H_ngm_n 2: Murder Is the Clue - Paperback

by Jc Gatlin (Author)

Fifteen years ago, the Arriaga Winery was the site of a chilling tragedy: the murder of Jacob Arriaga, allegedly at the hands of his six-year-old stepson, Bradley "Bug" Barringer. Now, as the family matriarch Cora prepares to wed a man she barely knows and sell the historic estate, the past returns to haunt the present.

RJ Barringer, a photographer with a penchant for the paranormal, returns to his childhood home for the wedding, bringing along his girlfriend, true-crime reporter Tori Younger. The homecoming takes a sharp turn when RJ's sister, Holly, orchestrates the sudden discharge of Bug from a psychiatric institution, using him as a pawn to halt the winery's sale. Tori, struggling with her own career and financial setbacks, quickly realizes that the official story of Jacob's death-a child stabbing a grown man in a locked wine cellar-is riddled with inconsistencies.

As the wedding rehearsal unfolds amidst family tension and the arrival of an obsessive figure from RJ's past, Tori begins an unauthorized investigation into the decade-old murder. Between the rattling doors of the dark cellar and the secrets held by the Barringer siblings, she must decide how much she is willing to risk-including RJ's trust-to uncover the truth. In this house of shadows, some secrets are best left buried, while others are ready to strike again.