the Claire Quartet Series

Lonely, unfulfilled, and envious of her best friend who has moved to Italy, Claire Caviness heads out to the same old club one night but takes a right turn out of her usual routine and meets Finn Weston, a mysterious and disturbed medical student who lures her into a folie a deux - a shared madness that forces Claire to look at the things she's tried desperately to leave behind. When Claire's friend Lucy is found dead and Finn is implicated in the murder, Raoul Duras, a Delta Force operator with a penchant for rescuing prostitutes, offers a way out of the madness. In a raw, edgy journey from trauma to restoration, Claire examines her deepest fears: grief for her distant mother and gay father, the awakening of her conflicted sexuality, and the darkness that pulls her to the intrigue and danger of two very different - and dangerous - men. REVIEWS: CRIME BOOK BEAT: Crime writers are generally like war correspondents, but Ms. Hinton doesn't require a flak jacket. Her writing is literate, evocative, and perceptive - even mesmerizing. Her mysteries aren't solved, they're dangled just ahead, just out of reach. EIGHT CUTS GALLERY: I've come across some real gems on Kindle, and Billie Hinton's Claire-Obscure is one of the shiniest gems. What drew me to the book was the most primordial thing - the power of an image (and the beautiful title with its evocative double meaning), a cover that evokes the opening of Belle de Jour, and Renoir's painting Parapluies (my favourite in the whole world). I'm glad I was drawn because Billie Hinton is a wonderful writer, and Claire-Obscure a delightful, enigmatic masterpiece. PRAISE FOR CLAIRE-OBSCURE: "claire-obscure is sophisticated, eerie, fascinating, literary. It has a spare, sexy Duras feel and a Donna Tartt-like magnetic quality."-Peggy Payne, author of Revelation and New York Times Notable Book Sister India "In claire-obscure, Billie Hinton creates three amazing and mysterious characters, in a fresh voice that has echoes of Donna Tartt and Sylvia Plath. Couldn't wait to see how it turned out, hated for it to end."-Dale Edgerton, author of Goneaway Road "Simply brilliant; a lyric dreamsong."-J.S. Kindrick, former Special Operations soldier and author of Spirit Horses

Bingham Wade lives a solitary life. He leaves his mountain cabin rarely, mostly to do private contract work finding lost children. Cynical and lonely, bound by regret to the past, a photo of a lost girl with curly red hair forces him to his porch in the middle of the night, where he searches the internet for a woman he lost twenty years ago. Claire Caviness is married and owns an art gallery in Savannah. When she returns to NC for a funeral, things begin to happen: she inherits money, buys a big handsome horse, reconnects with her father, and suddenly, things she lost in the past return to her. Signs That Might Be Omens, book two in the Claire Quartet, is a story of love, loss, and illumination. REVIEWS: Crime Book Beat: Billie Hinton is a gifted writer. In this second volume of her Claire Quartet, she skillfully circles back around crimes of the past, embellishing our understanding. Then subtly sows portents of violations, possibly brutal, perhaps murderous. I find her telling most captivating. Two books in, Claire has already become a memorable figure - in company with Lawrence Durrell's - and at times, de Sade's - Justine. Kudos. PRAISE FOR SIGNS THAT MIGHT BE OMENS: "What happens when one casually reads a sample of Billie Hinton's SIGNS THAT MIGHT BE OMENS? What happens is two days later the entire book is consumed in a big greedy gulp. Hinton's characters rise off the page full bloom and real, their movements through life raw, ripping out emotion without over-sentimentality. There is passion, need, desire, and sex - fingers scorched, the page corners curling in upon themselves, blackening to near ash from the heat. Hinton's equine characters touch a hidden ancient core that wishes to ride until there is nothing or no one else but horse and woman. Such is the power of a woman's words and life and love - such is the power of a well-written, well-wrought novel." -Kathryn Magendie, publishing editor of Rose & Thorn, author of TENDER GRACES, SECRET GRACES, FAMILY GRACES, SWEETIE, and the novella PETEY. "Billie Hinton's writing is both elegant and direct, lyrical and raw. Her command of words is second only to the depth of her characters, who are at the same time beautifully heroic and yet tragically flawed. Hinton is a soon-to-be-discovered gem, a talented voice from the American South." -Dawn DeAnna Wilson, author of Amazon Best Seller LEAVING THE COMFORT CAFE "Utterly hypnotic prose that draws the reader into a world of both obsession and undying love. this book, and its predecessor, claire-obscure, are bewitching narratives of heartbreak and redemption. Highly, highly recommended!" -Kathleen Valentine, bestselling author of THE OLD MERMAID'S TALE and THE CRAZY OLD LADY IN THE ATTIC