A Just Reckoning: A Tess Alexander Mystery
About this ebook
Driven by a tragedy in her own past to hunt down and expose the worst of human corruption and brutality, this isn’t the first time Tess’s work has put her in danger—but this new investigation puts her in far worse peril than anything she’s faced before. It begins after she meets Katia Voitenko, who as a small child living along the Black Sea coast of Crimea was kidnapped and sold into decades of sex slavery. Hearing Katia’s appalling story, Tess becomes determined to unmask the ruthless sociopaths behind the international sex trafficking ring that enslaved the young woman.
Her search for the ringleaders behind the conspiracy drives her thousands of miles from the safety of her northern California home to the streets and alleyways of Ukraine, Crimea, and Great Britain.
During the course of her investigation—and with the help of a collection of characters that includes a Ukrainian revolutionary, an officer with London’s Metropolitan Police Department, and one of the leaders of a transnational organization dedicated to rescuing victims of the sex trade—Tess uncovers the sinister extent of the trafficking operation, and almost pays with her life.
About the author
As you can see from my photo, I love dogs.
Golden Retrievers especially.
The dog in the photo is Joey, who I adopted in 2015 from Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue here in northern California. He's my 4th rescue golden, and a registered therapy dog.
I'm a 3rd-generation Californian, and live in the low mountains of the Sierra Nevada in the northern part of the state. In addition to dogs, my great loves include gardening and hiking. I teach Communication Studies at a community college.
As a writer, I'm the author of a full-length nonfiction book, "Little Girl Lost: A True Story of Shattered Innocence & Murder," first published in 1992, and that's sold over 400,000 copies worldwide. It's now out of print, but people have said they can find used copies on a number of sites, including here on Amazon.
I've also written for a number of national, regional, and local magazines and newspapers; currently, I write two newspaper columns--"Casey's Corner" and "Speaking of Pets--focused on life with pets, that's syndicated in newspapers in California and Colorado. I've received several awards for my articles, including from the Society of Professional Journalists and Writer's Digest magazine.
"A Just Reckoning" is my first novel, and the first book in a series of Tess Alexander mysteries. I will be publishing "A Fine Oblivion" later this year on Amazon.
If you'd like to find out more, head on over to my website at www.joanmerriam.com.
