Rumor of evil A novel

Boston cop Kirk Lucian's life is in turmoil. After the tragic hit-and-run death of his daughter, he and his wife, Olivia, were consumed by depression and grief and agreed to a trial separation. As Olivia moves out, Kirk is assigned a new partner--novice cop Mandy Wing--and he hopes a challenging investigation will temporarily take his mind off his troubles. The body of Sylvie Thornton is found hanging from a tree in her backyard, and Kirk suspects Sylvie may have been murdered. After days of searching for leads and interrogating Sylvie's friends and family, Kirk and Mandy eventually discover a terrible secret from Sylvie's past involving a pretty exchange student, illicit sex, witchcraft, a gang of vengeful teens, a tragic fire, and revenge. Kirk and Mandy know that they must not only find Sylvie's killer but also stop that person from killing others who were involved in the decades-old events. Suspenseful and fast paced, with unexpected and shocking twists, this dark story is filled with flawed, all-too-human characters, tense family relationships, and a haunting conclusion. Highly recommended.

Braver (Choose Me) skillfully alternates timelines in this unpredictable whodunit set in Cambridge, Mass. When 36-year-old Sylvie Thornton's landscaper finds her hanging from a tree in her backyard on the third anniversary of her son Devon's death, detectives Kirk Lucian and Mandy Wing are called to the scene. Shortly after Devon's death from cancer, Sylvia divorced her husband, and her surviving son went to live with his father. Kirk, who lost his own child in an unsolved hit-and-run, at first suspects that Sylvie took her own life, but an autopsy reveals foul play. The plot thickens when Kirk and Mandy learn that Sylvie attempted to blackmail her ex-husband a year earlier. Flashbacks set 19 years before the main action, concerning the death of a Slovakian exchange student who was classmates with Sylvie, tease potential connections to Sylvie's murder. When Kirk and Mandy learn of that long-ago death, they unravel some dark truths about contemporary Cambridge. Braver interweaves a convincing police procedural and a character-driven high school drama, bringing both threads to a surprising and satisfying resolution. Here's hoping Kirk and Mandy are on the case again soon. Agent: Esmond Harmsworth, Aevitas Creative Management. (Oct.)