TODAY, WE ARE THRILLED TO WELCOME BACK, AUTHOR DONNA MORFETT, WHO IS SHARING CHAPTERS ONE AND TWO FROM HER NOVEL, 'THE PHOENIX RETREAT' #RWRTeamBlog #ReadWriteRepeat
- 9 hours ago
- 7 min read
Excerpt
Chapter 1 – Alona
The shards of the cup Alona had just thrown across the room trickled down on the bloated corpse beneath. Unable to withstand the force of the throw against the brick wall. Alona Saskele was in her gated mansion, deep in the countryside of Lithuania. Russian by birth, she’d moved around eastern Europe, trying to run from people that would quite like to kill her. The location here was perfect. Although she had all the technology that money could buy to keep her safe, the location would be difficult to see by anyone passing by. The chances of that were slim anyway, so she felt safe. Nothing had changed on that front; no one had breached the perimeters that she’d carefully established. Alarms hadn’t sounded for well over a year now. No, it wasn’t that at all. Nor was it the corpse laying on her living room floor, seeping who knows what fluids into one of her favourite rugs. It wasn’t even who the corpse was. This man had fucked up and fucked up badly. It was inevitable he was going to die. Alona was annoyed, as she wanted to be the one to kill him. Looking down at him, it was clear he’d been dead a little while. The smell was powerful already. However, it looked like he’d got away lightly. There was no evidence of torture. This man deserved to be tortured for what he’d done. She’d trusted him with her niece Minka. Hoping to give her a better life, an education. She would be safer there, than with her aunt in Lithuania, hidden away in a secret compound. Minka was missing, her location currently unknown, despite a lot of her British contacts looking out for sightings all over the UK. The girl who took her must be very clever, or very lucky. Eventually that would run out, and if she got her hands on her, she wouldn’t die quickly. She could promise her that. Alona wasn’t aware of the sorry life Minka had suffered during her short stay in Sergey’s house. That she was locked away for hours at a time, just a mattress, and no spare clothes. Being so frightened she wet herself, then forced to stay in those wet clothes, smelly and sore, until the girl took pity and risked punished herself for showing her some mercy. Alona just knew that for some insane reason, Sergey had allowed Minka and the girl to go to a carnival. Of all things. He clearly thought that she was scared enough of him that she wouldn’t run. One day men would stop underestimating woman. She wanted to scream. However, it worked in her favour more often than not, and she wasn’t willing to give up that power and upper hand. The dead man laying on her mat, was Sergey. She gave the corpse a kick, which caused a flurry of activity, and maggots and other creatures were disturbed from their tasty feast. Alona recoiled slightly, not expecting it, but she was used to death, used to bodies decomposing. She could see the hole in his chest where the knife had entered him, a merciful death as it had stabbed him right in the heart. Death would have been quick. Reaching into the pocket of her skintight black jeans, Alona pulled her mobile phone out, uttered a word in Russian, and hung up. Within thirty minutes, two men arrived, saw the corpse on the floor, and knew what they needed to do without being told. Alona nodded, and walked away, going to the kitchen to make herself another cup of tea. Black with a dash of blackcurrant jam. The one she was drinking was now splattered over the man used to be Sergey. Once her team had finished disposal, she would tell them her plan. The old saying, if you want a job doing properly, do it yourself came to mind. She would tell them to prepare her plane, as she was heading to the UK. If no one else could reunite her with Minka, she would find her herself.
