Most Popular Books by Faye Kellerman

Detective Peter Decker of the LAPD is stunned when he gets the report. Someone has shattered the sanctuary of a remote yeshiva community in the California hills with an unimaginable crime. One of the women was brutally raped as she returned from the mikvah, the bathhouse where the cleansing ritual is performed. The crime was called in by Rina Lazarus, and Decker is relieved to discover that she is a calm and intelligent witness. She is also the only one in the sheltered community willing to speak of this unspeakable violation. As Rina tries to steer Decker through the maze of religious laws, the two grow closer. But before they get to the bottom of this horrendous crime, revelations come to light that are so shocking, they threaten to come between the hard-nosed cop and the deeply religious woman with whom he has become irrevocably linked.

It’s Prom Night . . . and the queen is dead. LAPD Homicide Detective Peter Decker and his wife and confidante Rina Lazarus have a daughter of their own. So the savage murder of a popular high school girl on prom night strikes home . . . very hard. The cruel and bizarre slaying of a beautiful teen leads Detective Decker into the dark heart of an exotic subculture: the seamy, sometimes violent world of Southern California’s rootless, affluent youth. But even the confession of a disturbed kid with cold “killer eyes” cannot soothe Decker’s inner torment. For he knows in his gut this crime goes much deeper and higher than anyone expects—and that true justice, brutal and com- plete, has yet to be done.

A collection of 14 crime and mystery stories—plus 4 bonus tales—by the New York Times bestselling "master of mystery" ( Cleveland Plain Dealer ). In The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights, Faye Kellerman returns to her fan-favorite characters, Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus, in three never-before-published stories—including "The Garden of Eden," in which Peter and Rina investigate the death of a neighbor. The volume also contains two other Decker-Lazarus short mysteries: "Bull''s Eye," introducing Cindy Decker, who works with her father to find the killer of a police academy instructor; and "A Woman of Mystery," in which Rina and Peter solve the mystery of a student with amnesia. The nine remaining tales are classic Kellerman, and include "Mummy and Jack," cowritten with her son, Jesse. With two bonus stories and two personal essays, this book is a must-have for all Kellerman fans and crime fiction enthusiasts alike.

Los Angeles Police Detective Peter Decker had grown very close to Rina''s young sons, Sammy and Jake, as he had to their mother, and he looked forward to spending a day of his vacation camping with the boys. A nice reprieve from the grueling work of a homicide cop—until Sammy stumbles upon a gruesome sight . . . Two human skeletons, charred beyond recognition, are identified by a forensic dentist as teenage girls—and for Decker, the father of a sixteen-year-old daughter, vacation time is over. Throwing himself professionally and emotionally into the murder case, he launches a very personal investigation: a quest that pulls him deep into the crack dens of Hollywood Boulevard and painfully close to the children of the streets and a nightmare world he must make his own.

The USA Today–bestselling author details how she became a crime novelist and how she created her acclaimed husband-and-wife detective team. In 1986, Faye Kellerman introduced LAPD detective Peter Decker and widowed yeshiva teacher Rina Lazarus in her crime novel, The Ritual Bath. The debut won Kellerman the 1987 Macavity Award for Best First Novel and turned into a long-running bestselling series. But how exactly did it all come about? In this autobiographical piece, Kellerman discusses the origins of Decker and Lazarus and answers common questions from readers. Like, how much does she resemble her character, Rina? And how have Peter and Rina evolved? But Kellerman also talks about her own life as an author, mother, and wife. She shares what it’s like being married to a fellow novelist, and how exactly she carved out a place for herself in the world of crime writing. Praise for the Decker and Lazarus Novels “Exceptionally fine suspense.” —San Diego Union-Tribune “Faye Kellerman is a master of mystery.” —The Plain Dealer “Tautly exciting.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review “Reading a good thriller is very much like taking a great vacation: half the fun is getting there. Faye Kellerman is one heck of a tour guide.” —Detroit Free Press “Surprising twists and engaging subplots will keep readers turning the pages to the satisfying conclusion.” —Publishers Weekly

