Excerpt from A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Also present, Mrs. Margaret Mary Devine, grandmother—" There's a bit of palaver and Baldy has to switch off the tape. "It's just for the record, Mrs. Devine."

"Aye, well, now it's on the record. I'm no Margaret. Always Maggie. And God help anybody that Peggy's me."

Baldy sighs and drags his hands across his huge shiny head. He's probably got hair but shaves it off cos he thinks he's Kojak. His name turns out to be Detective Alistair Baxter. He lights a cigarette and gives one to Nana. Val is standing behind us, guarding the door. She must be pure melting in that heavy uniform. I touch my pinkie and blink twice, the trick we did as wee kids when we made a wish. But she doesn't faint.

"I want to start at the point where you go to Martin Gillespie's door, hen," Baldy says at last.

Everybody's ready. There's a scab on my knee that's exactly thirteen days old. I pick it just enough for a tiny blob of blood to appear. And now I'm ready too.

Excerpted from A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford. Copyright © 2026 by Frances Crawford. Excerpted by permission of Soho Crime. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.