Vengeance

Sean Colbeth Investigates #6

by Christopher H. Jansmann

Secrets can — and will — kill.Mired in the fallout from allowing a murderer to elude justice, the last thing Windeport Police Chief Sean Colbeth needs is another suspicious death in the small village. He gets one all the same when the bespectacled proprietor of Route One Hobbies, Walter Guernsey, is found dead a few days after the Fourth of July holiday. Known throughout the county for aisles well-stocked with eclectic materials supporting just about any special interest, the store’s signature feature is an intricately detailed model railroad layout representing Windeport in miniature. Many paused on the sidewalk outside the store to watch Walter work on the layout begun by his grandfather — right up until he becomes part of the diorama himself, victim of a freak electrical accident.

Sean is inclined to blame the death on an extraordinary stroke of bad luck but reconsiders when tantalizing evidence surfaces that Guernsey had been protecting a decades-old family secret, one that had been weighing heavily on him in the weeks leading up to his death. Digging through the old brownstone housing the hobby store only deepens the mystery, for clearly whatever Guernsey was holding onto had the potential to reshape Windeport itself — a very potent motive, perhaps, for more than a few notable village residents to keep Guernsey quiet. Permanently.

Faced with a murder and a vengeful enemy willing to weaponize it in their crusade to take down the Police Chief, Sean finds his faith in the very institutions he’s sworn to uphold begin to unravel when he starts to wonder if some secrets deserve to remain buried…

278 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 16, 2024

About the author

Born and raised in Maine, Christopher H. Jansmann spent nearly three decades as a professional IT nerd before recalling a childhood ambition to become an author. He quickly set about correcting that oversight and published his first novel, Blindsided, in 2020, launching what would become his signature style of blending memorable characters with vibrant locations. Chris is the author of the Coastal Maine-set Sean Colbeth Investigates series and the interconnected Southern California-based Vasily Korsokovach Investigates novels.

Despite his love for the Northeast, Chris escaped the cold for sunny Arizona where he currently resides with his beautiful wife and a Shar-Pei mix that insists on being walked regularly.