by Ace Atkins
Part of Spenser, book 30
First published 2004
A woman approaches Spenser about her mother's death three decades ago. The case was never solved, and now she wants answers. Spenser takes on the cold case, but the investigation pulls him back into his own history. The trail leads through old Boston crimes and connects to people from his past. As he digs deeper, Spenser discovers that some secrets have been buried for good reason. The killer is still out there, and reopening this case puts everyone at risk. The daughter has waited thirty years for justice, but getting it may cost more than she imagined. Spenser must navigate between past and present, weighing old loyalties against new dangers in a case that forces him to confront who he was and who he has become.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: past-coming-back-to-haunt, secrets-and-lies
Setting: Boston
Period: 1980s, 2010s
304 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Berkley Books/G.P. Putnam's Sons