KEEPING SILENT (originally published in 2001) is the first mystery featuring social worker Caleb Knowles. In this updated version, we meet Caleb, a clinical social worker, as he tries to prove his brother innocent of murder. Acclaimed sculptor Sam Knowles, deaf since a teenager, is accused of the murder of his fianc e. When Anne Farrell, who was also deaf, is found lying by the piece of sculpture that was used to kill her, her still hands sign the word "No " in a silent scream. Caleb believes his brother is innocent, but Sam, who's battling demons Caleb cannot understand, withdraws into a dark, silent world. He won't defend himself and fights Caleb when he tries to help. When the seemingly unrelated crisis of one of Caleb's clients turns out to be a crucial link to Anne's murder, Caleb starts down a dangerous path, uncovering secrets Anne was keeping from them all. As Caleb exposes the killer, he must also confront the fine line between guilt and innocence to which no one-including himself-is immune.

The Safe Harbor Center is supposed to be a sanctuary for the homeless, but when a ruthless killer strikes, no one is safe. Social worker Caleb Knowles, immersed in the demanding work of housing, feeding, and counseling the colorful array of clients at Safe Harbor, is deeply concerned about the murders. It doesn't help that city officials blame the homeless and plan to use the killings as an excuse to close Safe Harbor for good. There's even talk of razing Zooville, a tent village that is home to some of Caleb's most vulnerable clients.

Like the flick of an arsonist's match, tensions ignite when Wyman Carter, a homeless drug addict with a strange fascination for fire, enters the mix. Wyman knows more than he should about the murders, but he's on the run--from the guardian who exploits him, from his past, and from the voices screaming inside his head.

Tempers flare as Caleb himself becomes a suspect in the murder investigation led by Claudia Briscoe, the detective he used to call friend.

With help from his deaf brother Sam and Henry Rudd, a recovering addict, Caleb faces a firestorm that threatens not only his reputation, but his very life.

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Praise for Carla Damron's Caleb Knowles mysteries.

SPIDER BLUE
"A personable character ... readers will follow him breathlessly to the novel's well-reasoned conclusion."
--"The State," Columbia, SC

"Carla Damron writes with wisdom, heart and deft hand at building suspense, but mostly she writes about characters any one of us could become."
--Pamela James, "The Writers Room Magazine"

KEEPING SILENT
"Damron's adaptation of the deaf is poignant and exact ... one of the better examples of true deaf characterization."
--"Deaf Characters, Behind The Fiction"

SPIDER BLUE - A Caleb Knowles Mystery Reissue Edition Social Worker Caleb Knowles' quiet southern life is disrupted by two horrendous crimes: Frances Callahan, a young nurse and mother of two, is found stabbed to death in front of her suburban home. Across town, a worker draws a gun and opens fire on his fellow employees. Caleb has a personal and professional connection to the murders: a good friend, Maggie Wells, lives near the murdered woman and now fears for her own safety. And, after a bizarre suicide attempt, the gun-wielding mill worker becomes Caleb's client. With the help of his brother, Sam, a deaf artist, Caleb uncovers the strange link between the two crimes in the form of another client: a disturbed teen age boy, the millworker's son. But Caleb's investigation into these events draws him into a dark, confusing world of drive-by shootings, gangs, and street drugs. And Caleb's efforts to protect his friend might just prove deadly-for Sam and for Caleb. Carla Damron, a licensed clinical social worker, taps into her keen insight into human behavior in the Caleb Knowles series. Spider Blue has received impressive reviews from print and on-line media. Spider Blue is the second in the series featuring social worker Caleb Knowles and his brother, Sam, a deaf artist. Spider Blue is set in the midlands of Damron's native South Carolina.

Clawing chest pains and a fiery car crash take one life and change the destiny of four others. The Stone Necklace braids together the stories of a grieving widow, a struggling nurse, a young mother, and a troubled homeless man, reminding us of the empowering and surprising ways our lives touch one another and how, together, we can recover from even the greatest of losses. Carla Damron weaves the stories of four people in Columbia, South Carolina, whose seemingly disparate existences intersect through tragedies realized and tragedies averted. Lena Hastings survived breast cancer and marital infidelity but now faces an uncertain future and crises with her teenaged daughter Becca without the support of the one person she has always counted on. Intensive care nurse Sandy Albright, newly released from drug rehab, confronts temptations from her past and false accusations threatening her career, leaving her to wonder if a drug-free life is really living. Tonya Ladson, a mother whose child is injured in the wreck, must decide if her domineering husband is right and a lawsuit will solve their financial problems. Joe Booker, a homeless man who sleeps in a graveyard, loses his gentle benefactor and must either succumb to the real and imagined evils of his world or find the heretofore-untapped courage to care for himself and for others as a stranger once cared for him. Weighted down by their respective pasts, the characters must make life-altering choices that reverberate into the fates of the others, ultimately bringing them together in unexpected but healing acts of compassion, forgiveness, and redemption. The Stone Necklace includes a foreword from novelist Patti Callahan Henry.