4.2
-
5,701 ratings
Someone’s found the skeleton in the closet, and it’s not the only one. Wall Street Journal bestselling author Debra Webb presents an emotional new mystery.
Crime analyst and newly disgraced deputy police chief Vera Boyett doesn’t visit home often, and she certainly doesn’t venture back into the cave on her family land. But when the remains of her long-missing stepmother are discovered, Vera will have to face a past that threatens all she is.
She and her sister Eve had a fairy-tale childhood: good until it was tragic, with a stepmother they never found a bond with. At least they had each other, a baby half-sister, and a mutual devotion that would have them do the unthinkable.
It’s a summer in small-town Tennessee, so thick with humidity it could drown you and so rife with secrets it could smother you. And deep beneath the surface, there are more bodies than you’d think…
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ISBN-10
1662516185
ISBN-13
978-1662516184
Print length
397 pages
Language
English
Publisher
Thomas & Mercer
Publication date
July 31, 2024
Dimensions
5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
Item weight
14.4 ounces
A reminder that sometimes things and people need a reason to stay. A little something to hold them in place.
Highlighted by 113 Kindle readers
Had she and Eve left behind any incriminating evidence all those years ago?
Highlighted by 96 Kindle readers
Sometimes you did things for others just to boost your own self-esteem.
Highlighted by 59 Kindle readers
ASIN :
B0CGVSQHNG
File size :
7436 KB
Text-to-speech :
Enabled
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Supported
Enhanced typesetting :
Enabled
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Deeper Than the Dead
“A taut and gritty procedural with the promise of more.” ―Kirkus Reviews
“Expertly plotted and whip-smart, Deeper Than the Dead is an exceedingly clever crime thriller filled with secrets, betrayals, and complex characters. Webb manages to hit that sweet spot between family drama and police procedural. This one is sure to be a hit in the crime thriller genre. A wild and massively entertaining ride.” ―Christina McDonald, USA Today bestselling author
The Last Lie Told
“A complex case fraught with angst and danger ends with surprising revelations.” ―Kirkus Reviews
“Debra Webb writes the kind of thrillers I love to read. Sure, there is a murder or more. Yes, there’s a twisted mystery to be solved. Once again, in The Last Lie Told, her characters are fully rendered and reveal themselves authentically as her novel unfolds and careens to its stunning conclusion. The Last Lie Told is her best yet. Webb is the queen of smart suspense.” ―Gregg Olsen, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Can’t Go Back
“A complex, exciting mystery.” ―Kirkus Reviews
“Police procedural fans will be sorry to see the last of Kerri and Luke.” ―Publishers Weekly
“Threats, violence, and a dramatic climax . . . good for procedural readers.” ―Library Journal
Gone Too Far
“An intriguing, fast-paced combination of police procedural and thriller.” ―Kirkus Reviews
“Those who like a lot of family drama in their police procedurals will be satisfied.” ―Publishers Weekly
Trust No One
“Trust No One is Debra Webb at her finest. Political intrigue and dark family secrets will keep readers feverishly turning pages to uncover all the twists in this stunning thriller.” ―Melinda Leigh, #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Cross Her Heart
“A wild, twisting crime thriller filled with secrets, betrayals, and complex characters that will keep you up until you reach the last darkly satisfying page. A five-star beginning to Debra Webb’s explosive series!” ―Allison Brennan, New York Times bestselling author
“Debra Webb once again delivers with Trust No One, a twisty and gritty page-turning procedural with a cast of complex characters and a compelling cop heroine in Detective Kerri Devlin. I look forward to seeing more of Detectives Devlin and Falco.” ―Loreth Anne White, Washington Post bestselling author of In the Deep
“Trust No One is a gritty and exciting ride. Webb skillfully weaves together a mystery filled with twists and turns. I was riveted as each layer of the past peeled away, revealing dark secrets. An intriguing cast of complicated characters, led by the compelling Detective Kerri Devlin, had me holding my breath until the last page.” ―Brianna Labuskes, Washington Post bestselling author of Girls of Glass
“Debra Webb’s name says it all.” ―Karen Rose, New York Times bestselling author
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One picture is worth a thousand words. —Fred R. Barnard (and many others)
1
Monday, July 22
Memphis Police Department
Public Safety Building
Main Street, Memphis, Tennessee, 9:05 a.m.
