Wednesday 24 February 2021

Blog Tour: If I Fall by Merilyn Davies



I am delighted to be able to bring you an extract from If I Fall by Merilyn Davies on my blog today as part of her blog tour. If I Fall is Merilyn's second crime book and she is also a former crime analyst, meaning that she certainly knows a thing or two when it comes to identifying trends and patterns in crimes! Read on for an extract.

extract


‘Do you see that woman?’ She gave a light nod to the woman by the wall. ‘Don’t you think she looks, well, odd?’

Baz followed her stare before shrugging and downing the last of his pint. ‘She’s obviously homeless and has come in for a bit of warm. It’s not a crime, Carla, even though the police would probably like to make it one.’

She ignored the dig. Ever since she’d hidden from Baz that she was still using contraceptives, which she’d fully admitted was a terrible thing to do, he had increasingly made negative comments about the police in general and her colleagues in particular. She weathered it, figuring it was a price worth paying for him to trust her again, but every time a jibe came it was just a reminder he didn’t.

Baz stood. ‘I’m getting another pint, want another?’ The mood he was in made her want a whole bottle, but she said, ‘No thanks, I’m good.’

She watched him walk off and felt a pang of love – but whether it was for what they had now or a memory of what had been, she couldn’t tell.

Taking a sip of wine, she looked back at the woman by the wall. She hadn’t moved. Carla thought how small she looked, as if she was trying to make herself invisible. Maybe Baz was right – she was homeless and hiding from bar staff, but there was something about the way she kept scanning the crowd which made Carla think she was waiting for something.

Suddenly, the woman took a step out of the shadows – her face pale, her thin lips and nose overshadowed by wide, dark eyes, giving her a lost look. She appeared to have found what she was looking for, eyes fixated on a spot to the right of Carla, but the strength of the crowd made it impossible for Carla to see what it was.

Then everything happened at once; or in a sequence Carla was unable to untangle, even days, weeks later. Baz was coming towards her with a pint of beer; the woman was taking a step back, then another; Baz was near to their table and no one seemed to be concerned with the frightened woman by the wall; no one seemed to care about the look on her face – fear, panic; no one was looking to see what she’d seen so they could help and no one seemed to know what Carla knew: the woman was about to jump.


If I Fall is Out on 4th March


Part of the If I Fall Blog Tour



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