Part of The Orphanage by the Lake
First published 2025
Hazel runs a thriving private investigation firm in New York. Her business succeeds, her relationship flourishes, and even her doubtful mother approves of her life. Then police discover a murdered priest alongside a cryptic red letter. Hazel agrees to investigate as a favor to an old friend. She learns the priest was not the sole victim to receive such correspondence. One victim connects to a dangerous figure from Hazel's past that she believed she had left behind. The red letters keep appearing. Each letter precedes another killing, and the murders grow increasingly puzzling. Hazel pursues the killer while the killer hunts her. She starts doubting everything she understood about herself and those close to her. The investigation forces Hazel to confront buried secrets. To uncover the truth, she must face one final letter.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, contemporary, adult-fiction, thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, gritty, intense, psychological, suspenseful
Tropes: cat-and-mouse, mystery-unraveling, personal-stakes, unreliable-narrator
Setting: New York
Period: 21st-century
352 pages · Paperback · Poisoned Pen Press
Content warnings: murder, violence