Fresh off the investigation into her sister’s death, detective Claire Calderwood is called to investigate a murder in a nearby community. A girl’s body has been found tied to the bed of a hotel room, covered in ashes. Without witnesses, and with few clues, Claire must figure out who killed this girl while dealing with her own memories and the realization that her boyfriend, Noah, has been keeping secrets about his own past.
And then another girl is found, and another. Now, faced with a serial killer, Claire has to find out how the three girls, text messages from a burner cell phone, and GPS coordinates tie them all together while under pressure from the local police and a very irate hospital CEO to find the killer.
In her follow up to Next Girl to Die, author Dea Poirier has expertly crafted another thrilling who-done-it. The story line is fast paced and with just as much intensity as book one. Claire is someone you can just identify with, she isn’t perfect, but she’s exactly the person her past has molded her into. While characters in some books seem to act just to advance the plot line, Claire is consistent and genuine. Poirier has also done an amazing job of bringing the details of Maine to life so that the setting acts as another character, helping to bring a stark, harsh richness to an already chilling story. The crime and resolution is just as satisfying as I’d hoped (no spoilers from me!).
Beneath the Ashes will be released November 19, 2019.
While you wait for it’s release, you can get your copy of Next Girl to Die (The Calderwood Cases #1) from Amazon or Barnes & Noble
You can also read my interview with author Dea Poirier here