In Carystown, Kentucky, Sheriff Bill Delaney's daily
routine is abruptly altered when Kate Russell enters his
office. Kate informs him where the body of nine-year-old
Isabella Moon lies. Isabella disappeared two years ago and
it remains an open wound for this small community. When the
body is unearthed, shock waves flow through the town, as
inhabitants look upon one another with suspicion.
As the investigation begins, a seemingly senseless murder
occurs, and the town's secrets are in danger of being
exposed, especially Kate's. Sheriff Delaney must probe into
her carefully reconstructed life. He soon finds that all
clues to the killings eventually lead back to Kate. She's
the thread that connects the past with the present. Then
the past collides with the present, sending shock waves
throughout the community as the town's ugly secrets are
exposed in a surprisingly haunted ending.
Ms. Benedict's debut is a darkly edgy thriller depicting
small-town life. She creatively weaves supernatural
elements as Isabella's spirit drives the finely drawn
characters to a startling conclusion. The effective
combination of supernatural and thriller increases the
suspense as layer upon layer peels away revealing the
rotten core within the heart of the community.
Two years ago, in idyllic Carystown, Kentucky, nine-year-old
Isabella Moon disappeared on her way home from school. Is it
just coincidence that Kate Russell, a young woman with no
discernible past, arrived in town just months before
Isabella’s disappearance? When Kate walks into Sheriff Bill
Delaney’s office to tell him that Isabella’s ghost has led
her to the child’s hidden grave, he immediately views her as
a suspect. Mystery follows mystery as a local athlete drops
dead, inexplicably, on the basketball court, and someone
close to Kate is viciously murdered.
The unsolved
disappearance of Isabella Moon has been the biggest
disappointment of Sheriff Delaney’s career. But he senses
that Kate is trouble. As he investigates her impossible
claims, he also uncovers a series of unsettling truths about
Carystown itself. Behind his hometown’s genteel façade is a
morass of lies and murder, drugs and destruction. And
Carystown’s residents are about to discover that even though
the past is buried, it can rise again–with a vengeance.