Part of Blue Ridge Library Mysteries
First published 2018
Amy Webber escapes a failed romance by moving to a historic Virginia mountain town to live with her aunt. She throws herself into running the underfunded public library with its quirky patrons. Her new neighbor Richard Muir, a former dancer now teaching choreography, inherited a farmhouse from his great-uncle Paul Dassin. Local legend says the original owner died from poison administered by his outsider wife, who disappeared after her scandalous 1925 murder trial. Richard believes the woman was innocent and asks Amy to help prove it. Amy resists until their digging uncovers disturbing connections to prominent local families, including her own relatives. When new murders rock the peaceful community, Amy and Richard race to solve both the historical case and the current crimes. They must expose a conspiracy that spans generations to bring justice to the living and the dead.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, mystery, contemporary, adult-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, community-focused, engaging, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-detective, found-family, historical-investigation, slow-burn-romance
Setting: Virginia, mountain town
Period: 1925, 21st-century
352 pages · Paperback · Crooked Lane Books
Content warnings: death, murder