Nicolette Mace: the Raven Siren - Filling the Afterlife from the Underworld: Murder in the First

By C.S. Woolley

The bickering trio are back in this latest Raven Siren Case File Special! It's a family affair as Fred and Harry come to Siren on bended knee to investigate a case that neither of them can get close to. Ryan Barlow, Fred's brother and only living relative is in trouble, the kind of trouble that will end up with him in prison or dead, unless Siren can do something to help.

Sonya Lesner, a woman of some dubious reputation has been found murdered and Ryan is the prime suspect. Not only that, but the crime scene has been staged to send a message to one of the trio and Siren is certain that she has heard the name, Sonya Lesner, before. Of all the cases Siren has taken, there has never been more at stake as she digs into the past to try and find some answers.

Nicolette Mace is a private investigator out of necessity, not choice. With her family dead and nowhere else to turn she had to learn to stand on her own two feet and live the only way her father ever taught her to.

Life as a private investigator isn't all big cases, excitement and arch enemies. Filling the Afterlife from the Underworld follows the day to day musings and activities of Nicolette Mace: The Raven Siren, taken from her online blog.

"My name is Nicolette Mace, but you might know me as the Raven Siren. I'm a Private Investigator living the 1930s romantic dream in this new and exciting modern age. I keep records of everything that happens; everything I have seen and done. Why? There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophies."

Nicolette Mace: the Raven Siren series (in chronological order)
Beginnings
1. Medusa
2. Siren’s Call
3. Shadow
4. A Shot in the Dark
5. From Out of the Ashes
6. The Murder of Michael Hollingsworth
7. The Case of Mrs. Weldon
8. Hunting the Priest Killer

Siren, Fred & Harry Saga
9. Manhunt
10. A Friend in Need
11. Gangster's Paradise
12. Murder in the First
13. Sabrina
14. Ring of Fire
15. Return of McGregor
16. Last Train Home
17. Til Death do us Part
18. How do you solve a problem like Siren?

Kevin Metis Saga
19. When 3 become 2
20. Ballad of Fallen Angels
21. Case of the Welsh Corgi
22. Murder at the Cricket Club
23. Backtrack
24. Once Upon a Dream
25. Witchcraft
26. Me, Myself and Fred
27. Friends will be Friends

Family Matters Saga
28. Thicker than Water
29. Money
30. The Shortest Day
31. Play it Again
32. Maneater
33. A Hard Day's Night
34. Ghosts
35. Easy Come, Easy Go
36. Dancing in the Moonlight
37. Deceiving Appearances

Midnight Saga
38. Midnight Runner
39. Charlie, Whisky, Tango
40. Double Down
41. New City, New Faces
42. At the Point of a 9mm
43. Siren's Last Stand
44. The Streets of the Living

Derek Long Saga
45. Dire Wolf
46. Red Rag
47. Epic Struggle

Lily & Rose Saga
49. Fred’s Story
50. Rick’s Story
51. Siren’s Story
52. Harry’s Story
53. Reunion

Legacy
54. Lily’s Story
55. Rose’s Story
56. Rick’s Story
57. Harry’s Story
58. Fred’s Story
59. Siren’s Story
60. Epilogue

Other Siren titles
1. Filling the Afterlife from the Underworld: Volume 1
2. Filling the Afterlife from the Underworld: Volume 2
3. Filling the Afterlife from the Underworld: Volume 3
4. Filling the Afterlife from the Underworld: Volume 4
5. Filling the Afterlife from the Underworld: Volume 5

• Language: English
• Publisher: C.S. Woolley
• Release date: May 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311842084

C.S. Woolley

C.S. Woolley (Caroline Sarah Woolley) was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire and raised in the nearby town of Wilmslow. From an early age she discovered she had a flair and passion for writing. This was fuelled by winning local poetry and short story competitions during her years at Mottram St. Andrews Primary School. During high school, she continued to write and found her time split between acting, writing and her studies. At 14 she began writing novels. University did nothing to change her love of writing. C.S. spent a year reading Law at Manchester Metropolitan University before changing her mind and moving to read English at Hull University. After graduating she moved to Nottingham where she stayed for the cricket at Trent Bridge. She currently lives with her partner, Matt, and their two cats in Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2010, C.S published her first novel, Nicolette Mace – The Raven Siren: The Kevin Metis Saga. Since 2010 she has published books in five series – The Chronicles of Celadmore, The Mysteries of Stickleback Hollow, The Children of Ribe, The Children of Snotingas and Nicolette Mace: The Raven Siren - as well as a series of adapted classics for Foxton Books and a series of modernised Shakespeare and workbooks to help with GCSEs. Her upcoming series include Alpha Sigma, The Children of Danelaw, Dark Hearts,The Children of Ribe Story Books, The Children of Ribe: Tales from Ribe, The Children of Ribe: Ancestors, Yngvar and Reinholdt, Finestra, and The Children of Ribe: Legends. More recently C.S has taken part in charity projects that include producing content for charity books such as Standing by the Watchtower: Volume 1. C.S has also acted in several plays and films including Weekend (2011). Hobbies: horse riding, including show jumping and cross country, Formula 1, tennis, free climbing, singing, boxing, dancing, playing guitar, cricket and is also an avid PC and console gamer. Favourite movies: The Muppet Christmas Carol, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Chisum. Favourite books: Sharpe’s Prey, Silverthorn and the Three Musketeers. Favourite bands: Thin Lizzy, the Darkness and McBusted. For more information please visit: http://www.mightierthanthesworduk.com

Book preview

Day 1

There are few days when I get time to myself, to enjoy life, to drink whiskey, read a good book, listen to good music - all without being disturbed. Today was not one of those days, no matter how much it looked like it would be when I woke up.

I woke up to a very cold and crisp morning, the city was covered in a light frost that sparkled in the early morning sun and made me wish that I had better heating in my apartment. I didn't care how many people were inspired to poetry by the sight - I cared about the fact that I had no running water and was at risk of having my apartment flooded again by burst pipes.

So after making sure there wasn't frost on the inside of my windows, and hitting the boiler a few times to make sure it was working, I was able to get up to find that I didn't have time to get dressed before Laurel and Hardy showed up to ruin my day. When I say showed up, I mean both Fred and Harry were already sat in my office looking at their watches and ignoring the fact that they could see their breath. 

Now I am sure there are women out there who would welcome the sight of seeing these two annoyances first thing in the morning, I am, however, not one of them. As I was still in my night attire, that is more revealing than I would have liked at this point in time, Fred's eyes were firmly fixed on my legs. Harry chose to look out of the window instead.

After trading the standard pleasantries such as Get out, What the hell are you doing here? and Fred, stop staring at my legs as well as the threats of violence and arrest from the relevant sides of the arguments, I discovered why I'd been paid a visit by the gruesome twosome so early in the morning. Ryan, Fred's younger brother, who wasn't so good at staying on the right side of the law, was in trouble - again.

I have always liked Ryan; he's a lot of fun and fairly harmless, even if he doesn't have the best judgement when it comes to his life choices - though I am hardly one to talk. 

Ryan has always been in some degree of trouble. Normally he would come to me directly for help with death threats, loan sharks or gambling debts, mainly to avoid lectures from Fred, but as it was Fred and Harry paying me a visit and not Ryan getting on the phone, it seemed that it might be something a little more serious than normal.

And when I say a little more serious than normal - it was a lot more serious and when I say it was a lot more serious – it was just about as serious as a situation could get. 

There had been a murder committed overnight, and it turned