It wasn’t the end of the world.
Vera Mae Boyett grabbed her coffee mug from her desk and tucked it, coffee stains and all, into the gym bag she’d brought from home. No one paid the slightest bit of attention to gym bags—they were as common as briefcases around here. She could be carrying any manner of nonmetal contraband in this seemingly harmless blue nylon bag, and not a soul would notice or even wonder.
But Vera hadn’t gone to the gym this morning. The bag was a just-in-case decision. She had seen the writing on the wall, and if this thing ended up going where she suspected it would, she had no desire to return to the office at a later date for her personal belongings. With that in mind, she’d come prepared to pack up and walk away.
She squared her shoulders and forced back the emotions crowding into her throat. No, this situation was not the end of the world—just the probable end of fifteen years of service to a job she loved.
The stapler she’d bought after the department-issued one broke went into the gym bag next. She wasn’t leaving one damned thing that belonged to her. Not for someone to come along one day and pick up, saying, “Oh, this belonged to Deputy Chief Boyett. You remember her, the one who allowed a cutting-edge unit to go to hell in a handbasket?”
She blinked. Lifted her chin in defiance of the damned emotions that now burned behind her eyes. The past couple of days she had told herself repeatedly there was a slim chance this might not be the end. After all, the investigation had barely begun . . .
Who are you kidding, Vee?
It was over, and she knew it.
This was the outcome she had expected from the beginning—no point pretending. The horrific events of last week were bad. The kind of bad where no one involved walked away unscathed—not even those guilty by association only. Public opinion would not see the difference.
Bottom line, the buck stopped with her. She was responsible.
Vera closed her eyes and struggled to exile the surge of images that had played over and over on the news and social media cycles for the past seven days.
The whole team was going down. The move would be necessary to mitigate the discontent in the community—particularly among the powers that be. No one understood that reality more than her.
Vera’s fingers found their way to the paperweight she’d had since she was a kid. The round, flat rock, polished to a smooth sheen by eons in a river, had been a gift from her mother. She’d painted a V surrounded by flowers and given it to Vera for her fifteenth birthday. A reminder that sometimes things and people need a reason to stay. A little something to hold them in place. Her mother had said those words to her. She already knew she was dying. Vera and her sister Eve did not learn this sad fact until later. Evelyn Boyett understood that when she was gone, her older daughter would want to run as far away as possible. Vera always had big dreams of going places—anywhere but small-town Tennessee.
Two months after her fifteenth birthday, the last truly happy family event Vera could recall, their father explained that their mother hadn’t wanted to ruin Vera’s special day. Good mothers wanted to protect their children.
Too bad their father didn’t follow through with being good. Fathers were supposed to be good, and dependable, too—even after the worst possible thing that could happen to a family did so.
Vera buried the thought, as she had for more than two decades now, and placed the stone in the bag. Looking back to her childhood, all the way up until just after that birthday, Vera could honestly say hers had been pretty perfect. A mother who’d been fully engaged with raising her children. One who loved life deeply and treasured the smallest of things—like butterflies and flowers and the perfect stone for creating artistic beauty. A father who worked hard and somehow found endless patience no matter how tired he was when he came home from work each evening. A little sister who adored Vera and believed she could do anything.
But within the year that followed that final genuinely happy birthday, their lives fell apart. For Vera, losing her mother felt like the end of everything. If possible, the loss was even more difficult for her little sister—her only sibling at the time. Eve was only eleven.
The untimely loss had been the beginning of the end.
People who talked about their lives falling apart could generally pinpoint the moment the foundation started to crumble. For the Boyett sisters, that moment had started the day after their mother was buried, when they found their father in the barn. Poor Eve thought he was dead, too, but he was only sleeping off the alcohol in which he’d drowned himself the night before. Sadly, the heavy drinking didn’t end with that unfortunate episode.
