First published 2008
Oren steps onto his childhood porch in Coventry, California, and finds a human jawbone waiting for him. Twenty years ago, he and his younger brother Josh walked into the woods together. Only Oren came back. Now an ex-Army CID investigator, Oren has avoided this northern California town for decades. His father reveals that other bones have appeared at their door. Josh is returning home piece by piece. Oren applies his investigative training to solve his brother's murder, but Coventry harbors dangerous secrets. The housekeeper hides a fugitive past. The deputy nurses an old grudge. An ex-LAPD cop lives as a recluse. The locals call one woman the town monster. Oren himself carries secrets from that day in the woods. The deepest mystery belonged to Josh, and Oren must uncover what his brother was hiding to learn the truth that has shadowed their family for two decades.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, detective
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: cold-case, missing-sibling, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Coventry, California
Period: 20 Years Ago
340 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons
Content warnings: death, murder