First published 2015
Matt inherits his grandfather's Victorian house in Seattle, the same grandfather who served as police chief and killed the notorious Beacon Hill Butcher in 1985. While renovating the backyard, Matt breaks open a locked crate and finds something so horrific it changes everything he believed about his family. His grandfather Edward Shank may have harbored secrets far darker than Matt ever imagined. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Sam investigates her own theory about the Butcher case. She believes the serial killer murdered her mother two years after police supposedly ended his reign of terror. As Sam digs deeper into the old murders, she moves closer to the devastating truth Matt has unearthed. Matt faces an impossible choice: protect his grandfather's reputation, expose the family secret to authorities, or handle the situation himself. The past and present collide as both Matt and Sam discover that some secrets refuse to stay buried, and the truth about the Beacon Hill Butcher may be more complex and terrifying than anyone suspected.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: secrets, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Beacon Hill, Seattle
Period: 1985, 2000s
416 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Pocket Books
Content warnings: murder, violence