An unsolved murder and a cold case are hitting too close
to home…
When Willa Tate presents Detective Kenneth Gray with a
buried box containing evidence of a thirty-five-year-old crime, he knows his
newly formed task force will leave no stone unturned to find answers. But it's
Willa's life on the line when Kenneth uncovers a connection between the cold
case and the unsolved murder of his wife. Protecting Willa and righting past
wrongs pits the dogged cop against a killer desperate to silence the truth
forever.
This is the third book in the series but can easily be
read as a standalone. The books' common denominator is the town's recovery from
"The Flood," a massive corruption scandal involving the town's
leaders and law enforcement. In this book, Detective Kenneth Gray has returned
to the sheriff's department to help sort out cases that may have been affected
by the corruption, including going over cold cases. One of those cases was the
murder of his wife several years earlier.
Willa Tate works for a construction company. One evening
she discovered a partially buried box on one of their sites. After opening it,
she believed that it contained evidence of an old crime, but investigating on
her own got nowhere. So she took it to the newly formed cold case task force -
Kenneth.
The first meeting between Kenneth and Willa did not go as
she'd hoped. After showing him the box and its contents and explaining her
theory, Kenneth remained skeptical of her claims but promised to check into
them. After a conversation with the sheriff, he had more questions for Willa. He
quickly becomes less skeptical when Willa's home is ransacked, and she is
attacked by someone clearly searching for something. Willa had some tense
moments as she wondered if she would survive the encounter. I was glued to the
pages as they investigated each item they found in the box and drew closer to
the person responsible. There were also brief sections from the killer's
viewpoint showing his determination to keep his secret. The final confrontation
was a nail-biter with an unexpected twist that put Willa in his crosshairs. I
loved how Willa kept her head and played a big part in her rescue and solving the
mystery. I liked the ending and seeing how everything was intertwined.
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between
Willa and Kenneth. Willa's sunshiny nature made an impression on him from the start,
and he had difficulty getting her off his mind. His wife's murder still haunts Kenneth
and Willa lights up the dark corners of his life. Willa is equally attracted to
Kenneth, who is different from the men she's been involved with before. Kenneth's
protectiveness kicked in when Willa was attacked. Their forced proximity gave
them a chance to get to know each other and their attraction the opportunity to
grow. I liked how Kenneth opened up to Willa about his wife's death, and
Willa's compassion was beautifully shown. There were some sweet scenes of them
together as their feelings deepened. I liked the ending, and the peace Kenneth
found so that he could move on with Willa.
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