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Chain in the Dark: A Wren Cade FBI Mystery Thriller Book 7

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In the Ozarks, the river keeps its dead—and its secrets bite back.

When a kayak tour shoots into a cave beneath Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest, the lead guide strikes a chain stretched across the darkness. In the churn that follows, a bloated body surfaces—weighted, toothless, and staged like a warning. FBI analyst Wren Cade is flown in with partner Eli Barron and trainee-agent Tiffany Brooks, only to find the caves doubling as cartel arteries and a backwoods revival movement preaching from boats at dusk.

A century-old pamphlet by a fire-and-brimstone preacher—Practicing Presence—starts showing up at scenes. Each chapter foreshadows a fresh teeth pulled, weights tied, mouths stopped. Is a believer killing by doctrine, or is a golden-toothed enforcer using the myth to hide executions in plain sight?

As Wren traces a lattice of underground rivers, meth labs, and borrowed faith, she’s pulled between a missing-person crisis in her own family and a town ready to call murder a miracle.

Chain in the Dark is Book 7 in the Wren Cade series—propulsive, atmospheric, and emotionally sharp.

234 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2025

106 people are currently reading
17 people want to read

About the author

Georgia Wagner

87 books161 followers
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?

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5 stars
97 (56%)
4 stars
51 (29%)
3 stars
19 (10%)
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1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
2,287 reviews6 followers
October 28, 2025
4 stars
I am thoroughly enjoying this series.
The cases are not repetitive. There is character development. I’m enjoying seeing Wren become less machine and more human. Her growing regard and depth of feeling for Eli. The friendship with Tiffany.
If there is another book, and there needs to be one, I want the Lark issue finalized.
This FBI hunt centered on good intentions multiplying g into death and depravity. It was tense and fast paced, as all the Wren series books. Well done.
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606 reviews
April 23, 2026
Never give up or you die

This story takes you into the forest, caves, rivers of no return. You move the wrong way, you may never be found. Is this because you are lost or has the environment taken you?
1 review
October 25, 2025
Wren Cade

A very good read will keep you interested a smoothly written book one I highly recommend if you love suspense and intrigue
137 reviews1 follower
October 28, 2025
Brilliant

Another brilliant book from the great Georgia Wagner. Brilliant, complex characters, drama and well written plots. Is this the end for wren, I hope not
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews