Date: August 4, 2025
Author: Vi Keeland
Genre: psychological thriller, romantic suspense
Holy Guaca-mole! This was such a fun and twisty and unexpected story!
Fun fact: there is no statute of limitations on murder. And what is a statute of limitation? You may ask? Wikipedia answers: ‘…a law that sets the maximum time after an event or injury within which a legal proceeding must be initiated. If the designated time expires before a lawsuit or criminal charge is filed, the claim is permanently barred and subject to dismissal.’ This doesn’t happen with murder, which means it doesn’t matter how long ago a murder was committed a person can always be tried for it. Unlike pettier crimes which after so long, per crime committed, a person can be tried. If, say, that amount of time is 7 years, after 7 years the person has technically gotten away with said crime because charges can no longer be filed. So, happy days for that would-be -convict.
And now, the story… Elizabeth’s secrets from her past are being dug up, written about and being used to terrorize her 2 decades later. Elizabeth is freaking out, because twenty years ago, while fighting off her high school teacher, Mr. Sawyer, she accidentally killed him, covered it up and skipped town to the Big Apple. Funnily enough she has, herself, become a professor, teaching a creative writing course and never looking back.
One of her students, using an alias, begins submitting chapters for grading that mirror identically the events that lead up to the day Mr. Sawyer met his accidental demise.
Who could know such intimate details of the crime? Apparently, the finger could be pointed in many different directions, but she has no proof of who is responsible for holding these truths over her head.
Trying to put these clues together brings her home to face not only the past, but her present, in which her alcoholic mother is now dying, and, in which she meets the man of her dreams.
Is it just me? Or is it a bit disturbing that the man of her dreams is the son of Mr. Sawyer? That’s right! The accidentally murdered teacher’s kid!
In an effort to unravel this mystery before it can destroy her; new truths come to light that will leave the readers hanging over one cliffhanger after another. You will never guess the big reveal at the end!
I suggest on your next trip to the beach that you stop and pick up a copy and dive right in.