I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.

The young woman lay among the rocks next to the creek like a broken doll, strands of her long dark hair covering her face. Her body was the kind of cold that only the dead can be…

A body lies beside Kettlewell Creek, the waters rushing and churning next to her broken form. When Detective Josie Quinn arrives at the scene, she finds few clues and a victim with no enemies. Nineteen-year-old Sharon Eddy was cherished by her beloved grandmother, who raised her, and her death shocks the Denton community where she worked at the local animal hospital.

When Josie is called to the morgue to hear the results of Sharon’s autopsy, the case takes a sinister turn. She is horrified to see that a mark has been burned on to Sharon’s left hip with a cattle brand: a horseshoe shot through with an arrow. Shaken and terrified, the usually cool and collected Medical Examiner Anya Feist lifts her own top to show Josie an identical mark. Ten years ago, Anya fled her hometown after her marriage to her high school sweetheart ended in terror.

But Josie can find nothing to connect Anya’s ex-husband Vance Hadlee to the murder. Her search of his family farm leads to more questions than answers.

Then another body is found. A young woman in a red coat, lying in her final resting place, her hip bearing the same tell-tale horseshoe mark. As Josie gets closer to finding the truth, the killer creeps ever closer to home, threatening the lives of those Josie loves the most. Can she put together the pieces of this terrifying puzzle before it’s too late?

An emotional gut punch! Fans of Lisa Regan’s Detective Josie Quinn series are in for a powerful read with book 17 as the storyline grabs our attention very quickly and doesn’t let go throughout. The shocking past of one of their own unravels to provide a starting point for lots of mystery, and the ride only gets more and more wild as the story continues. I’m not usually overly emotional in this series because it keeps me on the edge of my seat with excitement of what is yet to come instead of yanking on my heartstrings too much, but this book is gut wrenching and raw. I’ll be right here waiting for each and every book yet to come because I adore this series so much.

I highly recommend this book and the entire series to anyone who enjoys a highly intriguing storyline revolving around a police force digging deep to solve murders and mysteries around their small town. The members of the force are endearing and care deeply for one another.