Chalk Valley

The body of a missing girl is discovered in a remote, British Columbia mountain valley. Investigators combing through the dense forest for clues find the remains of two more victims secreted deep in the woods. A monster dwells among them.



Detective John McCarty leads the hunt for the Chalk Valley Killer, but the investigation is far more complex than anything he or his small town police force have taken on before. The investigation falters, mired in politics, clashing egos and inexperience. The monster is still at large.



On a lonely highway hundreds of miles away, RCMP Sergeant Dave Kreaver encounters a van crashed at the side of the road, with a drugged, unconscious teen aged girl and a very anxious driver inside. The more they talk, the more Kreaver’s suspicions mount. Could the driver be the Chalk Valley Killer everyone’s been talking about?



The Task Force members are in well over their heads, buried by bureaucracy, a mountain of leads and dozens of potential suspects. Kreaver’s suspicions are just added to the pile. His supervisors tell him to step back and let the Task Force do its job.



But Kreaver isn’t about to back down. Instead, he throws himself into a deadly game, going head to head against a murderous psychopath. Operating alone and without official sanction, can he stop the Chalk Valley Killer before he claims more lives?





"Chalk Valley presents a balance of action, police technique, and character development that is incredibly rare to find period, and damn near unheard of in a debut."

- Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White



"Devilishly creative … terrifyingly macabre and realistic story. Definitely keep the lights on when reading 'Chalk Valley'!!"

- Bibiliophilic Book Blog



"Chalk Valley is probably one of the best crime novels I have read in a very long time."

-My Little Book Space



"Johnstone impresses with his tantalizing and absorbing debut - a great thriller."

- Verdict Book Reviews