Objects of Desire - Chapter 4

There's news on the death of Perry Stiffley - a pulmonary embolism brought on by a heroin overdose. And he was just a ten-year-old kid...

Jess is fazed by this and recalls what Nic told her, when she used to see him; live in the world, not your mind. Easy for him to say. And there isn't time to waste - she has to visit Bryony's mother to say that the case of the bruising on her daughter's legs won't be pursued. But Carwen Pearce isn't there and Jess gets the brush-off from her partner, Marty, smelling of oil and fish.

All she wants after that is a quiet evening in, but an email waiting for her throws her world into turmoil as the past catches up with her.

To listen to the full podcast of this instalment click here, or buy the book from Amazon, Waterstones or all good bookshops.

Objects of Desire - Chapter 3 Part 2

After the hassle of talking to Carwen Pearce about the mysterious bruises on her daughter's legs, Jess decides to call in on Denny, the guy who manages her website. A woman with a past, it turns out, an ex-rock musician on her second career. But why doesn't she want to talk about her time with the band, Hacksaw, why does she turn down the chance of an interview?

Later, at home, Denny calls her - someone had hacked in to the website earlier. No changes had been made - it was as if whoever had done it wanted them to know that they were vulnerable - that Jess was vulnerable.

The next day she sees Ed, her liaison with the police's Family Support Unit, the man she worked with on the Perry Stiffley case. She wants him to support an investigation into the bruised girl, Bryony, but he tells her to forget it. Not enough evidence.

Maybe she'll have more luck with her boss - a life has already been lost and she doesn't want it to happen again.

To listen to the podcast of this instalment click here, or buy the book from Amazon, Waterstones or all good bookshops.

Objects of Desire - Chapter 3, Part 1

There's no time to worry about Perry, the dead boy on the Dyke. Jess has to investigate another problem, a young girl with unexplained bruising on her legs. The result of an accident, or has something happened to cause these appalling marks? The mother seems unconcerned and the girl herself isn't telling.

Later that day Jess meets a new member of the police's Family Support Unit, DS Pav Randhawa. Perhaps the most beautiful woman she's ever met, apart from the knife scar running across one side of her face. Chance meetings - we never know where they may lead...

To listen to the podcast of this instalment click here, or buy the book from Amazon, Waterstones or all good bookshops.

Objects of Desire - Chapter 2

It's 1986 and Chad is coming down from her successful rock tour of the states. 18 year old superstar, where does she go from here? First stop is to find her partner in the band, Jamie - he'll have what she needs...

Back in the present, Jess Chadwick is immersed in her new case, a nine-year-old girl at the local school with strange bruising on her legs. Where did the marks come from, and why is her mother so obstructive?

On her way back from the visit, Denny texts her, asking if her latest song is ready for upload to her web site. Managing two lives is bad enough, social worker and musician, but then she hears that the dead boy on the Dyke, the one that Ed called her about last night, was one of her first clients, a little boy called Perry Stiffley. Denny would call it a system failure - Jess calls it a failure.

To hear the podcast of Chapter 2 click here, subscribe to the whole series by clicking the link opposite or buy the book (go on, you know you want to...) from Amazon, Waterstones or any good bookseller.

Objects of Desire - Chapter 1

Things haven't been the same for Jess Chadwick since she moved from London to the Welsh Borders, and today was one of the worst; taking a new born baby from the hospital, and then finding out that one of the children she's meant to protect has been murdered.

Objects of Desire - a dark, psychological thriller by CJ Emerson - was shortlisted in 2007 for the Crimewriters' Association New Blood Dagger award.


To hear the podcast of Chapter One, read by the author, click here, subscribe to the whole series by clicking the link opposite, or buy the book from Amazon