Fourth M

Fourth M is a suspenseful thriller that weaves danger, friendship, and the spark of new love into one unforgettable story.
Still struggling to accept her husband's death, Ela Klarich leaves behind her twenty-year career as a forensic psychologist in Naples, Florida, and escapes to her native Croatia. She returns to the idyllic island village of Mirna, where she, her late husband, and their daughter once spent joyful summers. Hoping to find peace, Ela spends her days painting the breathtaking beauty of the Adriatic and reconnecting with old friends in the tight-knit island community.
But peace doesn't last long. When a heartbroken father hears about Ela's reputation for bringing a killer to justice, he pleads with her to search for his missing daughter. Reluctantly, Ela agrees―and her investigation pulls her across the ocean to Boston's high-stakes modeling world.
Learning why Ela has come to the United States, her loyal friends immediately rush to help: Margo, once a top model in Boston, and Aidan, a dedicated detective from Naples. Together they discover a vital clue: a glamorous private party held aboard a luxurious yacht anchored in Connecticut.
As Ela and Aidan begin a tense stakeout of the gleaming vessel, they uncover a hidden, sinister world of exploitation―one where a young woman's fate is dangerously uncertain.
What starts as a professional partnership between Ela and Aidan slowly deepens into something far more personal. Under the cover of night, with stolen glances and whispered conversations, a tender romance begins to bloom―even as the shadows of danger grow closer around them.
Will Ela find the missing girl before it's too late…

Beata Bagi was born in Zagreb, Croatia. For over twenty years, she served as a court-based victim's advocate for the State of Connecticut, working on thousands of the most serious criminal cases and training hundreds of police officers in trauma-informed practices and victim support.
In addition to her law degree from Croatia, she holds a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of New Haven. Now retired, Beata divides her time between Florida and her native Croatia, where she channels her deep experience into writing and painting.
Her crime novels explore real-life social issues through compelling fiction and the eyes of her sharp, resilient heroine, Ela Klarich. Beata is also the proud mother of two wonderful adult children.

Fourth M is the second novel in the Ela Klarich series. It was originally written and published in Croatian.