Workers tasked with the job of moving a small chapel to higher ground uncover human remains that are remarkably well preserved. Along with parts of the body and bones, the forensic team finds a boot with a platform heel, most likely belonging to a woman. It doesn’t take long for the body to be identified as Annalise Jansen, a teenager who disappeared decades ago. Homicide Detective Jane Munro, who is pregnant and still grieving the loss of her husband, Matt, is assigned the case. Since Jane’s husband never returned from a hike into the mountains, she has been struggling. Is he dead? Alive and suffering? Without knowing, she’s in limbo. Now she’s determined to help another family find closure.
When Annalise disappeared, suspicion fell on a group of her friends, dubbed the Shoreview Six, who were the last ones to see her. They stuck to their stories, one being that Annalise ran away with her math tutor, Darryl Hendiricks. Since he also disappeared and no bodies were ever found, no one was ever charged.
While Jane hopes to keep details of her investigation, including the identity of the victim, quiet until Annalise’s family can be notified, Angela Sheldrick, an ambitious reporter for local news station CBCN-TV, manages to gain access to the workers who found the body. Soon, Angela is on the air revealing that the body was found with platform heel boots. That news flash reverberates through the small community in the Pacific Northwest. But where that revelation has the most impact is among the Shoreview Six, whose long buried secrets are about to be unearthed.
Mary Metcalfe, who now lives in North Vancouver, operating a garden and landscape center, was perhaps Annalise’s best friend. On that fateful night, they argued and that encounter was witnessed by others. Mary knew that Annalise was drunk and shouldn’t walk home alone. But after Annalise taunted Mary’s weight – Mary, Mary Quite Contrary – she had had enough. Mary has lived with remorse for decades and now she may pay for leaving her friend.
Mason Gordon has a lot to lose. Now director of programming for CBCN-TV, he had too much to drink the night Annalise disappeared and he has flashbacks about hitting someone with an iron pipe. Did he kill her? When Angela shows up in his office wanting to chase this story, he knows he has to shut her down. But how?
Bob and Cara Devine are living an idyllic life managing a vineyard on the Pacific Coast. But when Rocco, aka Mason, calls with the news, the couple is stunned. Bob has been hiding the violence he engaged in that evening, while Cara has been carrying a lie that set everything in motion. How long do they have before everything comes out?
Jill Wainwright Osman, who lives near the Devines, is a philanthropist with a wealthy husband and standing in the community. But the news from Cara means her life is about to change.
Loreth Anne White
Faith Blackburn, Annalise’s sister, has moved back home to live with her parents, her father in the beginning stages of dementia, her mother trying to hold the remaining family together. When Faith discovers Annalise’s diary, she knows she should give it to the police, but doing so will bring further shame upon all of them.
When a cold case heats up, the pressure to solve the mystery becomes overwhelming. For Jane the case forces her to focus on something besides her own loss. While the Shoreview Six have kept their secrets for many years, they are no longer one team. The first to crack will bring the others down. Who will it be? And what secrets are in Annalise’s diary that could implicate a member of the family?
Loretta Anne White has crafted an intelligent mystery, one that explores the foolishness of youth and the dangers of acting as a group. While the Shoreview Six moved on, they were still stuck in the past, hiding their secrets and living with unbearable guilt.
Top photo: Bigstock
The Unquiet Bones
Loreth Anne White
