PARALLEL SECRETS by ML Barrs – Murder Mystery, Small Town Mystery, Amateur Sleuths

In the small Missouri town of Walkers Corner, it seems everyone has a dark secret. In Parallel Secrets by ML Barrs, a TV journalist comes to town to do a magazine piece on a missing girl and begins uncovering many of those hidden stories.

Motivated by feelings of guilt for not following up on a previous unsolved case, Vicky Robeson’s joins the search for the missing child. She’s tenacious in her investigation. As a TV station journalist currently between jobs, she has well-honed investigative skills, specifically in her ability to wheedle stories from even the most reluctant people. She’s familiar with Walkers Corner; and  as a reporter for a St. Louis TV station, she covered the case of a never-identified mystery girl. She believes the two cases are connected. The similarities that link these cases to her own experiences as a child make her unable to let this new story go.

Safe to say, her investigating is not welcomed by most of the locals in this close-knit town.

But one by one, Vicky finds ways to pull details about both cases from virtually everyone, using her eye for detail to wedge people out of silence. Vicky’s quest is not without personal danger, however, as she finds long-buried secrets, crimes that some are willing to kill to keep buried.

In the midst of her reporting, Vicky finds her relationship with Pete, her new love interest who has traveled with her in his RV, to be both a blessing and another challenge.

Pete keeps wanting a deeper relationship, while Vicky is reluctant. In addition, she’s considering taking a TV job in Texas that would put an additional strain on the couple. Even though Pete is perfect for her now, she’s not sure he’s perfect when it comes to her future.

Parallel Secrets is a literary jigsaw puzzle, the kind that remains unclear until the final piece is put in place. This is an enthralling read for anyone who enjoys a good-to-the-last-drop mystery.