Mercy Creek: A Jo Wyatt Mystery

by M. E. Browning

Overview

In an idyllic Colorado town, a young girl goes missing—and the trail leads into the heart and mind of a remorseless killer.

The late summer heat in Echo Valley, Colorado turns lush greenery into a tinder dry landscape. When a young girl mysteriously disappears, long buried grudges rekindle. Of the two Flores girls, Marisa was the one people pegged for trouble. Her younger sister, Lena, was the quiet daughter, dutiful and diligent—right until the moment she vanished.

Detective Jo Wyatt is convinced the eleven-year-old girl didn’t run away and that a more sinister reason lurks behind her disappearance. For Jo, the case is personal, reaching far back into her past. But as she mines Lena’s fractured family life, she unearths a cache of secrets and half-lies that paints a darker picture.

As the evidence mounts, so do the suspects, and when a witness steps forward with a shocking new revelation, Jo is forced to confront her doubts, and her worst fears. Now, it's just a matter of time before the truth is revealed—or the killer makes another deadly move.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643857626
Publisher:	CROOKED LANE BOOKS
Publication date:	10/12/2021
Series:	A Jo Wyatt Mystery , #2
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	683,897
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

M.E. BROWNING writes the Jo Wyatt Mysteries. The first in the series, Shadow Ridge, won the Colorado Book Award for Mystery and the silver medal in the popular fiction category of the Florida Book Awards. The adventures continue in Mercy Creek, which launches in October 2021. Writing as Micki Browning, she penned the Agatha-nominated and award-winning Mer Cavallo mysteries, Adrift and Beached, and her short stories and nonfiction have appeared in anthologies, textbooks, diving and mystery magazines. Micki’s novels draw on her twenty-two years of experience in law enforcement. An FBI National Academy graduate, she retired as a captain before turning to a life of crime…fiction. Visit mebrowning.com to learn more.

Editorial Reviews

08/16/2021

In Browning’s well-crafted sequel to 2020’s Shadow Ridge, Det. Jo Wyatt of the Echo Valley, Colo., PD looks into the disappearance of Lena Flores, an 11-year-old girl who went missing after attending the Echo Valley Fair with her older sister, Marisa. Jo, who has no actionable information to go on, believes Lena might have been kidnapped. On her short list of suspects are a carnival worker who noticed the two girls watching his game; Lena’s father, Lucero, who’s divorced from her mother; and a neighbor who’s a sex offender. But the more she investigates, the more Jo finds herself digging through lies: Lucero about his alibi, Marissa about who she was with at the fair, and a paper delivery guy about knowing the occupants in Lena’s mother’s home. It takes a key interview, under highly unusual circumstances, for Jo to break the case. The action of this heart-wrenching story builds to a somewhat unbelievable twist, but the action-packed conclusion satisfies. Readers will feel like they’re getting a glimpse into the real world of police work. Agent: Helen Breitwieser, Cornerstone Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Mercy Creek:
“A heartfelt procedural.”
–Kirkus Reviews

“Well crafted . . . Readers will feel like they’re getting a glimpse into the real world of police work.”
—Publishers Weekly

“The story is gripping and fast paced with Jo Wyatt quickly becoming a character well worth rooting for.”     
—Mystery Scene Magazine

“A focused and gritty procedural”
—Mystery & Suspense Magazine

“[A] tight plot and realistic characters.”
—Sun Sentinel

“A must-read for fans of detective crime novels.”
—San Francisco Book Review

"An intensifying and grippingly enticing read.”
—Dru Ann Love

“Fast-paced and a shocking ending highlight this page-turning novel.”
—Red Carpet Crash

Praise for Shadow Ridge:
Florida Book Awards 2021, Silver Medal for Popular Fiction
Colorado Book Award Finalist 2021, Mystery

"An engaging premise, briskly paced through a labyrinth of mystery. There’s something to be said for good ole’ fashioned suspense. Enjoy this one."
—Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of the Cotton Malone series

"An impressive debut. M.E. Browning has created a real page turner, and a compelling series character with Jo Wyatt." 
—Chris Mooney, bestselling author of the Darby McCormick series

“A first-rate mystery! M.E. Browning paints a convincing portrait of Detective Jo Wyatt, a second generation cop in an uphill battle for the truth. Compelling and fast-paced, Shadow Ridge will leave you wanting more.” 
—Bruce Robert Coffin, bestselling author of the award-winning Detective Byron Mysteries 

“Such a terrific book! The oh-so-talented M.E. Browning knows her law enforcement stuff—and uses it to the fullest to craft this riveting, realistic and totally readable story.  Fans of Sue Grafton and Julia Spencer-Fleming will find a new favorite series, and a new favorite sleuth in the smart and savvy Detective Jo Wyatt. Loved this."
—Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of The First to Lie

“Excellent...A must-read.”
—Booklist, starred review

“Convincing action and vivid characters...Police procedural fans will look forward to seeing more of tough, smart Jo.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Retired police captain Browning...is best on Jo’s professional frustration with a department that values her labors as long as she doesn’t step out of line.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Browning’s Jo should be with readers for a long time.”
—Newsday

“An energetic police procedural and an appealing heroine set against a vivid Colorado background.”
—South Florida Sun Sentinel

“Winter’s coming, and this is a great book to curl up by a fire and enjoy.”
—Durango Herald

“The pacing here is spot-on...The ending will leave readers hopeful for more books featuring Jo Wyatt and the Echo Valley citizens.”
—BOLO Books

From the Publisher

2021-07-10
A young Colorado girl’s disappearance raises agonizing questions for her estranged parents and for the detective spearheading the search for her.

Lena Flores is only 11—too young to be in danger of seriously misbehaving but not too young to have decided when her parents divorced five years ago that she wanted to live with her father. Now, on a weekend she's supposed to be staying with her mother, ER nurse Tilda Marquet, she doesn't show up to her 4-H assignment at the local fair, and Tilda can’t find her. Her ex-husband, veterinarian Lucero Flores, insists that he didn’t pick her up, and Marisa Flores, the daughter who lives with Tilda, has been too busy juggling her high school romances and pursuing her dreams of being an entrepreneurial influencer to have seen what happened to her kid sister. Detective Jo Wyatt swings into action even though most of her superiors in the Echo Valley Police Department are convinced that the girl has just wandered off and will come back home when she’s hungry. When it gradually becomes clear that Lena’s vanishing is anything but routine, Jo, who’s reluctant to accept the politically motivated promotion to sergeant she’s been offered by incoming Chief William Prather, focuses on several obvious suspects. Aaron Tingler, a new deliveryman for the Valley Courier, has just come off probation for burglary. Peeping Tom Sebastian Vescent is a registered sex offender who broke parole to move into his aunt’s house in the neighborhood. And Lucero himself has a history of violence. After sifting through these mostly uninspired candidates, Browning comes up with a solution that’s as disturbing as it is surprising.

A heartfelt procedural that isn’t afraid to sweat the details.

Kirkus Reviews