Third Lock mysteries · Book 1
The Spare Key
The spare on her tagged board is lying next to a body.
Bess Ward cuts keys at Ward Lock & Key, a brick storefront one block off the third lock. Only three keys to the mill pay-office should exist. One is in the lock. One is hers. The third is unaccounted for.
Free to read with Kindle Unlimited. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Get a free Third Lock short story
A locksmith hangs a spare until the customer comes back. In The Returned Spare, Bess Ward hangs MAIL — 18, and on Friday the hook is empty again. Join Helen's reader list and it comes straight to your inbox.
Helen writes when there is a new Third Lock book. No spam, and you can unsubscribe with one click. Privacy.
From Chapter 1
“Hands tell you if a person has been working.”The Spare Key, Chapter 1
“I name them the way other people name cousins because a cousin will lie to you and a tag won't.”The Spare Key, Chapter 1
“From the sidewalk they read the right way. From inside they read the wrong way, and that's how you know you are the person with the keys.”The Spare Key, Chapter 1
A canal town that works
Third Lock is a fictional mill-and-canal town on the Pike Canal, a Great Lakes feeder. The paper mill closed in 1998. The third lock still lifts pleasure craft in season. The air is oil, wet wood, iron. The gates hit on the hour.
Each book is one closed murder. The keys can be counted. The case ends in that volume. Meet the town and the series.
Coming next
Book 2: The Night Latch
Bess is back at the bench. Join the reader list above and Helen will write when it is ready.