Description
A woman is found strangled in a rundown Portland motel. Hours later, the man tied to her death turns up dead in a city park, his throat slashed with an unusual blade left nearby. Fingerprints on the weapon lead to an ex-con at a neighborhood bike shop—until an anonymous tip brings police rushing in, and he doesn’t walk out alive.
Three deaths. Three explanations that close the cases far too quickly.
Detective Rebecca Friedrich can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. Removed from the investigations, she follows the threads anyway—threads that pull her deeper into a hidden pattern unfolding beneath Portland’s familiar streets. Each clue brings her closer to something colder and more deliberate than she expected…and toward the shadows she hoped she’d left behind.
The Quiet Hand is a taut, atmospheric mystery that blends procedural tension with psychological depth. Perfect for readers who enjoy slow-burn investigations, layered characters, and stories where the truth hides just below the surface.
File Format: EPUB (Compatible with most e-readers; The ebook is delivered as a ZIP file. Simply unzip it to access the EPUB file.)
Length: Approx. 100k words / 313 pages
Genre: Murder Mystery / Crime Fiction
Author: Steve Williamson
A Note from the Author
Prior to beginning this story, I had written five novels. Four were fantasies and one was a contemporary fiction piece that, once the manuscript was completed, I chose not to publish. I knew the story was within me, but once I brought it forth onto paper, that was enough.
The Quiet Hand—my sixth novel—was truly new territory for me in two ways. Before I set out to write this story, I had never written a murder mystery before, nor had I ever read one, either. I get a kick—a very humbling one—out of the fact that the first murder mystery I’ve ever read was my own! (My beta readers couldn’t tell, so hopefully my newness to the genre prevented this book from being just like all the rest.)
The level of complexity in both characters and the timeline when writing The Quiet Hand was beyond any writing effort I’d previously attempted. Without the help of several others, its fate would likely have been a quick death at birth, the ink still wet, followed by a hasty burial in an unmarked grave.
I’m generally a well-organized person. I like to plan the work before I work the plan. I learned that writing a murder mystery demands every ounce of planning and detail tracking an author can muster, not only beforehand but also constantly throughout the writing process. Notes—lots of detailed notes—were an integral part of this book.
Hopefully, the attention to detail manifests in an enjoyable yet seamless reading experience for you. It was definitely an eye-opening yet rewarding experience for me. – Steve
