A Cry in the Dark: A woman on the run, murder in a small town (Carly Moore Mystery Book 1)

The first book in the Carly Moore series, a Rose Gardner Investigation spinoff series.

Caroline Blakely is certain of two things: she was happy with her life as a first-grade school teacher, and she can never, ever return to it. After discovering a shocking truth about her father, the wealthy businessman at the helm of Blakely Oil, she’s on the run—a difficult feat given her father’s endless resources and connections.

With the help of friends, Carly is able to secure a new identity, but her attempts to keep a low profile are blown to bits when she passes through Drum, Tennessee. She only intended to spend the night, but she investigates a cry in the parking lot outside her motel room and finds herself the lone witness to a murder. Stranded in the small Appalachian Mountain town, she soon realizes Drum is as riddled with secrets as her own past. A huge chunk of the intrigue centers around the Drummond family, ancestors of the town’s founders, and their oldest son, Wyatt…an ex-con.

She knows she’d do best to stay away from the Drummonds, especially Wyatt, and from the mystery she’s stumbled upon, but Carly’s sense of right and wrong demands that she help—even if it means risking her own secrets…and her life.