The Lovers' Crime
By Pen Avram
()
About this ebook
An unexpected commission to cover a wedding for a community paper leads Hendrcyh and Kroupa to murder. In the depths of Jewish tradition they uncover a very unconventional menage a quatred and, as they become more and more entangled in a web of intrigue, the bloodshed begins.
Pen Avram
This one-time piano mechanic turned Master of Applied Science (Critical Enquiry/Social Ecology) fled to the West from the former Soviet bloc, finally finding his home in Australia. Growing up in a family touched by the horrors of the holocaust and communism, Pen Avram has spent his life studying what drives people of different faiths around the world to act the way they do. His insights now inform the mysteries investigated by the intrepid team of Kroupa and Hendrych. And Sara is a real dog, blood an bones.
Read more from Pen Avram
The Death in Parliament Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Enemy Within Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMembrane Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThree Short Plays Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Return from the Death Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Seaside Clinic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWho Killed Don Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSt. Emilion's Secret Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBoletus Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Baby Jane Murders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Literary Triptych Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mystery of the 'E' String Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gag and the Centrefold Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bald Pate Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Confession Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Blue Mountains Secret Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fires and the Bullets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Golden Cigar Case Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Beautiful Lady Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe League of Free Men Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Isleworth Smile: Part 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Brain Farm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Isleworth Smile Part 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Woolworth's Massacre Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tales of an Uneven Mind Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Junzi Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Missing Patek Philippe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsthe Cemetery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOff the Rails Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Lovers' Crime
Related ebooks
The Bald Pate Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gag and the Centrefold Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSadie in Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Golden Cigar Case Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Missing Patek Philippe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Baby Jane Murders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings"you know" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBequest Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnother Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Wells' Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Brain Farm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeeply Superficial Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Mortal Enemy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFriends, Lovers, and Other Paraphernalia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMe & Issy: A Four Seasons Romance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Saturdays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The American Freshman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistorical Romance: Once Upon an Earl A High Society Regency Romance: Heirs of High Society, #4 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Renell of Oakenwaldt Avenue Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhere The Light Is Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Best-Loved Dog Stories of Albert Payson Terhune Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCashelmara Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seven Blessings: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Those Who Walk in Darkness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Woolworth's Massacre Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5That Existential Leap: A Crime Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Vanishing Man: A Charles Lenox Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Memory of Your Kiss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Mystery For You
Pretty Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5False Witness: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life We Bury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summit Lake Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Club: A Reese's Book Club Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Flight: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The People Next Door Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Murdery Mystery Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5None of This Is True: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunting Party: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Daughter: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pharmacist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jack Reacher: A Mysterious Profile Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finlay Donovan Is Killing It: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kept Woman: A Will Trent Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"A" is for Alibi: A Kinsey Millhone Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman in the Library: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Side: A Collection of Mysteries & Thrillers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Sleep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Did I Kill You?: A Thriller Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Murder Under a Red Moon: A 1920s Bangalore Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hidden Staircase: Nancy Drew #2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Big Lies in a Small Town: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Agatha Christie Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for The Lovers' Crime
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Lovers' Crime - Pen Avram
THE LOVERS’ CRIME
A book by Pen Avram
SMASHWORDS EDITION
*****
PUBLISHED BY:
Pen Avram on Smashwords
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Copyright © 2011 Text - Pen Avram
Copyright © 2011 ArtWork Design - Pen Avram
The author and the artwork designer assert the moral rights to
be identified as the author and designer of this work,
Contact: mailto:penavram@hotmail.com
CHAPTER 1 - Invitation
Kroupa was happily enjoying his third beer, listening to a new Miles Davis release. He liked classical music and art, his favourites being old Dutch Masters. However, he also had a penchant for Picasso and Dali, and Miles Davis was often his choice of music, but not for too long at one time. Philosophy was another of his hobbies and his library included everything from Plato to Wittgenstein, but also many Russian writers. He had no time for poetry or Dickens. But always had time for a pint of cold beer. It helps me think,
he liked to say.
Kroupa’s friend Hendrych had been a freelance reporter for over 20 years. He’d written for major newspapers in Hamilton and when Kroupa had relocated to Boarsville, he moved too. Amongst his major publishers he counted Boarsville Morning Post, Boarsville Daily, and Hamilton Telegraph. He loved to get an‘exclusive’ and be paid for it. Occasionally he still struck gold with The Times and The Guardian, due to his previous contributions and contacts there.
Hendrych had met Kroupa at the very beginning of his career while on assignment and since then the two had become best friends. Hendrych often helped Kroupa in his investigations. His reward: ‘exclusives’ for his papers.
Kroupa and Hendrych shared a similar build and both were middle aged. Detective Chief Inspector Kroupa was a few years older. His pink cheeks were sagging and he was going bald. Every criminal, who encountered him, feared him. His simple interrogation technique was well known in every police academy - ‘He never answers a question with an answer, but always with another question.’
There was a popular anecdote circulated about him. A suspect had asked Kroupa, Why do you always answer with a question?
Kroupa replied, Why shouldn’t I?
However Kroupa had a weakness – which also proved to be his strength at times – and it was known only to Hendrych. Kroupa always followed his intuition.
He had worn the same black, horn-rimmed glasses for over twenty years, since he had become aware that his eyesight was deteriorating. He liked the old-fashioned look and they also served as a memento of Rome. Therefore, he never replaced them. Instead, he simply had the lenses replaced every year. On the rare occasion, when a smile crossed his face, his cheeks touched the bottom of his glasses.
Kroupa wore tweed. Usually rusty Harris tweed, comfortable moleskins trousers, dark brown, soft flat shoes, and a dark green woollen necktie. Whenever he went outdoors, regardless of the weather, he sported a Baxter Tartan cap – of course, he’d had the pompom removed. It looks more ‘classy’, and it matches my car,
he liked to say. The car in question was a dark-brown Rover SD1.
Hendrych was in his forties, about 185 cm tall, lean but strong, with a mane of reddish hair that was always neatly combed. Curiously, he wore contact lenses and sunglasses, even when the light was dim. Mostly he was dressed in a fine soft black leather jacket, perfectly tailored, as were his grey flannel trousers, elegant black loafers and a blood-red kerchief around his neck. On special occasions, he would put on more formal flannels, but he preferred his leather. He liked to look good, and tried to appear younger than he really was. That was the main reason for his contact lenses. He could take shorthand, an art almost forgotten by now, and he was fluent in a number of languages.
Hendrych loved his car. Every three years he traded in his Alfa Romeo Spider for the latest model, always at the same dealer. I mightn’t be able to afford a red Ferrari, but I can still afford a new red Italian car,
he often said with a satisfied smile.
But his failing had always been in music and arts. He didn’t like music and he didn’t understand art. He would complain that art was subjective and made you take a stand, and not having any bias or preferences in art kept him neutral. Kroupa had long given up arguing this point.
"I am a reporter who reports the facts, not personal