New York Times bestselling author Mariah Stewart crafts
compelling stories of romantic suspense, full of richly
imagined characters, dazzling plot twists, and breathless
action that keeps the pages turning. Now Stewart begins a
thrilling new series–with a novel that proves to be her
biggest and boldest yet.On a balmy spring evening,
four high school seniors–three boys and a girl–enter a park
in the small Pennsylvania city of Conroy. The next morning,
two of the boys are found shot to death, and the girl and
the third boy are gone. After three weeks with no leads and
no sign of either of the two missing teenagers, the chief of
police begins to wonder if they too were victims. But with
no other suspects, the authorities conclude that one of
these kids was the shooter.The missing boy’s
grandmother, a secretary at the local parish church,
maintains his innocence. On her behalf, the parish priest,
Father Kevin Burch, hires former detective Mallory Russo as
a private investigator to figure out what happened in the
park that night. Mallory had ended her nine-year stint with
the Conroy police force some time ago after becoming a
target of a smear campaign. Now a true-crime author, Mallory
is surprised to receive the priest’s offer–and highly
intrigued by the case. She can’t help but accept the
challenge–especially when she learns that her investigation
will be financed by Father Burch’s cousin the reclusive
billionaire Robert Magellan, a man whose own wife and infant
son disappeared without a trace a year ago, a man who
understands the heartache of not knowing what happened to a
loved one. Detective Charlie Wanamaker is facing
another sort of tragedy. He fled Conroy years ago with no
plans to return to what he considered a dying factory
town–until a family emergency brought him back. Finding the
situation much worse than he’d thought, he trades his job as
a big-city detective for one with the Conroy police
department. Assigned to the park shooting case, Charlie
quickly realizes that the initial investigation left a lot
of questions unanswered. Unofficially, he teams up with
Mallory to uncover the truth and find the two kids, dead or
alive. What Charlie and Mallory discover will take them down
a twisted path that leads to an old unsolved murder–and
justice for a killer with a heart of stone.Mercy
Street is tautly paced, resonant with emotion, and
relentlessly gripping. It showcases Mariah Stewart at her
most brilliant, as she ratchets up the suspense to new
levels of excitement.Praise for Mariah
Stewart“Mariah Stewart is one to watch and savor for
a long time.”–The Philadelphia Inquirer“Stewart
can always be counted on to write an exciting romantic
suspense
thriller.”–TheBestReviews.comFrom the
Hardcover edition.