Illinois Authors

Kensington 2018

Former cop Cass Raines has found the world of private investigation a less stressful way to eke out a living in the Windy City. When Father Ray Heaton asks Cass to look into a recent spate of vandalism at his church, she agrees. But only hours later she discovers his body in the church confessional, a dead gangbanger sprawled out nearby. It's dismissed as a late-night random theft, but Cass's instincts tell her that's not the motive at a cash-strapped parish like Saint Brendan's. And she intends to see justice done ...

Kensington 2019

Cassandra Raines, the former Chicago cop turned private investigator, looks into a suspicious death as a favor to a friend--and makes some powerful enemies... Tim Ayers, scion of a wealthy Chicago family, has been found dead, floating in Lake Michigan near his luxury boat. Cass reluctantly begins digging only to discover that Tim Ayers was terminally ill. Given the large quantities of alcohol and drugs found in his body, Ayers' death appears to be either an accident or suicide. But there are too many unanswered questions and unexplained coincidences. Why would anyone kill a dying man? Working her connections on both sides of the law, Cass tries to point the police in the right direction. But violence is escalating around her, and Cass's persistence has already attracted unwanted attention, uncovering sinister secrets that Cass may end up taking to her grave--

CreateSpace 2017

Everyone has a secret. Now Secret is talking.Talon Alvarado has one goal: to be nothing like her mother who’s blown it in about every way. But sometimes you focus so hard on what you don’t want that you find yourself careening toward it. Bombarded with history, hurts, and secrets, Talon is struggling to be the person she yearns to be and to live a bigger life than girls like her are supposed to wish for. To climb out, she must dig for strength in the most unlikely place; the rubble of her bruised heart. The misty presence of Secret reveals its role in Talon’s life, showing how the secrets we keep tell our stories. Chalk Houses is a gritty, achingly hopeful story about love being in the places you forgot to look, and about starting over. Even at the end.

Independently published 2015

Learning the truth about herself was just the beginning. Tormented after a daring escape, Cora Sandoval must find a way to stop the Arrazi from murdering innocent people and from violating, using, and killing the Scintilla for their powers. She must also accept one bitter betrayal: Finn Doyle--the Irish boy who has both a piece of Cora's heart and soul—is Arrazi...On the verge of extinction and sought by those who would either consume or destroy them, Cora and the remaining Scintilla survivors must solve the mystery of The Light Key. If they fail, the truth will stay buried forever and mankind will pay the ultimate price. No longer will she hide. No longer will her loved ones be hunted. And she will have her vengeance...even if she shatters her heart in the process.

Thomas & Mercer 2024

From the award-winning author of Hide and Fall comes the third book in the Detective Harriet Foster thriller series, a taut tale of renegade justice with a heart-stopping finale. Hardwicke House, home to Belverton College’s exclusive Minotaur Society, is no stranger to tragedy. And when a body turns up in the field next to the mansion, the scene looks chillingly familiar. Chicago PD sends hard-nosed Detective Harriet “Harri” Foster to investigate. The victim is Brice Collier, a wealthy Belverton student, whose billionaire father, Sebastian, owns Hardwicke and ranks as a major school benefactor. Sebastian also has ties to the mansion’s notorious past, when thirty years ago, hazing led to a student’s death in the very same field. Could the deaths be connected? With no suspects or leads, Harri and her partner, Detective Vera Li, will have to dig deep to find answers. No charges were ever filed in the first case, and this time, Harri’s determined the killer must pay. But still grieving her former partner’s death, Harri must also contend with a shadowy figure called the voice―and their dangerous game of cat and mouse could threaten everything.

Thomas & Mercer 2023

In the second book in the Detective Harriet Foster thriller series, author Tracy Clark weaves a twisted journey into the underbelly of Chicago as Harriet and her team work to unmask a serial killer stalking the city’s aldermen.The Chicago PD is on high alert when two city aldermen are found dead: one by apparent suicide, one brutally stabbed in his office, and both with thirty dimes left on their bodies―a betrayer’s payment. With no other clues, the question is, Who else has a debt to pay?Detective Harriet Foster is on the case before the killer can strike again. But even with the help of her partner, Detective Vera Li, and the rest of their team, Harriet has little to go on and a lot at risk. There’s no telling who the killer’s next target is or how many will come next.To stop another murder, Harriet and her officers will have to examine what the victims had going on behind the scenes to determine who could be tangled up in this web of betrayal…and who could be out for revenge.

Thomas & Mercer 2023

When a young red-haired woman is found brutally murdered in downtown Chicago, one detail stands out: the red lipstick encircling her wrists and ankles.Detective Harriet Foster is on the case, even though she’s still grieving the sudden death of her partner. As a Black woman in a male-dominated department, Foster anticipates a rocky road ahead acclimating to a new team―and building trust with her new partner isn’t coming easily.After another victim turns up with the same lipstick markings, Foster suspects she’s looking for a serial killer. Through a tip from a psychiatrist, Foster learns about Bodie Morgan: a troubled man with a twisted past and a penchant for pretty young redheads with the bluest eyes. As Foster wades into Morgan’s sinister history, the killer continues their gruesome assault on Chicago’s streets.In her desperate race to catch the murderer before they strike again, Foster will have to confront the darkest of secrets―including her own.

