CELTICLADY'S REVIEWS: Little Boy Blue Social Worker Claire Conover Mystery #4 by Margaret Fenton Tour!

Warning: Adult language, abuse

Little Boy Blue

Social Worker Claire Conover Mystery #4

by Margaret Fenton

Publisher

Aakenbaaken & Kent (Oct, 2024)

Category

Mystery, Amateur Sleuth

Tour Dates

November 4-27, 2024

ISBN

978-1958022184

Available in Print and ebook

228 pages

Description Little Boy Blue by Margaret Fenton

The latest installment in Fenton’s acclaimed southern mystery series, Claire Conover Mysteries, featuring Birmingham, Alabama child welfare social worker Claire Conover, Little Boy Blue is a confident, compelling, and captivating tale about long-buried secrets, revenge—and how nothing, absolutely nothing, is quite as it seems.

Claire Conover is in the midst of personal upheaval: an indiscretion has cost Claire her relationship with longtime love Grant Summerville, and she is trying to weather the challenges of being a single foster mother to 13-year-old LaReesa Jones. At least her job hasn’t put her in danger again—at least until Grant is accused of child abuse by a former employee, Regina Maynard.

Even though she and Grant are broken up, Claire vows to prove his innocence, despite repeated protests and warnings from her Unit Supervisor, Mac McAlister. Convinced of Grant’s innocence, Claire starts to investigate. Then Regina is murdered, and Claire takes charge of Regina’s six-year-old son, Dylan. When she starts to unravel the destruction and chaos Regina left behind, Claire realizes there is no shortage of suspects in Regina's murder, including Grant himself.

Regina had plenty of enemies, including people she stole from and ex-lovers she was blackmailing. But who wanted her dead? And more importantly why? Complicating matters even further, LaReesa’s drug-addled biological mother comes back into the picture, causing the teenager to spiral-- and causing Claire immeasurable anxiety over what the future could hold.

The stakes have never been higher: against the backdrop of a ticking clock, Claire and Grant must work together to solve Regina’s murder before Grant loses everything. But it’s clear that someone doesn’t want the truth to come to light, and soon Claire herself becomes the target. She’s lost Grant, she’s afraid she could lose LaReesa …but this time, Claire may lose something even more valuable: her life.

Teeming with tension, simmering suspense, and a riveting storyline, Little Boy Blue is mesmerizing. An extraordinary new entry in Margaret Fenton’s Little series, Little Boy Blue is a brilliantly rendered, briskly paced mystery that brims with real, relatable characters, authenticity, and a powerhouse of a plot that will leave readers breathless.

Praise for Social Worker Claire Conover Mysteries

“Did my usual thing of plunging in without reading the blurb on the back cover and my heart sank when I saw the story was about social services and child welfare? So glad I wasn’t put off as this is a great, well told, murder mystery with a cast of interesting characters. The book has a nice writing style and kept me reading as the plot developed at a frantic pace. I had real trouble putting this down and finished it in two sittings as I couldn’t wait to find out the conclusion.”- Kevin Cannon, Monty’s Book Reviews

“Claire, a social worker, finds herself involved in the death of a clients child. Little Mikey only 3 dies and when they found out it was because of a drug overdose his mom, -a long time addict gone clean - gets sent to jail. But nothing is quite like it seems because Claire does not give up until she finds out the truth --even if it puts her life in danger. Finished this book in 2 days. Could not put it down.” =-Agnes, Bubbie’s Books

“Little White Lies” by Margaret Fenton captured my attention with an intriguing storyline that never wavered throughout. I voraciously tore through the pages of this immersive book in one sitting; it was the ultimate escape from reality! I loved piecing together the clues from this political mystery.

The author did an excellent job of illustrating conflict within a relationship. “Little White Lies” had all the necessary ingredients for a deliciously immersive mystery—perfect pacing, well-developed characters, and puzzling clues to uncover. Readers interested in books about racial disparity and familial dysfunction will be quickly immersed in the story.”- Reader Views's Review

“Margaret Fenton has given the reader a wonderfully written mystery in Little White Lies that has so much exciting action and so very many lies that the reader will be completely involved and not put it down until the very last page. In Claire, the author gives the reader an excellent main character that we come to care about.

