At the end of last week, I turned in the manuscript for my
third Skeet Bannion mystery novel, Every
Hidden Fear, which will be published May 6, 2014. My mind is still awhirl
with the characters and events of that book. Yesterday, I received the cover
for Every Hidden Fear, and I’m
delighted with it, as I have been with each of the covers my publisher has
given me for this series. So I wanted to share it with you.
Every
Hidden Fear takes place in autumn just a few months
after the events of the previous book, Every
Broken Trust. Skeet Bannion tries to adjust to having her tough old
grandmother living with her and her son, Brian, while Brian goes through the
first pangs of unrequited love for his best friend, Angie Melvin, and Skeet’s
aging delinquent father has also fallen disastrously in love.
Meanwhile, Ash Mowbray, a bad boy from the wrong side
of the tracks, comes back to Brewster as a wealthy developer to polarize the
town where he was once scorned, pushing plans to build a shopping mall on the
outskirts of town that will destroy the courthouse-square businesses of
Brewster. The town council’s split on
his proposal, and feelings run high.
Mowbray makes things worse by threatening to reveal
dirty secrets about prominent citizens and announcing he’s the real father of
Angie’s quarterback boyfriend. It’s not long before Mowbray turns up murdered
with his son as prime suspect. Angie and Brian turn to Skeet to find the
murderer and save their friend.
From Brian’s classmate and his family to Skeet’s
friends among the shop owners of the town square, too many people wanted
Mowbray dead, and too many of them are people Skeet cares about. She must catch
the murderer to spare her friends, even if the killer’s one of them.
In this book, the plots and subplots are driven by people’s
hidden fears, hidden from others and often from themselves, and these hidden
fears often lead them to take ruinous actions. Skeet’s own hidden fear is activated
and intensified by the disasters of others in the story, leading her to
impulsive acts that will continue to affect her life for some time to come.
My beta readers and I think this is the most emotional and
personal Skeet Bannion book, so far. Fear of love and fear of loss lead Skeet
to places and actions she’s sworn she’d never go or do. I’m still excited about
it, and I hope you will be, too, when it’s published and you have the chance to
read it.
As soon as my publisher gives the okay, I’ll post a sample
chapter or two. Stay tuned!
