The Tower

by Helen Haught Fanick

Lara Benedict, a mystery writer whose career is blossoming, finds herself in the middle of a real-life mystery when her cousin, Sam Hamilton, is accused of murder. Sam insists that Jim Scott, a local handyman, died as the result of an accidental fall, but the prosecuting attorney is moving forward with the case against Sam. Lara has returned to the village of Pine Summit in order to help figure out what actually happened to Jim Scott, and she’s disturbed to discover that her ex-fiancé, Daniel Riley, is the assistant prosecutor who’s handling the case against Sam. It’s been nearly a year since the handyman died—why the unexpected murder charge against her cousin now? Does it have anything to do with the fact that Sam is married to the dead man’s widow? Or are there other, more devious, circumstances involved? Jim Scott died when he fell from the tower at the corner of Lara’s family home. While trying to solve this mystery, Lara discovers that the tower holds an even greater secret, one that’s putting her life in danger. She’ll have to uncover the truth about both of the tower’s secrets in order to save Sam—and herself.

Genres: Mystery

Audible Audio

First published August 14, 2013

About the author

Helen Haught Fanick is a member of a large family of writers. Her mother published many children's stories, her brother is a newspaper editor and nonfiction writer, her son is a successful mystery novelist, and nearly everyone else in the family writes poetry or short stories.

Helen grew up in West Virginia and now lives in Texas, and both states provide settings for her novels. Her work includes cozy mysteries, suspense novels, a World War II espionage novel, and short stories, all available through Amazon for Kindle. The novels are also available in paperback.

A short story impressed Helen’s fifth grade teacher, and she’s been writing ever since. She’s won several local and state awards and two national awards in the Writer’s Digest Competition. Moon Signs, Book I of the Moon Mystery Series, was a quarter-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards.

Reviews

[Jeanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping tale.

This well plotted interesting story kept my attention all the way through. I plan to read more from this good storyteller.

[Patricia Gligor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lara Benedict, a mystery writer, has just received word from her aunt that her cousin, Sam, has been arrested, accused of murder. Lara immediately takes a leave of absence from her job in another city and hurries home, determined to clear his name. But, as she investigates the circumstances surrounding the victim's death, she places her own life in serious jeopardy as she uncovers much more than the killer.
I highly recommend "The Tower" by Helen Haught Fanick.

[Elizabeth Haire · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Tower

Good story.
Very much a suspense-filled page-turner tale.
There are characters the reader will like and be surprised by. There are characters the reader will dislike immediately and then be surprised by.
Enjoy!