Part of Harry Stoner Mystery, book 9
First published 2013
Harry Stoner drives through snow to reach psychiatrist Phil Pearson's Cincinnati mansion. Pearson wants the private investigator to find his missing daughter Kirsten, who suffers from emotional problems. The doctor claims he's told Stoner everything, but key details emerge that he kept hidden. Pearson's first wife killed herself. His current wife shows immediate interest in Stoner, her bedroom eyes already working on the detective despite the winter weather. These omissions make Stoner wary about where the case might lead. He knows desperate teenagers often harbor dangerous secrets. Their troubled minds can push them toward acts that normal people can't handle. Kirsten carries secrets connected to something so disturbing that bringing it back into the open could destroy multiple lives. The investigation threatens to unleash violent emotions that could shatter even Stoner's experienced heart or end his career permanently.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: secrets, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Cincinnati
Period: present-day
Audio CD · Blackstone Publishing
Content warnings: mental-illness