Author Description

After witnessing the brutal murder of a wealthy Philadelphia builder, fifteen-year-old Sam Flynn suddenly disappears. The neighbors decide the killing was Murder-for-Hire and the newspapers seem to agree but Lieutenant Gallagher of the Philadelphia police isn't so sure. He and his sergeant uncover a knotted web of romantic entanglements, municipal corruption and criminal enterprise but are uncertain if the victim was the intended target or if the murder was a case of mistaken identity. As the police try to unravel the mystery, Sam remains missing. It seems that other than a brief note he scrawled on a torn page from an old copybook, he has vanished without a trace.Sam's friend, Jim, attempts to find Sam and learns things about Sam and his family that he would rather not have known. Lieutenant Gallagher and his sergeant receive unsolicited help in solving their case from a Secret Service agent who claims a connection between the murder of the wealthy builder with a counterfeit ring and a fortune teller. 1938 was a hard time for many. Political unrest in Europe and organized crime at home cast long shadows over the neighborhood. To ease their pain some turned to crime, some to religion, some to drugs and others to the occult. Against a backdrop of war clouds gathering in Europe and Asia, Secrets if the Cobblestones is a story of deception and betrayal and of murder and revenge.