Alternative Outcome (Mike Stanhope Mysteries #1)

An alternate cover for this ASIN can be found here.

Alternative Outcome is an intricate mystery drama with a romantic thread, and its starting point is self-publishing. What if you published a book on the web, and it had unintended consequences? What if people who read it jumped to conclusions about your knowledge of real events?

The leading character, Mike, has written a mystery novel as a diversion from the rat race of his day job, basing it very loosely on a true story. He opts for self-publishing as a way to get the book out there, and a sequence of unsettling events follows.

One of the key characters in Mike’s book is loosely based on a girl he remembers from childhood. He never kept in touch with her, but now he is persuaded by well-meaning friends to try and track her down. Yet the harder he looks, the more intrigue he finds himself unravelling.

As he starts piecing together the real mystery surrounding the missing girl, he finds himself pitched against increasingly persistent adversaries. Mistaken assumptions lead him down various false trails, but he gradually starts to unearth some surprises he wasn’t expecting.