by C. J. Tudor
First published 2026
Dan and his daughter Sadie cross an ocean to escape their past, settling in Serenity Falls, a town that boasts zero crime and perfect family life. Their fresh start crumbles when they discover a dead body floating in their new home's swimming pool. The corpse marks only the beginning of disturbing revelations about their sanctuary. Empty houses sit abandoned as if their owners vanished mid-meal. A mysterious woman roams the streets posting flyers for a child who drowned decades ago. An ice cream truck prowls the night, its driver checking that residents stay indoors after dark. As the town prepares to celebrate fifty years of existence, Dan and Sadie uncover layers of deception beneath the pristine surface. Someone will kill to protect Serenity Falls' secrets, and the father and daughter who sought safety may have walked into the most dangerous place of all.
Genres: suspense, mystery, horror, contemporary, adult-fiction, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, fast-paced, sinister, suspenseful, unsettling
Tropes: dark-secrets, fish-out-of-water, found-danger, unreliable-setting
Setting: Serenity Falls
400 pages · Paperback · Charnwood
Content warnings: death, murder, violence