Chapter 2 – Cora
The office was quiet, as quiet as it got anyway. With Luke and Darcy both in, the noise level was higher than normal. Cora didn’t mind. She enjoyed their banter, and it had had a positive impact on the rest of the team. They seemed to be joining in a bit more. Sometimes it was self-defence she noticed. Once those two got going, it was difficult to stop them. She’d got to a point where a raised eyebrow usually done the trick. They knew they’d crossed a line and to dial it back. The team were working on the bits and pieces that had come in, volume crimes they called them. Finishing up reports, going over notes for court appearances. Cora was looking at a report she’d had to compile to present to Felix. Since Guy had lost his life last year, they needed a replacement officer. Budgets were tight, and it was difficult to convince Felix that it was necessary. It didn’t help that Guy had betrayed them and was being paid for information on their previous case. There was also the ongoing missing child from that case, although Cora secretly suspected the child was better off where she was. However, it can’t be a comfortable life forever looking over her shoulder, and the police could help them. It became clear when Sergey was in custody, that he wasn’t the boss. He wouldn’t name names, but someone was his paymaster. It was also clear that he was petrified of her. The fact it was a woman had surprised some of the team. Not her, she had seen more women heading up crime families, and OCG’s, which was a more terrifying prospect than she’d care to admit. Thankfully, while the sun was beating hard against the windows of the first-floor office, there was no big case currently. She wasn’t going to voice this out loud, that would be akin to using the q word. A punishment by breakfast rolls or cakes, depending on the time of day if anyone dared utter it. Luckily the newbies learnt quickly, and only ever made the mistake once. Noor, from the Luton force kept in touch. She’d lost one of her team that fateful day at the end of May and was also struggling to get a replacement. There were the odd outbursts of violence, fights in the streets with machetes, and the odd gunshots. It had been happening in Luton for years, and was usually gangsters fighting each other, and innocents were left out of it. Sadly, that wasn’t always the case, and Cora was happy to send some of her officers to Luton to help if she could spare them. Pulling her mug closer to her, she absents mindedly raised it, and took a sip, before realising it had gone cold, again. She was notorious for letting her coffee go cold, getting so absorbed in a task she forgot to drink it. Pushing her chair back, she clicked the lock screen on her PC, and went out into the main office, on the way to the kitchen. She received a couple of ‘alright boss’ and ‘coffee gone cold again’ as she walked through the desks. She responded with a smile but kept walking. As she reached the double doors at the end, Darcy jumped up and came to join her. It was an open secret that Cora had a soft spot for Darcy, but after her being off on leave after nearly dying in their first case, Cora thought she could get away with a bit of mollycoddling still. ‘You, ok?’ she asked the young woman. ‘Gone pink again I see.’ ‘I wish the rules weren’t so strict, but I like the tips being pink. Just enough to get away with.’ ‘I’ve got a meeting with Felix later, so if he mentions it, I will let you know. He doesn’t miss a thing, as you know.’ Cora noticed Darcy deflate a little, probably remembering the rainbow streaks incident. That was the benefit of youth she thought to herself, absolute confidence, and no thought to the uniform and the history. They relaxed some rules, but rainbow hair was a step too far. ‘Any update on getting someone else in?’ Darcy asked. ‘That’s what the meeting is for. I am going to see if I can get a civilian in, if I can’t get an officer. Roy is doing a great job for us, so I don’t think it will hurt to get another. We are a small station with an even smaller budget, so I’m not surprised. I just hope I can get this through. God forbid a big case comes in.’ Cora put her hand over her mouth, realising what she’d said, and watched as Darcy’s eye’s widened, and she started laughing. Before Cora could stop her, Darcy had turned around, held the door to the floor open, and shouted to the team, ‘the boss has just mentioned we don’t have a big case at the moment, so when something comes in, you know who to blame.’ At that exact moment, the phone rung, and Cora groaned.
**********
**********
AUTHOR BIO
Donna Morfett grew up in a small town in Bedfordshire, where a love of reading took root early and never left. Books have been a constant companion throughout her life — a source of escape, comfort, and, in more recent years, a powerful tool for managing her mental health.
Like many people, the pandemic brought Donna to a standstill — but she turned that stillness into something remarkable. Juggling a degree in Forensic Science, she threw herself into NaNoWriMo in November 2021 and emerged with her first full-length novel. The writing bug had well and truly bitten.
Her short story Cassie came joint second in a short story competition, and after seeing it given a proper cover and edit, Donna decided to release it — with all proceeds going to charity. It felt like the right thing to do.
Her debut crime novel, The Disappearance of Peter Markham, was published by Rampart Books in May 2024, introducing Detective Inspector Cora Snitton to the world. Following a successful re-release with a new edit and cover in 2025, the series continues with Masquerade of Murder, due for release on 11th July 2025.
In September 2024, Donna was featured as a Crime in the Spotlight author at Bloody Scotland — one of the UK’s most prestigious crime fiction festivals — a milestone that confirmed what readers already knew: DI Cora Snitton is a series to watch.
Connect with Donna – socials
Facebook: Donna’s Interviews Reviews and Giveaways
X / Twitter: @lilmissmorfett
Instagram / Threads: @donnasbookreviewsandinterviews
TikTok: @donnamorfett
Website: www.donnamorfettauthor.com
COMING SOON: On Sunday, 30th August, we are thrilled to welcome back author, Toni Kief, who is sharing excerpts from her novel, 'More Than A Footnote'.
Comments