Independently published 2015

Can one girl be the light in a world spiraling toward darkness? Haunted by the loss of her loved ones, Cora Sandoval, one of the remaining few of an extraordinary race known as Scintilla, holds the key to disentangling the biggest conspiracy in human history...and its link to the fate of the human race. As Cora follows a trail of centuries-old clues and secrets, she collides with a truth not only shocking but dangerous. With enemies both known and unknown hot on her trail, Cora must locate each of the ancient clues hidden in the art, religions, and mythologies of humankind. And through it all, she must keep her heart from being torn apart by the two boys she loves most. One is Scintilla, one is Arazzi. Save herself. Save the Scintilla. Save the world. Or die trying...

CreateSpace 2017

How bad would you be to do the right thing? In the not too distant future, ten-year-old children are tested to determine their genetic predisposition for criminal behavior. The "Bads" are taken from their families and sent to reformation schools meant to counteract the negative effects of their genetics for the benefit of society. It's a new standard for categorizing people and most everyone seems to have bought into it. Fifteen-year-old, Raphael "Izzy" Barnes, believes the test is a total load. For one, he tested "Good." If good means that you routinely skip school to go surfing, drive under the legal age, and act like a typical wayward teenage boy, then yep, he's good all right. Being a Good isn't easy street when Bad is in your blood. Izzy knows that first hand when he falls for Dublin Westerfield, the surfer girl who's had his attention for years and whose family would never let her date someone with his family history. Since his Bad but beloved father's conviction for murder three years ago, Izzy has questioned his beliefs about goodness and integrity. Now, Izzy's little brother, Beau, has tested Bad. He believes in Beau's goodness and will do almost anything to prevent him from being taken away. Whatever it takes. But his little brother has a terrible secret and once Izzy discovers it, his certainties about right and wrong will be severely tested.

Young Readers Paperback 2017

Seventeen-year-old Ryan Poitier Sharpe is a gutsy, outgoing girl who spends her summer days hurling herself out of planes at her parents’ skydiving center in the Mojave Desert. Fiercely independent and willing to take risks, she challenges those around her to live life fully. But after a brush with death, Ryan is severely altered—she’s not the same thrill-seeking girl she once was and seems to be teetering on the edge of psychosis. As her relationships crumble and her life unravels, Ryan must fight the girl she’s become—or lose herself forever—in this eerie and atmospheric thriller.

Chicago in the dead of winter can be brutal, especially when you're scouring the frigid streets for a missing girl. Fifteen-year-old Ramona Titus has run away from her foster home. Her biological mother, Leesa Evans, is a recovering addict who admits she failed Ramona often in the past. But now she's clean. And she's determined to make up for her mistakes--if Cass can only help her find her daughter.Cass visits Ramona's foster mother, Deloris Poole, who is also desperate to bring the girl home. Ramona came to Deloris six months ago, angry and distrustful, but was slowly opening up. The police are on the search, but Cass has sources closer to the streets, and a network of savvy allies. Yet it seems Ramona doesn't want to be found. And Cass soon begins to understand why.Ramona is holding secrets dark enough to kill for, and anyone who helps her may be fair game. And if Ramona can't run fast enough and hide well enough to keep the truth safe, she and Cass may both be out of time.

Independently published 2014

A mighty flame follows a tiny spark.Cora Sandoval lives an insulated, unexciting life. Mostly, she blames her dad. Her mother disappeared from Ireland when she was five and he’s been a human handcuff ever since. Cora’s life suddenly propels into the extraordinary when she begins to see colorful lights around people. Everyone, that is, except herself—instead, she glows only a brilliant, luminous silver. Cora has reason to believe that someone is hunting and killing people like her—if there are any others like her who are still alive…While investigating the danger associated with these auras, Cora is inexplicably drawn to Finn, a gorgeous Irish exchange student. Their attraction is instant, magnetic, and primal—but her father disapproves, and Finn’s mother abruptly orders him back to Ireland. As mysteries add up, Cora realizes that the small life she’s always known was a lie. On the run from a supernatural killer, she flees to Ireland to look for her missing mother and learn the truth about herself. There she meets another silver-haloed person and, amidst threats and danger, discovers the meaning of her newfound powers and their role in a conspiracy spanning centuries—one that could change mankind forever…if it doesn’t kill her first.

Wealth. Power. Celebrity. Vonda Allen’s glossy vanity magazine has taken the Windy City by storm, and she’s well on her way to building a one-woman media empire. Everybody adores her. Except the people who work for her. And the person who’s sending her flowers with death threats . . . As Vonda’s bodyguard, off-duty cop Ben Mickerson knows he could use some back-up—and no one fits the bill better than his ex-partner on the police force, Cass Raines. Now a full-time private eye, Cass is reluctant to take the job. She isn’t keen on playing babysitter to a celebrity who’s rumored to be a heartless diva. But as a favor to Ben, she signs on. But when Vonda refuses to say why someone might be after her, and two of her staff turn up dead, Ben and Cass must battle an unknown assailant bent on getting to the great lady herself, before someone else dies. Cass finds out the hard way just how persistent a threat they face during the first stop on Vonda’s book tour. As fans clamour for her autograph, things take an ugly turn when a mysterious fan shows up with flowers and slashes Ben with a knife. While her ex-partner’s life hangs in the balance, Cass is left to find out what secrets Vonda is keeping, who might want her dead, and how she can bring Ben’s attacker to justice before enemies in the Chicago Police Department try to stop her in her tracks . . .