As alcohol lubricates the conversation at a 30th high school reunion, Judy Bloom lets slip that she had an intimate relationship with a teacher while she was a student. More revelations follow, along with the news that the teacher kept a video camera hidden in his closet. When two classmates get to the retired teachers house, they find it abandoned with evidence he’d been dragged away. Pine County deputies Floyd Swenson and Pam Ryan work their way through the videos, finding the victims evasive and unwilling to speak. Pam Ryan’s growing cynicism spills into her personal life, driving her to a decision point with her new boyfriend who might not be ready for a lasting relationship with a cop.
Dean is the best-selling author of more than thirty books in three series including the award winning "Family Trees." His Pine County series are set in rural Pine County Minnesota and are hard-boiled thrillers featuring the Pine County Sheriff's Department. His Doug Fletcher series are set in National Parks and Monuments. Fletcher is a retired St. Paul police detective who's drafted by the Park Service to investigate a number of murders, suspicious deaths, toxic waste dumping and other crimes. This series is also somewhat hard-boiled, but include a touch of romance and humor as Doug sorts out his relationship with his former boss, Jill Rickowski. The Whistling Pine series are cozies set in Two Harbors Minnesota. The protagonist is the recreation director of the Whistling Pines retirement community and he deals with the day-to-day issues of his senior citizens and is reluctantly dragged into the investigations of local murders.
Hovey brings the reader back to the sheriff's department in Pine County, where the reader follows the investigation by two deputies who find evidence of past crimes, then a body in the old Sandstone school. The reader not only learns more of the details as the case unfolds but learns more about the lives of the law enforcement officers and the effect that heinous crimes have on them.
Another great book by Dean Hovey! The characters and their relationships seem so real, it's easy to get caught up in their lives. I also enjoy reading about locations that are actually familiar to me.
Killer Secrets is a fast paced murder mystery with a small town feel. No need to live in a major city to run into danger and drama. I love how Hovey puts the reader in Floyd Swenson's cop car passenger seat to tag along the complicated trail of suspects and disturbing events.