Quill says: This is an excellent and well-rounded story that I would recommend to anyone who loves a really good mystery. It would be a huge surprise if, after reading Little White Lies, you don’t turn around and go right out to read the first two books in the series. I, for one, cannot wait to see what happens to Claire and the others in the next book.”- Feathered Quill Book Reviews

Excerpt

The assessment room was on the first floor on the east side of the building. It was a large room that had been painted in a happy, pastel yellow. Toys were scattered throughout the space, including a large, non-gender-specific dollhouse and several anatomically correct dolls. A table flanked by two chairs held paper and colored pencils. There was a bookshelf of books about families, too. Two denim bean-bag chairs were in there as well, on the colorful floor mat in the form of a jigsaw puzzle. I sat in the observation room so I could watch through the one-way mirror. I made sure the camera next to me was recording and dimmed the lights.

After a few minutes, Russ entered with little Dylan, who looked exactly as he had when I saw him last. Maybe a little taller. Skinny kid, dressed in clean, gray cargo shorts and a royal blue t-shirt with a gray truck on it. His clothes were a little big on him, but he would grow into them soon. His hair was dark brown and shaggy, like he hadn’t had a haircut in a while. He had big, curious, blue eyes. His fair skin was slightly pink from a mild sunburn.

He went immediately to the table with the paper and colored pencils on it, that was just below the observation window. He started to pick up a pencil and stopped, looking at Russell. “Can I color?” He asked in a small voice.

“Sure, we can color if you want to.” Russell sat in the other chair at the table. He asked permission before coloring, I thought, so impulse control was pretty good so far. Over the years, I had seen so many kids bolt into that room and tear through all the toys before I could even catch up.

Dylan chose a green pencil and drew some grass on a piece of paper. Then he chose black and drew a road. A small truck was next, colored red, with a brown-haired figure behind the steering wheel. Russell asked if he knew why he was here. He shrugged. “I’m supposed to talk about Mr. Grant.”

“What about Mr. Grant?”

“I’m supposed to say he touched me.”

“What can you tell me about that?”

“He touched me.”

“Can you tell me more about it?”

“He touched me.”

“Can you tell me where?”

“In the bathroom.”

I saw Russell choke back a giggle. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear. I meant where on your body.”

Dylan started squirming, drawing huge roll bars on the truck. He shook his head.

“Dylan, remember we talked about this before we came in here. This is very serious. I need you to tell me the truth. You won’t get in trouble for saying the truth, ever. Can you point to where he touched you?”

Dylan waved a hand toward his lap. “Down there. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Okay, I appreciate your being honest with me. Your truck looks great! Does your mommy drive a truck?”

“No, we have a Kia but it’s little and doesn’t work most of the time. Mommy says she is going to get us a truck, as soon as she gets some money.”

“How does mommy get money? Does she have a job?”

“She used to work for Mr. Grant, but she doesn’t anymore. It’s sad. He was nice.”

“I thought you said he touched you.”

I could see the moment of panic on little Dylan’s face. He was caught in the deception and he knew it. He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Russ focused on the truck again. After a moment, he asked, “Where would you go in that truck, if you could drive it?”

“I don’t know.” Dylan drew headlights on the truck, coloring them yellow. He was shutting down.

“Is there anything else you want to talk about, before I go get your mom?”

“I don’t know.”

“Last chance.”

“No.” It was practically a whisper.

“Okay, I’m going to go get your mom.” Russ left to get Regina while I continued to watch Dylan. After Russ left, he continued coloring on the picture. He drew a large mountain behind the truck, outlined in brown. Several large objects were drawn on the top of the pointed mountain that looked like boulders. Then a gray thundercloud.

