About this book:

After ten years away, true-crime podcaster Nora Hale returns to her hometown of Emberly, Maine, spurred by a chilling voicemail claiming her sister Liza didn't run away, but was murdered. Her homecoming coincides with the disappearance of teenager Owen Marsh, and Nora quickly realizes that the secrets of the past and present are intertwined. Through her investigative skills and a series of "broadcasts" that pressure the tight-lipped community, she uncovers a dark network of corruption involving the town’s beloved benefactor, Caleb Drury, and the ambitious Mayor Evelyn Price.

Nora’s investigation reveals that Caleb operated a predatory "mentorship" program, treating local youths as "objectives" for a macabre collection. Assisted by her brother Jonah, Nora discovers that their own father was a silent partner in Caleb’s financial crimes, having helped cover up an industrial murder at the local mill decades earlier to protect the town’s economic future. Liza had been murdered because she discovered this "original sin" and attempted to expose the conspiracy that linked her father’s construction company to Caleb’s land-grabbing schemes.

The tension culminates in a harrowing search of the mill’s subterranean conduit system and a remote quarry cabin. Nora and the police rescue a hypothermic Owen Marsh and recover Liza’s remains, along with a "collection log" of other victims. In a final act of journalistic defiance, Nora live-streams the confession of the Mayor’s husband and the subsequent arrest of Evelyn Price, ensuring the powerful architects of the conspiracy cannot hide behind legal maneuvers or town loyalty.

The book concludes with Nora finally resolving the echoes of her sister's death. She recovers a long-lost recording made by Liza on the night of her murder, which provides the final evidence needed to convict Caleb and the Mayor. Having unmasked the rot at the heart of Emberly, Nora decides to stay and document the full truth through her podcast, turning her personal tragedy into a public reckoning that ensures the victims are never forgotten.