At 8:15 in the morning, a small commuter plane carrying forty-seven passengers crashes into an apartment building in Granada Hills, California. Shock waves ripple through Los Angeles, as L.A.P.D. Lieutenant Peter Decker works overtime to calm rampant fears of a 9/11-type terror attack. But a grisly mystery lives inside the plane''s charred and twisted wreckage: the unidentified bodies of four extra travelers. And there is no sign of an airline employee who was supposedly on the catastrophic flight. Decker and his wife, Rina, have personal reasons for being profoundly shaken by the tragedy, since the "accident" occurred frighteningly close to their daughter Hannah''s school. Luckily, their child and her schoolmates escaped unscathed. But the fate of the unaccounted-for flight attendant—twenty-eight-year-old Roseanne Dresden—remains a question mark more than a month after the horrific event, when the young woman''s irate stepfather calls, insisting that she was never onboard the doomed plane. Instead, he claims, she was most likely murdered by her abusive, unfaithful husband. But why, then, was Roseanne''s name included on the passenger list? Under intense pressure from the department to come up with answers, Decker launches an investigation that carries him down a path of tragic history, dangerous secrets, and deadly lies—and leads him to the corpse of a three-decades-missing murder victim. And as the jagged pieces slowly fall into place, a frightening picture begins to form: a mind-searing portrait of unimaginable evil that will challenge Decker''s and Rina''s own beliefs about guilt and innocence and justice. Combining relentless suspense with intense, multilayered human drama, The Burnt House is Faye Kellerman at her mesmerizing best.

Detective Peter Decker teams up with his wife and daughter to solve a crime rooted in both the past and present. While on routine patrol, LAPD Officer Cindy Decker rescues a newborn abandoned in an alley dumpster. But she can''t call it a night until she sees the infant safe in a hospital, cared for by a professional -- in this case a male nurse with soulful eyes and lots of charm. Now the hunt is on for the mother. Armed with advice from her overworked father, Detective Peter Decker, Cindy plunges into her inner-city Hollywood district, a world of helpless people and violent gangs. Pursuing each new lead batters her complex relationships and endangers her life. On one side: Decker and Decker, a brilliant but combative pair. On the other: a vicious killer ready to strike again. While on routine patrol, LAPD officer Cindy Decker rescues a newborn abandoned in an alley dumpster. Cindy searches for the mother in inner -city Hollywood, following a treacherous trail filled with drug lords. But with each new lead, the twisted journey gets darker -- and endangering her very life. When Decker and Decker join forces, can this edgy duo put personal issues aside to catch a vicious culprit before he strikes again?

Detective Peter Decker and his wife, Rina Lazarus, risk life and limb to solve a pair of brutal murders that may be tied to a crime from more than twenty years ago in this intense and addictive mystery from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman. On a quiet suburban street in upstate Greenbury, New York, the brutally beaten body of a young man is discovered in the woods adjacent to an empty vacation home. Twenty-six-year-old Brady Neil a resident of the neighboring town of Hamilton, had no criminal record, few friends, worked full-time, and attended community college. But as Detective Peter Decker learns, the clean-cut kid is linked to the criminal world. When Brady was a baby, his father, Brandon Gratz, was convicted of robbing and killing the owners of a local jewelry store. While Gratz and his partner, Kyle Masterson, admitted to the robbery, they swore they left the owners, Glen and Lydia Levine, very much alive. The experienced detective knows there’s more to this homicide case than the records show. As he digs into Gratz’s past, Decker begins to suspect that the son’s murder may be connected to the father’s sins. Before he can put together the pieces, Decker finds out that one of Brady Neil’s friends, Joseph Boch—aka Boxer—has gone missing. Heading to Boch’s house with his temporary new partner, Hamilton PD cop Lenora Baccus, they discover a bloodbath. Who would savagely kill two innocent men—and why? Finding the answers will require all of Decker’s skill and knowledge, the help of his fellow Greenbury detectives, Tyler McAdams and Kevin Butterfield, and information gleaned from his wife Rina’s behind the scenes investigation to put all the pieces of this deadly puzzle together . . . and see justice done.

The birth of their baby girl has filled Rina Lazarus and her husband, LAPD Homicide Detective Peter Decker, with joy mingled with sorrow, since complications have ensured that they can have no more children. But the situation is grim at the hospital, which has been devastated by severe budget cutbacks and staff shortages. And when a respected nurse vanishes along with a newborn from the nursery, Peter and Rina fear for the safety of their own precious child—especially when the missing nurse’s car is found at the bottom of a cliff . . . with a corpse inside. A most grievous sin has been committed. In pursuit of justice, Decker—with the help of his tough-as-nails partner, Madge, and an able assist from his teenage daughter Cindy—follows a twisted path that winds through a sinister maze of hospital politics, misplaced passions, and torturous mind games that can all too easily lead to murder.

