The Erlking

Phoebe Dunbar, the beautiful, much-younger third wife of a popular British Member of Parliament, is found dead in her Gloucestershire manor house. The corpse of 8-year-old Josie Stephens is found floating in a north London canal. These two seemingly-unrelated crimes will test the mettle of Detective Inspector Mick Chandra of New Scotland Yard. Together with his capable partner, Sergeant Elizabeth Chang, he must enter into the dark world of pedophiles, where believers see no wrong in abusing children. What did Phoebe know? Who would want this beautiful child and compassionate woman dead? The leader of the pedophile ring calls himself The Erlking, a title lifted from a popular poem by Goethe, the 19th century German poet. When Mick reveals the identity of the Erlking, all hell breaks loose in Westminister.

Detective Inspector, Mick Chandra of New Scotland Yard, struggles to link the murder of the young wife of a popular British Member of Parliament to the seemingly random death by drowning in a north London canal of 8-year-old Josie Stephens. The forensic pathologist discovers that Josie was abused before she was murdered. Mick is informed by a Quaker Friend who knew Phoebe that she, too, may have been physically abused. Mick realizes he is getting close to the fire when his live-in love, American expatriate and renowned England-based concert pianist, Jessica Beaumont, is suddenly harrassed. During a concert, someone even takes a shot at her. Seconded to the Yard's Pedophile Unit, Mick and his partner, Sergeant Elizabeth Chang, receive help in breaking the case. The Unit's chief informs Mick that a notorious pedophile ring is working out of north London, headed by someone who calls himself The Erlking. Day by day, more children are reported missing in north London. How is this linked to Phoebe's death? What is the connection between Phoebe and Josie? As Mick struggles to expose the identity of The Erlking, help arrives from a most unexpected source.

Rebecca Yount hails from a literary family. She is a published author of poetry and fiction, as well as editor of books and periodicals. From childhood, Rebecca was trained as a concert pianist. She is also a composer and lyricist, whose work has been performed at Lincoln Center, New York. She was inspired to write the Mick Chandra crime novels during a summer sojourn in England. In the London press, she had read an account of a suspected north London pedophile ring being investigated by New Scotland Yard. Her protagonist, the cocky but competent inspector Mick Chandra, was inspired by a real-life inspector she had met on another summer visit to England. She meticulously researches the series on-site in the UK and at New Scotland Yard to ensure authenticity. Rebecca lives on a lake in Virginia with her husband, David, a prolific author and syndicated columnist, plus two cats.