Author Loreth Anne White is a new author for me; another excellent recommendation from Amazon/Kindle/Audible in the “Unlimited” catalog. Because I listen to so many of my purchases when I can; I added the Audible narration which is money well spent! This taunt mystery is hardly original yet White found a way keep the familiar storyline engaging with really good characters and gripping storytelling. More importantly, EVERYTIME we “THINK” we have the “too predictable” story solved, WE JUST DON’T! Predictable this is not! Bravo Loreth Anne White for creating a masterpiece crime thriller that twists and turns while simultaneously having me not wanting the story to end as this suspenseful horror’s conclusion comes into focus neatly clarifying and tying up the loose ends. Yes, horror. For me, any story of dehumanization especially when the victims are young whether they’re living, dying, raped or murdered; the “unsub/s” short for “unsuspected” perpetrators remain unknown. By this definition for me, the perpetrator is a monster- a vile, soulless and evil creature that needs to be recognized in its “human suit” then immediately contained whatever that looks like; imprisoned or deceased during capture! With this story, Loreth Anne White’s easy to love protagonist, a big city white collar crime detective comes home after her father (Retired Colonel of the Canadian Mounted Police) appears to have committed suicide and his home burned to the ground with only her dads tool and moonshine shed remaining on their property in the small forested Canadian town. While on a short leave to arrange for Pops funeral and also get better clarification of just exactly how they so quickly determined suicide ; especially after she had just spoke on the phone with him urgently saying he’s discovered something from an old cold case he was revisiting and needed to speak personally with her AND HER EX heartthrob ASAP! Finding a unmotivated police chief ( her dads former position) that Rebecca never really liked- a coroner officer who is heading the investigation due to the death being formally ruled a suicide by “Buck” the previously mentioned Chief of Police and of course her ex also all too close to horrible scene- she needs to dig and dig much deeper. She hasn’t dismissed her father taking his own life but she in no way has dismissed that the cold case he was working to help pass the time in retirement, has led to his gruesome death and lamp fire taking the entire structure. With Rebecca, her deceased dad, Ex teen love of her life, a pair of troubled tween lovers finding themselves hidden in the shed attempting to steel some moonshine when a shotgun report sounds, a mysterious guy exiting the home then mounting a snowmobile departing the property right after- a host of other interesting character- Rebecca begins peeling away the layers and layers of ambiguity her former home town appears to have; reminding her constantly just exactly why she left for the big city; never looking back once.This is a truly remarkable piece of literature from this newfound author who has now captured my full attention as well as many others I have discovered. Suspense, twists, intelligent-plausibility abound; a low level of sexual tension-it’s very subtle and definitely not a major focal point or cooccurring narrative/theme; that said, the sexual tension is present; but thankfully without all the steamy descriptive too many pages and chapters of unnecessary displays of lust distracting from the story losing any and all previous built up suspense leaving this reader at risk of putting the book away for something else. If I want porn- I WILL GET REAL PORN WITH PICTURES AND EVERYTHING!????! My god some of these writers with their incessant need to steam up every third page or chapter, it just ruins what would otherwise be an excellent if not epic read many times! This isn’t one of them! Five stars! Narration, outstanding! Also five stars! A clear opening or set up for follow up stories; even a series? Definitely-also five stars! Looking forward to more!