A secret buried in the margins. An obsession that never died. A family built on a lie.
Professor Melinda Bennett is a master of the curated life. Her home is pristine, her academic reputation is flawless, and her past is a locked room. For ten years, she has lived a carefully scripted lie, hiding the truth about a tragic night in the university stacks and the anonymous poet who nearly destroyed her.
But shadows don’t stay buried.
When a battered book of poetry appears on her shelf—the same edition she purged a decade ago—Melinda’s fortress begins to crumble. Then, her neighbor vanishes, leaving behind a garden of evidence and a chilling message that only Melinda understands.
Her husband, Liam, is a detective drowning his own ghosts in gin. Her daughter, Riley, is a rebellious artist whose sketches are starting to look like warnings. As a string of local disappearances escalates, Melinda realizes the "ghost" from her past isn't just watching her—he's reading her family like a manuscript.
To save her daughter, Melinda must face the substance of her shadows. But in a world built on silence, the truth might be the most dangerous thing of all.
Genre: Mystery
Professor Melinda Bennett is a master of the curated life. Her home is pristine, her academic reputation is flawless, and her past is a locked room. For ten years, she has lived a carefully scripted lie, hiding the truth about a tragic night in the university stacks and the anonymous poet who nearly destroyed her.
But shadows don’t stay buried.
When a battered book of poetry appears on her shelf—the same edition she purged a decade ago—Melinda’s fortress begins to crumble. Then, her neighbor vanishes, leaving behind a garden of evidence and a chilling message that only Melinda understands.
Her husband, Liam, is a detective drowning his own ghosts in gin. Her daughter, Riley, is a rebellious artist whose sketches are starting to look like warnings. As a string of local disappearances escalates, Melinda realizes the "ghost" from her past isn't just watching her—he's reading her family like a manuscript.
To save her daughter, Melinda must face the substance of her shadows. But in a world built on silence, the truth might be the most dangerous thing of all.
Genre: Mystery
Used availability for Skyler Avalon's The Ten-Year Silence