Will-O'-The-Wisp

by Jenna Gillingham

After burning out during her first legal job at the public
defender’s office in Chicago, Anna takes a new job at
an elite private investigator firm in the city. Anna soon
finds out that the job is more than she bargained for. Her first
assignment is to review the case file of a missing Wisconsin
girl, only it isn’t just any missing girl. It’s Betsy, Anna’s best
friend who disappeared the summer that they turned sixteen.
Begrudgingly, Anna agrees to go back to her hometown of
Penn’s Point, Wisconsin, to work on the case. The ghosts of
her past, it seems, are around every corner in this small town.
Anna quickly realizes that the past holds more questions than
answers, and there is one thing that she has never told anyone
about the day Betsy went missing, not even the police.
Forced to confront the truth of the circumstances surrounding
Betsy’s disappearance, Anna pieces together the fragments of
her memories with the evidence that she has slowly collected.
Only now, being back in Penn’s Point, she realizes that what
she knows has put her in grave danger, and there is at least one
person willing to kill for it.

208 pages, Paperback

Published August 3, 2025

Reviews

[Nicole King · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every second of this quick mystery book. The setting of a central Wisconsin town and some 90s nostalgia had me hooked. This book was full of suspense and wonderful descriptions. Highly recommend this for anyone who loves mysteries!

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Carolanne wollin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The authors’s father-in- law actually recommend this book to me, he goes to my church. Loved the story and the suspense.

[Lysbeth Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Will‑O’‑The‑Wisp by Jenna Gillingham! The characters felt so relatable, the twists kept me on the edge of my seat, and I literally couldn’t put it down. An engaging read that I highly recommend!

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author here 🙋🏼‍♀️ this was so fun to write. Growing up in rural Wisconsin, the setting of this fictional town—Penn’s Point, WI—was an easy choice. If you have never been to Wisconsin, I hope its charm finds your imagination on these pages. If you have, then you already know the magic of this small town that this book offers. Read closely to follow along with Anna for each twist and turn and find that things may not be quite as they seem, in the most surprising ways. I won’t post any spoilers here 😊

[Lisa Sage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! Fantastic first book by Jenna Gillingham.