A diamond dealer and his entire family have mysteriously disappeared from their sprawling Las Angeles manor, leaving the estate undisturbed and their valuables untouched. Investigating detective Decker is stumped--faced with a perplexing case riddled with dead ends. Then a second dealer is found murdered in Manhatten, catapulting Decker and his wife, Rina, into a heartstopping maze of murder and intrigue that spans the globe...only to touch down dangerously in their own backyard.A diamond dealer and his entire family have mysteriously disappeared from their sprawling Los Angeles manor, leaving the estate undisturbed and their valuables untouched. Investigating detective Decker is stumped--faced with a perplexing case riddled with dead ends. Then a second dealer is found murdered in manhattan, catapulting Decker and his wife, Rina, into a hearstopping maze of murder and intrigue that spans the globe. . . .only to touch down dangerously in their own backyard.

Detective Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus return to Los Angeles when a kidnapping hits close to home—in this breathtaking new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman. Peter and his partner, Detective Tyler McAdams, are thrown into an unsolved case and propelled into action when a body is found in the very woods where a man previously went missing in upstate New York. But that’s not the only crisis that Peter has to deal with. Teresa McLaughlin, the biological mother of Peter and his wife Rina’s foster son, Gabe, has fled to Los Angeles with her two children in tow, hoping to avoid a court injunction amid a messy divorce. But LA is no escape from her problems—she is found by ruthless men and beaten mercilessly. When she wakes, barely conscious, Teresa discovers that both of her children are gone and frantically calls Gabe for help. With his mother on the verge of death, Gabe contacts Peter and Rina, as well as his biological father, the notorious Christopher Donatti, a former hit man from a known criminal family who’s now a millionaire in Nevada. By bringing Donatti into the fray, Gabe, Peter, and Rina know they have made a deal with the devil—but they may not be able to recover the kids without him. As these unlikely allies rally to find the kidnappers before things end tragically, they race headlong toward an explosive confrontation from which no one will emerge unscathed...

The brutal murder of Dr. Azor Sparks in an alley behind a restaurant is greeted with public outrage and a demand for swift, sure justice. But the investigation into the well-known surgeon''s death is raising too many questions and providing too few answers for homicide detective Lieutenant Peter Decker. Why, for example, would the family of a man so beloved respond to his slaying with more surprise than grief? And what linked a celebrated doctor with strict fundamentalist beliefs to a gang of outlaw bikers? But the most unsettling connection of all is the one that ties the tormented Sparks family to Peter Decker''s own -- and the secrets shared by a renegade Catholic priest...and Decker''s wife, Rina Lazarus.

Rina Lazarus and her husband, LAPD Homicide Lieutenant Peter Decker, are shocked by an outrage that cuts close to the spiritual heart of their family. Rina''s small storefront synagogue has been desecrated with anti-Semitic graffiti and grisly Nazi death camp photographs. The alleged perpetrator is seventeen-year-old Ernesto Golding, a "rich kid" obsessed with haunting suspicions about the origins of his Polish paternal grandfather. Then Ernesto is found brutally murdered, along with his therapist, Dr. Mervin Baldwin, at an exclusive nature camp that caters moneyed, troubled children. For Decker and his wife, unraveling the truth behind Ernesto''s violent death becomes more terrifying with each sinister twist. For lethal secrets with roots in the horrors of a past genteration are coming to the surface, propelling Peter and Rina into a ghastly world of ruthless parents and damaged youth -- and toward a dark evil and its ultimate retribution.

Internationally bestselling husband and wife Jonathan and Faye Kellerman team up for a powerful one-two punch with Capital Crimes, a gripping pair of original crime thrillers. MY SISTER’S KEEPER: BERKELEY Some of progressive state representative Davida Grayson’s views have made her unpopular. Although her foes are numerous no one suspects that any buttons Davida might push could evoke deadly force. But now Davida lies brutally murdered in her office, and Berkeley homicide detectives Will Barnes and Amanda Isis must unravel Davida’s complex, before the killer pulls off a repeat performance. MUSIC CITY BREAKDOWN: NASHVILLE Baker Southerby was a child prodigy performer. But something leads him to become a Nashville cop. His partner, Lamar Van Gundy, is a would-be studio bassist who earned himself a detective’s badge. As part of Nashville PD''s elite Murder Squad, they catch a homicide that’s high-profile even for a city where musical celebrity is routine. Capital Crimes is page-turning, psychologically resonant suspense–just what we’ve come to expect from two of the world’s most successful crime writers.