Vernon Ray Boyett had been the perfect husband and an amazing father . . . until he just couldn’t be perfect or even good anymore.
Vera closed her eyes and shook her head. Why was she thinking about that now? Her career with the Memphis Police Department had just gone down in flames because of someone else’s decision. And there was not one damned thing she could do about it but grieve with the rest of the city.
And go. She had to go. She surveyed the office that had been her home twelve to fourteen hours a day. Rising to the position of deputy chief had been her crowning achievement—the epitome of all she’d worked to accomplish. What would she do now? Where would she go? Staying in Memphis wouldn’t be an option.
A hum of vibration snapped her attention to her desk. Wouldn’t be hers much longer. She struggled to clear the haze of disbelief from her brain and looked for the source of the sound. Face down on her desk blotter, her cell phone vibrated again. Vera took a deep breath and reached for it. If it was another reporter who had somehow managed to obtain her private number, she was going to be . . .
Luna. A frown tugged Vera’s eyebrows together. The possible reasons for a sudden call during work hours from her half sister—not that Vera had ever seen her as anything other than a full sister in every sense of the word—set her nerves on edge. This couldn’t be good.
Didn’t bad things come in threes?
Her shoulders sagged. Damn. Just what she needed.
Vera braced herself and accepted the call. “Hey, Luna. Everything okay?” That she managed to sound normal under current circumstances startled her. When had she become such a good actress?
More importantly, what did that say about her?
Not going there.
“Vee, you have to come home.”
Vera stilled at her sister’s words. No, not her words—the sound of her voice. Strained with shock or disbelief. So, this was it. Deep breath. She moistened her lips and said the necessary words. “Is it Daddy?”
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Debra Webb
DEBRA WEBB is the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publisher's Weekly bestselling author of more than 170 novels, including reader favorites the Devlin & Falco, Finley O'Sullivan and Faces of Evil series. She is the recipient of the prestigious Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Romantic Suspense, the Centennial Award, as well as numerous Reviewers Choice Awards. In 2012 Debra was honored as the first recipient of the esteemed L. A. Banks Warrior Woman Award for her courage, strength, and grace in the face of adversity.
With more than four million books in print in numerous languages and countries, Debra’s love of storytelling goes back to her childhood when, at the age of nine, her mother bought her an old typewriter in a tag sale. Born in Alabama, Debra grew up on a farm. She spent every available hour exploring the world around her and creating her stories. She wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn’t until she spent three years working for the Commanding General of the US Army in Berlin behind the Iron Curtain and a five-year stint in NASA’s Shuttle Program that she realized her true calling. A collision course between suspense and romance was set. Since then she has expanded her work into some of the darkest places the human psyche dares to go. Visit Debra at www.debrawebb.com.
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Customer reviews
4.2 out of 5
5,701 global ratings
Snow White 45
5
Great Book
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2024
Verified Purchase
Debra Webb does not disappoint. I thought the story started out a little slow, but I quickly changed my mind. Very entertaining. Loved the story. Even had me believing the sisters were "up to no good" for a little. Deeper Than Dead lives up to the Debra Webb books I've read before. Loved all of them and can hardly wait until the #2 comes rolling out. I recommend this book for an entertaining read.
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2 people found this helpful
Susan
5
Really good story!
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2024
Verified Purchase
This was my first Debra Webb book and it won’t be my last. I liked the characters, they seemed relatable, and genuine. Although the outcome wasn’t a surprise, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment reading the story. Looking forward to the second book!
Adrienne LS
5
compelling novel with fully developed characters
Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2024
Verified Purchase
This was a Kindle first book for me and I hadn’t read Debra Webb before. I’m so impressed by her writing style. I enjoyed the variety in her characters and each felt very real to me. My mind went to many different whodunnits along the way. What more can you want from a crime novel?
7 people found this helpful
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