Russ and Regina walked in the room and, without being asked, Dylan took his picture and went and sat on one of the bean bag chairs so the adults could sit on the chairs by the table. Regina was artificially orange-tan, with long dark brown hair and blue eyes like her son’s. Her body was larger than I remembered; she had gained some weight. She wore a lot of eye makeup that was a bright blue color, and her fire engine red lipstick wasn’t doing her any favors. Her expression made me think she was annoyed.

Dylan was anxious. He was hyper-focused on his mom, and seemed to be waiting for her to say something. Acknowledge him, or anything. Russell asked how things were going.

“How do you think things are going for God’s sake? My son has been abused. What did he tell you? Did he tell you the details?”

Dylan shrank small in the bean bag as Russell answered, “I’m sorry, but everything Dylan and I discuss is between us, like I said before we started. Is he having any behavioral problems?”

“No. Should he be?”

Russell shrugged. “I’m just getting an idea of what’s going on.”

“When will Grant be arrested? When will the charges be filed?”

“I am going to refer Dylan to the Cole Center for further evaluation. They’ll do an assessment and determine whether to send the case to the District Attorney for review.”

“So all this was for nothing?” She shouted. “What the hell is the point of us coming down here then?” She stood up, as did Russ.

Dylan tucked his knees up to his chest on the bean bag. The poor kid was practically in the fetal position.

Russell continued, “This is the first step in any investigation. We’ll refer it out from here and see what they are able to determine.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Regina grabbed her purse and loudly said, “C’mon Dylan. Let’s get out of here.”

Dylan stood up and Russell addressed him. “It was great to meet you, Dylan. Thanks for talking to me. Can I keep your picture?”

He nodded and handed it to Russell as Regina stormed out of the room. Dylan followed her and I heard Russell sigh as I turned off the camera. He walked them out toward the lobby, then joined me the observation room after I turned up the lights.

©Margaret Fenton

Little Boy Blue

Guest Review by Laura

“I followed his advice and inhaled deeply. Then again. The tears were back, suddenly, and I wiped my eyes with my fingers. I always cry when I am furious, and I hate that. I didn't want to fall apart in front of Dr. Pope and Mac.”

An exciting story about an amateur detective and her quest to discover the truth behind the false accusation cast against the man that she loves. 'Little Boy Blue,' by Margaret Fenton is a stunning story of devotion and justice all leading to a thrilling ending.

Claire Conover is a social worker in Alabama who is trying her best to raise her teenage foster daughter, LaReesa. Things are already rough for Claire on the day that she finds out about the accusation of child abuse against her ex-boyfriend, Grant. Grant owns a tech company and had recently fired an employee who was stealing from him.

This employee has now filed a complaint with Claire's office claiming that Grant was abusing her six-year-old son. Of course, Claire realizes immediately that the complaint is a lie and she begins investigating the case herself, while trying to stay away from having an official involvement. What follows is a gripping adventure of investigation and truth-seeking!

Claire is in for a real challenge, especially after the employee who accused Grant turns up dead.

'Little Boy Blue,' is the fourth book in Margaret Fenton's Claire Conover series, and each book is even more riveting than the last! At no point did I know where this story was going and I loved that! It kept me guessing all the way through!

I highly recommend this book if you're interested in amateur sleuth stories, or if you just want a great mystery to curl up with in front of the fire! Five stars!

About Margaret Fenton

Award winning author, Margaret Fenton spent nearly ten years as a child and family therapist for her county’s child welfare department before focusing on writing. Hence, her work tends to reflect her interest in social causes and mental health, especially where kids are concerned.

She has been a planning coordinator of Murder in the Magic City since its inception in 2003. Margaret lives in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover with her husband, a retired software developer, and their adorable Papillons. She received her B.A. in English from the Newcomb College of Tulane University.

Website: https://margaretfenton.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557966351056

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Giveaway Little Boy Blue by Margaret Fenton

This giveaway is for 2 print copies and is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on February 1st, 2025 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only. a Rafflecopter giveaway