When Winter Black was thirteen, her parents were killed by a serial killer known as The Preacher, and her six-year-old brother was taken. The severe head injury she received that night gave her some unexplainable talents--like remembering every detail of a crime scene, or knowing where a suspect will attack next, or where a body is buried. She calls these abilities her 'hunches' and tries not to tell anyone about them, though she does let fellow FBI Agent Noah Dalton in on her secret, mostly because they've been partnered up on a case that's brought her back to Harrisonburg, Virginia, the town where she grew up and where her parents died. It's a lot for Winter to deal with, but she's determined to do her job...and to track down The Preacher, too.
The case Winter and Noah are investigating in this first book is a sad one involving the buried remains of children who were born with severe physical defects and then later murdered. They died years ago, which means finding any witnesses or evidence is challenging. But Winter suspects their deaths have something to do with the religious cult that used to live on a nearby farm. Proving it is another matter. Luckily, Winter as the help of her strange psychic gift, and the unwavering support of her partner.
I liked this mystery a lot. Winter's an interesting character, and I look forward to reading more about her and her unusual gift. I hope Noah's in the next book, too; he's good with Winter, he's cute, and his Texas drawl is endearing. And the ongoing threat of the Preacher that's hanging over Winter makes for some good added suspense. This book was published in 2019, but Stone has already written nine more books about FBI Agent Winter Black. Talk about starting out behind in a series! At least my library has all of them, so that's good. If they read as fast as this one did, I just might have a chance of catching up.
Happy Reading!