"Kate Mayfield's first foray into nonfiction is a ... Southern memoir that reads like a novel, about growing up in Jubilee, Kentucky, as the daughter of a charismatic but troubled small-town undertaker--imagine Mad Men's Sally Draper growing up in the world of The Help"--

A thrilling novel from #1 international bestselling author Sara Blaedel, author of The Forgotten Girls "One of the best I've come across." -- Michael Connelly "Sara Blaedel is a force to be reckoned with. She's a remarkable crime writer who time and again delivers a solid, engaging story that any reader in the world can enjoy." -- Karin Slaughter "One can count on emotional engagement, spine-tingling suspense, and taut storytelling from Sara Blaedel." -- Sandra Brown Already widowed by the age of forty, Ilka Nichols Jensen, a school portrait photographer, leads a modest, regimented, and uneventful life in Copenhagen. Until unexpected news rocks her quiet existence: Her father--who walked out suddenly and inexplicably on the family more than three decades ago--has died. And he's left her something in his will: his funeral home. In Racine, Wisconsin. Clinging to this last shred of communication from the father she hasn't heard from since childhood, Ilka makes an uncharacteristically rash decision and jumps on a plane to Wisconsin. Desperate for a connection to the parent she never really knew, she plans to visit the funeral home and go through her father's things--hoping for some insight into his new life in America--before preparing the business for a quick sale. But when she stumbles on an unsolved murder, and a killer who seems to still be very much alive, the undertaker's daughter realizes she might be in over her head . . .

From the author of Trust No One Some secrets are worth dying for. For months, Doctor Rowan Dupont has been staring death in the face. It followed her back to her hometown of Winchester, Tennessee, ten months ago, cloaking the walls of her family’s Victorian funeral home like a shroud. In investigating the mysterious deaths of her loved ones, Rowan has unearthed enough family secrets to bury everything she’d previously thought true. But each shocking discovery has only led to more bodies and more questions; the rabbit hole is deeper than she ever imagined. Despite settling in to a comfortable life with Police Chief Billy Brannigan, Rowan knows dangerous serial killer Julian Addington is still out there. She can’t let her guard down now. Not when she’s this close to ending his torment once and for all. But with a storm brewing on the horizon, she’ll get only one shot before the impending darkness takes hold, threatening to wipe away every truth she’s uncovered—and everything she holds dear.

In this thriller by the author of The Secrets We Bury, danger continues for a doctor grappling with an enigmatic past and the threat of a serial killer. Doctor Rowan Dupont knows a serial killer is coming for her. Julian Addington has been waiting. Watching. And it’s only a matter of time before he strikes. But what Julian doesn’t know is that Rowan is ready for him. And more than anything she wants answers. How well did the depraved killer actually know her mother? And how many lies have been spun in the years since she took her own life? Working alongside her childhood friend Police Chief Billy Brannigan, Rowan is determined to get to the bottom of her mother’s puzzling suicide once and for all—even if it means exposing an unsettling past. It certainly seems like her family’s Victorian funeral home has borne witness to more than one dark secret, but when a recent double homicide leads to an even grislier discovery, separating the truth from the lies might be the last thing Rowan does. Praise for the novels of USA Today–bestselling Author Debra Webb “Rife with tension. . . . A gripping read.” —#1 New York Times–bestselling author Sandra Brown on The Longest Silence “You will fly through the pages of this action-packed thriller!” —#1 New York Times–bestselling author Lisa Gardner on No Darker Place “Webb weaves incredible twists and turns and a mind-blowing conclusion.” —RT Book Reviews on The Longest Silence

Death speaks to me. A person's face in death mirrors their living and their dying. This book speaks of both. Life, through the loss of many loved ones, has crushed me open - and left behind many clear and important messages for the living. Each message is different, and each changed how I live my life. This is what I want to share with you... deathbed revelations about how to live. I received these messages from the people I was grieving; but their wisdom is for everyone, whether grieving or not. They are stories of the interwoven beauty of life and death. I hope your journey through my experiences gives you the same gifts I received from them and delivers a fresh perspective on the events in your life. For anyone who has experienced the unbearable sorrow of death, I hope it brings light to your mourning.

In this thriller series opener, a doctor returns to her hometown to take over her family’s funeral home and examine unsolved mysteries from her past. Doctor Rowan Dupont knows death. She grew up surrounded by it in her family’s Victorian funeral home, and it’s haunted her since the day her twin sister drowned years ago. Between her mother’s subsequent suicide and the recent murder of her father, coming home to run the funeral home feels fitting—even if it leaves her vulnerable to an obsessive serial killer. Rowan refuses to let fear keep her from honoring her family. But the more time she spends back in Winchester, Tennessee, the more she finds herself questioning what really happened that fateful summer. Had her sister’s death truly been an accident? And what pushed their mother to take her own life? The dark lake surrounding Rowan’s hometown holds as many secrets as the bodies that float in its chilling depths. But Rowan is running out of time if she’s going to uncover the truth before somebody sinks her for good. Praise for the novels of USA Today–bestselling Author Debra Webb “Rife with tension. . . . A gripping read.” —#1 New York Times–bestselling author Sandra Brown on The Longest Silence “You will fly through the pages of this action-packed thriller!” —#1 New York Times–bestselling author Lisa Gardner on No Darker Place “Webb weaves incredible twists and turns and a mind-blowing conclusion.” —RT Book Reviews on The Longest Silence

"Kate Mayfield's first foray into nonfiction is a vivid Southern memoir that reads like a novel, about growing up in Jubilee, Kentucky as the daughter of a charismatic but troubled small-town undertaker--imagine Mad Men's Sally Draper growing up in the world of The Help"--