THE WICKED HOUR

Investigating the mysterious death of a talented violinist renews a detective’s anxieties about a long-missing friend.

When Morgan Chambers’ body is found following Halloween night, Detective Natalie Lockhart recognizes the signature red mark on the young woman’s neck that shows she’d spent long hours practicing the violin. Morgan had been desperately trying to break into the world of solo violinists, even attempting to break out in a viral moment at Burning Lake’s Monster Mash song contest. But Morgan’s efforts weren’t enough to catapult her to fame, and it’s possible that looking into becoming a fiddler in a band rather than a soloist led to some bad choices that left her dead in a dumpster. Or so Natalie speculates as she investigates the case, which reminds her of that of her childhood friend Bella Striver, another talented violinist who disappeared around their high school graduation. Could someone be targeting violinists? It seems possible, especially when another missing girl is linked to Natalie’s investigation. The case triggers Natalie’s fears, but when she turns to her trusted doctor, Russ Swinton, for help and maybe a change in meds, she realizes that Russ may be mixed up in Morgan’s case in ways she never could have imagined. Natalie longs for the support of her longtime friend Luke, but his position as Lt. Pittman has complicated the easy rapport they once had, leaving Natalie to figure out what happened to Morgan on her own.

New readers of this series would be advised to catch up with the backstory first.