by Attica Locke
First published 2024
Texas Ranger Darren Matthews has stepped into early retirement, hoping to build a quiet life with the woman he loves at his farmhouse. A potential indictment hangs over his head, and he questions whether he was ever a good cop. His mother arrives with a story about Sera, a Black college student who has vanished from her all-white sorority. The sorority sisters claim Sera is not missing at all. Darren must decide whether to trust his mother, a woman who has always twisted the truth and torn his life apart. She may have ulterior motives connected to the grand jury deciding his fate. Local law enforcement and fellow Texas Rangers doubt the missing person account. As Darren digs into the case, he uncovers strange details about Sera's family and hometown that range from odd to sinister. To find answers, he needs help from the one person he swore never to trust again. Darren faces a choice between his own peace and the call to do what is right.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Texas
Period: 21st-century
320 pages · Hardcover · Mulholland Books