“Fascinating....Fast-paced and dynamic.” —Dallas Morning News “Kellerman is taking a big risk here, and I think she pulls it off in fine style.” —Washington Post With Moon Music, New York Times bestseller Faye Kellerman leaves Los Angeles and heads to stranger territories: “Sin City” Las Vegas, Nevada. Taking a brief hiatus from her mystery series featuring LAPD Homicide Detective Peter Decker and his Orthodox Jewish wife, Rina Lazarus, Kellerman delivers a masterful stand-alone crime novel that crackles with suspense and tantalizes with a touch of the paranormal. The horribly savaged body of a once-beautiful Vegas showgirl is discovered in the desert not far from the world-famous Strip, plunging Detective Sergeant Romulus Poe into the heart of a bizarre, full moon-soaked mystery that could cost him everything he holds dear in life, including his sanity.

Peter Decker of the L.A.P.D. never dreamed he''d be spending his honeymoon with his new wife, Rina Lazarus, in an Orthodox Jewish enclave in Brooklyn, New York -- or that a terrible event would end it so abruptly. But a boy has vanished from the midst of this close-knit religious community, a troubled youth fleeing the tight bonds and strictures he felt were strangling him. The runaway, Noam, is not traveling alone. A killer has taken him under his wing to introduce Noam to a savage world of blood and terror. And now Decker must find them both somewhere in America before a psychopath ends the life of a confused and frightened youngster whose only sin was to want something more.

Once Dr. Emil Euler Ganz was a preeminent astrophysicist with a worldrenowned reputation. But then he vanished without any warning to his family or colleagues. Fifteen years later, he reappeared as "Father Jupiter," the founder and charismatic leader of the scientific cult, The Order of the Rings. And now he''s dead--a vial of sleeping pills and an empty bottle of vodka standing near his lifeless body. Was Ganz''s death an accident? Suicide? Or did someone hasten Jupiter prematurely out of this world? These are the questions LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker and his Homicide team are determined to answer as they enter the cult''s fortresslike compound. But the dead leader''s four "privileged" attendants make it clear that the police are not welcome there--and the mysterious disappearance of two of the Order''s members, including a child, turns an already uncomfortable situation even uglier and more incendiary. Decker will need more than the wisdom and support of his wife, Rina Lazarus, to defuse a ticking time bomb of jealousy, greed, bizarre hidden pasts, and deadly secrets--one that could explode at any time into mayhem so pernicious that it threatens to destroy a multitude of misguided lives--and scores of helpless, innocent children as well.

The twenty-second book in the hugely popular Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus series from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman

“[Kellerman] does for the American cop what P. D. James has done for the British mystery, lifting it beyond its genre.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch “No one working in the crime genre is better.” —Baltimore Sun In Gun Games, the sensational Faye Kellerman once again showcases Peter Decker of the LAPD and Rina Lazarus, arguably the most popular husband and wife team in contemporary crime fiction. A rash of shocking adolescent suicides at an elite Los Angeles private school is at the heart of this gripping thriller that also focuses on the troubled teen Decker and Lazarus have brought into their home: Gabriel Whitman, the son of a psychopath. Herself one-half of one of noir fiction’s true “power couples”—along with her husband, acclaimed mystery writer Jonathan Kellerman—Faye Kellerman once again demonstrates how American police procedural writing is done to perfection with Gun Games.

The professional and the personal intersect in treacherous ways in this compelling and eerie installment in Faye Kellerman''s thrilling New York Times bestselling Decker/Lazarus series Throughout his years with the LAPD, Peter Decker has handled a number of tough cases and strange killers. But few of his previous assignments compare to his latest case—the most bizarre of his storied career. When Hobart Penny is found dead in his apartment, the cops think that his pet cat—an adult female tiger—attacked the reclusive elderly billionaire. But it soon becomes clear that the beast that killed the eccentric inventor is all too human. Digging into the victim''s life, Decker and his colleagues, Detectives Marge Dunn and Scott Oliver, discover that Penny was an exceptionally peculiar man with exotic tastes, including kinky sex with call girls. Following a trail of clues that leads from a wildlife sanctuary in the San Bernardino Mountains to the wild nightlife of Las Vegas, the LAPD detectives are left juggling too many suspects and too few answers. To break open a case involving the two most primal instincts—sex and murder—Decker wrestles with a difficult choice. Should he turn to a man with expert knowledge of both, Chris Donatti, the dangerous man who also happens to be the father of Decker''s foster son, Gabriel Whitman, a boy not without his own problems? As their work and intimate worlds collide, Decker and his wife, Rina, find themselves facing tough questions. It just might be that family crises and work-related responsibilities prove too much for Decker''s career. A confluence of ordeals can stress even the most intact of families. And when all these shocking truths comes out, exactly how well will Decker and Rina cope, and survive?

