The Secrets They Left Behind by Lissa Marie Redmond/Review by Sheila Sobel
The Secrets They Left Behind
Lissa Marie Redmond
Crooked Lane Books
$26.99
978-1643852997
April 2020
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As a retired cold case homicide detective, author Lissa Marie Redmond brings the voice of authenticity to her latest mystery, The Secrets They Left Behind. With a youthful protagonist—twenty-three-year old Buffalo police officer, Shea O’Connor—this mystery will appeal to a broad audience, from YA readers to retirees.
When three college co-eds—Olivia, Emma and Skyler—go missing without a trace, Shea O’Connor is approached by the FBI to work undercover as the eighteen-year-old niece of Kelly’s Falls police chief, Roy Bishop. Infiltrating a school campus, blending in with students, and risking her own life is something Shea O’Connor has had experience with. And she has the physical and emotional scars to prove it. The lingering nightmares from her near-death trauma of the last undercover assignment don’t stop her from wanting to bring a killer to justice and a final sense of peace to the families of the missing girls.
But investigations are never linear, especially when subterfuge is the driving force behind good police work. Complications quickly arise when Shea befriends Kayla, Maddie and Jenna, friends of the missing girls. Now it isn’t just the town of Kelly’s Falls that has more than its fair share of secrets and lies, it’s Shea as well. And, at what cost? At the end of the case, will she be able to claim her actions were for the greater good? That the end justifies the means?
Chief Bishop isn’t happy about any of it. He is not a fan of Shea O’Connor. He is not a fan of the FBI. He is not a fan of lying to the Kelly’s Falls citizens who trust him. But Chief Bishop has no choice except to admit that his investigation has long grown cold and if the mystery of the missing girls is ever to be solved, he needs Shea’s help.
“The Secrets They Left Behind” is a terrific “whodunit” filled with relatable characters, small town intrigue and a little romance. A perfect police procedural to curl up with on a lazy afternoon.
After spending twenty-two years in law enforcement, including stints as a detective in both the Special Victims Unit and Cold Case Homicide squad, she retired to pursue a “normal” life. Lissa Marie Redmond decided to become a writer instead. She lives with her husband, raises her kids, pampers her puppy and spoils her ungrateful cat. She writes about the things that kept her up at night. Learn more about Lissa Marie Redmond at: https://www.lissamarieredmond.com/
Sheila Sobel’s debut, “Color Blind” won the 2017 Killer Nashville Reader’s Choice Award for Best Fiction YA and was a Finalist for the 2017 Silver Falchion Award for Best Fiction YA. Her middle-grade WIP, “Time Flies,” was a finalist for the 2020 Killer Nashville Claymore Award. Learn more about Sheila Sobel at: https://www.sheilasobel.com/