wind of Death

Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries #3

'A tricky mystery rich in intriguing suspects and forensic detail.' - Kirkus Reviews

At Halloween, Salem, Massachusetts is a hot spot for Witch and tourist alike. But when a murder spree begins, a cop and a scientist must team up to find the killer before a media circus unleashes, panic ensues, and more victims are killed.

Forensic anthropologist Matt Lowell and Massachusetts State Police Trooper Leigh Abbott are called in to investigate burned remains following a fire in a historic antique shop. As Matt, Leigh and their team of graduate students investigate the death, clues point to Salem’s traditional Witchcraft community. However, having dabbled in the Craft as a teenager, Leigh is skeptical that someone who has sworn an oath of good to all and harm to none would commit premeditated murder, let alone kill in such a vicious way.

A second body is found in a similar fire and the team begins to suspect that coven members are being framed. Now they must solve the murders before 100,000 tourists overrun Salem for what could be the deadliest Halloween of their lives.

Read an excerpt - A FLAME IN THE WIND OF DEATH – Chapters One to Three

Find it on Goodreads here.

Reviews:

Kirkus Reviews: "A tricky mystery rich in intriguing suspects and forensic detail."

Reviewing the Evidence: "A complex and fascinating tale."

The Reading Room: "Sound structure, sound narrative, and sound writing. You don’t pay your nickel and take your chances with this series. You pay your nickel and get great reading."

Off The Shelf Book Reviews: "It left me wanting more."

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World Wide Mysteries mass market paperback

Two Parts Bloody Murder

Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries #4

'A complex case loaded with forensic and historical detail, the authors’ best so far.' - Kirkus Reviews

Prohibition was a time of clandestine excess—short skirts, drinking, dancing . . . and death. But a murder committed so many years ago still has the power to reverberate decades later with deadly consequences.

It’s a double surprise for Trooper Leigh Abbott as she investigates a cold case and discovers two murder victims in a historic nineteenth-century building. Together with forensic anthropologist Matt Lowell and medical examiner Dr. Edward Rowe, she uncovers the secrets of a long-forgotten, Prohibition-era speakeasy in the same building. But when the two victims are discovered to be relatives—their deaths separated by over eighty years—the case deepens, and suddenly the speakeasy is revealed as ground zero for a cascade of crimes through the decades. When a murder committed nearly forty years ago comes under fresh scrutiny, the team realizes that an innocent man was wrongly imprisoned and the real murderer is still at large. Now they must solve three murders spanning over eighty years if they hope to set a wronged man free.

Read an excerpt - TWO PARTS BLOODY MURDER – Chapters One to Three

Find it on Goodreads here.

Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews: "A complex case loaded with forensic and historical detail, the authors’ best so far."

Reviewing the Evidence: "Tightly constructed, the best so far. Delicious!"

The Reading Room: "Nothing is more satisfying for mystery series readers than finding a series that consistently delivers, and with the fourth installment in this series, absolute satisfaction is well established. Cleverly constructed by the author to keep the reader in a delicious state of suspense, a beautifully layered, smart plot that will thrill to the very last page."

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World Wide Mysteries mass market paperback

Lament the Common Bones

Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries #5

When death hides in plain sight, only the most discerning eye can see the truth.

Forensic anthropologist Dr. Matt Lowell and his team of grad students don’t go looking for death—it usually comes to them. But when one of Matt’s students suspects the skeleton hanging in a top competitor’s lab is actually from a murder victim, Matt has no choice but to sneak in to confirm a suspicious death. Once the case comes to Massachusetts State Police Trooper Leigh Abbott, the team is back together again.

While trying to handle the new murder case, Matt and Leigh also uncover new evidence behind the mysterious deliveries intended to smear the name of Leigh’s father, an honored cop, fallen in the line of duty four years before. When the person behind the deliveries is finally uncovered, it becomes clear that lives are in jeopardy if they attempt to thwart him. At the same time, as the murder case delves into underground societies and grows complicated when the killer himself becomes a victim, it will take all of Matt and Leigh’s teamwork to solve both cases and escape with their lives.

Read an excerpt - LAMENT THE COMMON BONES – Chapters One to Three

Find it on Goodreads here.

World Wide Mysteries mass market paperback

Reviews:

Bibliophile Book Club: "Well worth adding to your list if you enjoy the forensic detail of Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan coupled with the addictiveness of Cornwell’s earlier Scarpetta books! Highly recommended!"

Steph's Book Blog: "I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys their detective fiction with a scientific slant, it was more convincing than some I have read and made me realise how much work goes into an investigation."

A-Thrill-A--Week: "The Abbott and Lowell series is entertaining and quite informational with a good dose of forensic science."

Off-The-Shelf Books: "It's definitely a worthy rival to Kathy Reich and Patricia Cornwell, who are often thought of as the queens of forensic crime fiction. The Abbott and Lowell series is new, fresh, exciting and interesting, with forensics explained clearly without detracting from the plot."

Crime Book Junkie: "Would I recommend this book? Hell to the Yeah, I would!! With twists that kept me guessing, a fantastic line up of intriguing characters and a plot that had me glued to my seat- this may just make one of my #TopReadsOf2017!"