The New York Times-bestselling "master of mystery" delivers a riveting novel set in 1920s Munich, a city stalked by a nameless, barbaric butcher ( Cleveland Plain Dealer). Lustmord—the joy of murder. The terrifying concept seems apt for the brutal slaying of a beautiful young society wife dumped in the vast English Garden. Homicide inspector Axel Berg is horrified by the crime . . . and disturbed by the artful arrangement of the victim''s clothes and hair—a madman''s portrait of death. Berg''s superiors demand quick answers and a quick arrest: a vagrant, the woman''s husband, anyone who can be demonized will do. When a second body is discovered, the city erupts into panic, the unrest fomented by the wild-eyed, hate-mongering Austrian Adolf Hitler and his Brownshirt party of young thugs. Berg can trust no one as he relentlessly hunts a ruthless killer, dodging faceless enemies and back-alley intrigue, struggling to bring a fiend to justice before the country—and his life—veer straight into darkness. "[An] ambitious historical mystery, in which politics, prejudice, and revenge form the backdrop for murder . . . As for Berg, he is one of Kellerman''s richest creations—an intriguing protagonist, flawed yet compassionate and heroic, forced to confront enormous odds in brutal times." — Booklist

Murder, a missing woman, and a sociopath from the past sweep Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus into a labyrinth of mystery and danger in this electrifying new tale of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman. . . . Fifteen years ago, high school senior Chris Whitman went to jail for murdering his girlfriend, Cheryl Diggs. Propelled by a misguided sense of chivalry, he confessed, determined to save another classmate, the beautiful and vulnerable Terry McLaughlin, from having to testify at his trial. When the truth came out, Chris was released from prison, married Terry—pregnant with his child—and changed his last name to Donatti. He also became a professional killer. Peter Decker was the detective on the case, and over the years, he and Terry kept in touch. Now his friend is in L.A. and asking for a favor. Though Decker knows full well that getting involved will bring Terry''s sociopathic husband back into his life, the obsessive and duty-bound LAPD lieutenant reluctantly agrees. The favor soon becomes complicated when Terry goes missing and Donatti disappears, leaving their fourteen-year-old son, Gabe, with no one to turn to except Decker and his wife, Rina Lazarus. But Peter''s search for Terry must share center stage with a gruesome murder. Adrianna Blanc, a neonatal nurse at St. Timothy''s Hospital, had signed off her night shift at eight a.m. Six hours later, a foreman supervising the construction of a house in a nearby suburb discovered her body swinging from the rafters, a cable wire around her neck. Her car was found where she had parked it the night before, with no signs of foul play. A dedicated and conscientious professional, Adrianna had a circle of close friends. Yet as Decker and his able team soon learn, the young woman also had her share of detractors. A party-hearty girl, she enjoyed booze, kinky sex, and revenge-cheating on her boyfriend, Garth Hammerling, another nurse at St. Tim''s. Suspicions heat up when Decker and his team find that one of Adrianna''s last phone calls was a provocative and disturbing message to her vacationing boyfriend—who himself has vanished without a trace. Was Adrianna''s death something personal because of her carefree lifestyle? Or was this unusually cruel and very dramatic murder the first signs of a serial killer? With lives hanging in the balance, Decker and his colleagues, Sergeant Marge Dunn and Detective Scott Oliver, need to find answers and fast. As if juggling two investigations weren''t enough for the lieutenant (not to mention turning sixty!), things are becoming even more dangerous with his precarious home life. Ever the concerned parent, Decker wants to look after Terry''s son, Gabe. Yet who will protect his own family? Because if there''s one thing he knows for sure, with a sociopath like Donatti on the loose, no one is ever really safe.

The twentieth book in the hugely popular Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus series from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman

Available for the first time in a Premium edition, one of New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Faye Kellerman’s fan-favorite Decker/Lazurus novels.

