Lorna Temple has come back to her childhood home because her mother's last wish was to have her ashes scattered in three different locations on their property. The last thing she was thinking about was her childhood best friend Melinda Eagon. Melinda disappeared on her birthday when Lorna was nine and at first everyone thought that her scary older brother Jason had something to do with it but when he disappears shortly after, the mystery of the Eagon kids goes unsolved.

When Jason's body, along with a few others, is found on a portion of property that Lorna's mother sold before her death, the case is re-opened but the police quickly conclude that the killer is Jason's mother, Billie Eagon. Lorna refuses to believe that Billie could have killed Jason, going on mostly faith because Lorna's mother believed in Billie. She contacts T.J. Dawson, a private investigator, and hires him to look into all the killings. Lorna and T.J. are soon hot on the trail of a killer but there are some buried secrets that someone just doesn't want them to uncover and will do anything to hide.

Having been a fan of Ms. Stewart's since her dark trilogy came out, I was really looking forward to reading her truth trilogy and I can't say I was disappointed. HARD TRUTH gives you everything you've come to expect from her books. It's an exciting mystery with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing 'til the very end. Be sure to look for the other books in this exciting series, COLD TRUTH, DARK TRUTH and also FINAL TRUTH, out May 30, 2006, which concludes the series.