The Drowned Dead

Wren Cade #3

by Georgia Wagner

The Ozarks drowned the mining town, but the dead never left.

When drought reveals the sunken remains of Marble Hollow—a ghost town long buried beneath a remote Missouri lake—FBI agent Wren Cade is sent to assess the grisly human bones, found chained inside the ruins of an old church.
But these aren’t historic remains. They’re recent. And carved into them are riddles—cryptic, taunting messages etched into the bone itself, each more disturbing than the last.

As more remains surface from the drowned town, each body bearing new riddles and darker implications, Wren and her partner Eli Barron—a grounded Army vet who understands her silences—are pulled into a decades-old trail of disappearances the Ozarks buried long ago.

But this killer doesn’t want to stay hidden. They want to be understood.

Set against the eerie stillness of the Missouri Ozarks, The Drowned Ones is a chilling psychological thriller where every message is a lure, every riddle a confession—and Wren Cade may be the final answer.

197 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 16, 2025

About the author

Having worked on projects with New York Times Bestsellers and USA Today bestsellers, Georgia Wagner recently hit #1 bestseller with her newest series. Location and character are two big factors for Georgia, and getting those right allows the story to flow seamlessly onto the page. And flow it does, because Georgia is so prolific a new term is required to describe the rate at which nerve-tingling stories find their way into print.

When not found attached to a laptop, Georgia likes spending time in local arboretums, among the trees and ponds. An avid cultivator of orchids, begonias, and all things floral, Georgia also has a strong penchant for art, paintings, and sculptures. A many-decades-long passion for mystery novels and years of chess tournament experience makes Georgia the perfect person to pen the Artemis Blythe series. That's where it all started, but the drive to craft thrilling mystery tales soon demanded new characters in new locations.

Where will she take us next?

Reviews

[taffykathiegmail.com]

Small towns have ghosts

A story that grips you immediately. A page turner trying to figure out how to get out, but why you are there in the first place. Voices only you hear helping?

[R M]

3.5 stars
The book is fine. Lark, Wren’s serial killer sister, has escaped. But the FBI director will not allow Wren to lead the task force to find her.
Instead, Wren and her partner, are assigned to a murder in a small town, much of which was flooded years ago and is under water. Why? It was the director’s daughter, who was found. Hideously murdered with a clue carved into her femur bone.
And there’s another, much older victim. And another missing girl.
The procedural work is always interesting to me. Wren is interesting to me.
I had hoped she and her partner might become more, romantically. Alas, not sure that’s going to happen now.

[Carol Dickens]

The Drowned Dead

This third book did not disappoint. The plot was just as engaging and gripping as the first two books. The characters continue to be fascinating. Ready for book four!

[Heather]

Read on kindle. Can’t believe how close Eli and Wren were getting and she was starting to feel emotions and he left! Also can’t believe nothing has been found out about Lark and her whereabouts in this book!

[Jennifer Lybarger]

Ending

I really liked the book. 4 starts because I hate the ending. I won't spoil it but one aspect of the ending was disappointing. I'll change to 5 stats if the next book rights this event

[Lynne]

Read 59% but it was a strain I wasn’t prepared to continue with. Undecided whether to try another one in this series now tbh.

[Jade Michaelson]

Another good read in the Wren Cade series! I think it's a bummer Eli is planning to move on, but I'm betting we haven't seen the last of him. I'm still waiting for more on Lark though.