A man walks into a trendy Los Angeles restaurant -- a disgruntled ex-employee with an automatic weapon -- and seconds later, thirteen people are dead and thirty-two more have been wounded. It is a heinous act of mass slaughter that haunts Homicide Detective Peter Decker. But, though eyewitnesses saw only the lone gunman -- who apparently took his own life after his bloody work was done -- evidence suggests more than one weapon was fired. It is a disturbing inconsistency that sends Decker racing headlong into a sordid, labyrinthine world of Southern California money and power, on an investigation that threatens to destroy his reputation and his career.

LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker heads to New York when a relative is found murdered in a seedy hotel and the man''s niece is missing. Decker plunges into New York''s underbelly where he will fight for everyone he holds dear--including his wife, Rina Lazarus.

In the second installment of New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman’s three-part series, she continues the harrowing story of Ben Vicksburg’s relentless search to find the diabolical serial killer who murdered his sister and three other teenage girls… After Ben and Ro find the remains of Katie Doogan, they travel to Berkeley, California, to look into the abduction and murder of Julia Rehnquist and to see if they can discover any clues that link her homicide to that of his sister’s. In California, Ben discovers undeniable patterns used by the killer and starts to home in on his identity. But knowing what he does is not enough to bring a murderer to justice, The man is a government agent, hidden and well-protected, making it that much more difficult for Ben and Ro to find him. But just as the investigation stalls so does Ben’s love life when Ro makes an unforgivable mistake. Though Ro messed up, she’s convinced deep down Ben still loves her. Now the only way she knows how to prove to him that she still loves him is by continuing to search for the killer—on her own… Discover what happens in the conclusion of Killing Season, Part 3, as Ben and Ro finally come face to face with the killer.

The royal physician''s daughter leads a dangerous double life with a young William Shakespeare in this "tour de force" historical thriller ( Publishers Weekly). Rebecca Lopez enjoys a life of privilege in Elizabeth''s England, yet she guards secrets that would be anyone''s undoing. The beautiful, tempestuous daughter of the queen''s own physician, Rebecca is also a converso -- a Jew who practices her banned religion clandestinely. And to court danger further, she helps others of her faith escape persecution and death. Rebecca''s risky endeavors often take her to the bustling streets of London disguised in male garb. But one such outing is leading her into a dangerous viper''s nest built of intrigue and foul murder. Accompanying her every step of the way is a dashing young actor who inflames her romantic passions—a charming and fearless would-be playwright who calls himself Will Shakespeare.

The esteemed "New York Times"-bestselling author of "The Burnt House" brings back Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus to face their most daunting case yet in an exceptional tale of money, fame, mystery, and murder.

Faye Kellerman returns with an atmospheric, fast-paced mystery set in bucolic upstate New York, full of unexpected twists and turns that build to a shocking and surprising end—the latest thrilling entry in her New York Times bestseller Decker/Lazarus series. When Bertram Lanz goes missing from a local diner near Greenbury, the entire community of the small upstate New York town volunteers to search the surrounding woods. Bertram had been on a field trip with the staff and fellow residents of the Loving Care Home when he vanished. When no trace of the man is found, the disappearance quickly becomes an official missing persons case and is assigned to detectives Peter Decker and his partner Tyler McAdams. As their investigation deepens, the seasoned Decker becomes convinced that Bertram hadn’t lost his way but must have left with someone he knew. Soon Decker discovers that Elsie Schulung, a recently fired nurse who had worked at the home, seemed to be especially interested in Bertram. But answers prove elusive when Elsie disappears and human blood is found in her kitchen. These complications prove to be only the beginning. While combing the woods, searchers discover the remains of one of three young men who had vanished during a camping trip. And for Decker, personal problems are adding pressure as well. After a ten-year absence, the biological mother of Decker and Rina’s foster son, Gabriel, has suddenly appeared in New York, children in tow, wreaking emotional havoc on the young man. Juggling the personal and professional, a hot case and a cold case, Decker and McAdams race to find answers, sifting through cabinets of old files, a plethora of clues and evidence, and discouraging dead ends. As ongoing searches for Bertram and the campers’ missing remains continue, the frustrated detectives begin to wonder if the woods will ever give up its dark secrets...

The New York Times bestseller by two masters of the crime novel--and husband and wife--writing together for the first time kick starts a new series of short crime novels, beginning with these two riveting tales of murder and suspense, set in Boston and Santa Fe.