Laura Benedict Boeken

In a tense small-town setting, Erin Walsh returns home to confront her stepmother Shelby Rae, only to find herself entangled in a web of secrets when Shelby is kidnapped and a family friend is murdered. The investigation reveals connections to Erin's mother's violent death seven years prior, narrowing the suspect list and heightening the danger. As Erin teams up with Noah Daly, the son of a man blamed for her mother's death, she must navigate her growing feelings for him and the looming threat to her life, aided by a clever black cat detective named Trouble.

A woman returns home to find a stranger living in her house in this "suspenseful and moving" psychological drama from an Edgar Award-nominated author (Meg Gardiner) -- perfect for readers of Shari Lapena and Liane Moriarty. There's a stranger living in Kimber Hannon's house. He tells the police that he has every right to be there, and he has the paperwork to prove it. But Kimber definitely didn't invite this man to move in. He tells her that he knows something about her, and he wants everyone else to know it, too. "I was there. I saw what you did." These words reveal a connection to Kimber's distant past, and dark secrets she'd long ago left buried. This trespasser isn't after anything as simple as her money or her charming Craftsman bungalow. He wants to move into her carefully orchestrated life -- and destroy it.

Ivy Luttrell harnesses the mystical powers of Devil's Oven mountain to create her ideal man, but this creation becomes a source of terror for the nearby town. As chaos ensues, Ivy struggles to comprehend the monster she has unleashed. The key to her salvation may lie with a young dancer, whose deep connection to the past and the mountain's soil holds the potential to confront the darkness Ivy has wrought.

Three women. A cursed house. Generations of lives at stake. The third novel in the acclaimed Bliss House series reveals the secret that started it all.