ARC Review: In the Pines by Kendra Elliot

In the Pines
Author: Kendra Elliot
Series: Columbia River (Book 3)
Publication: Montlake (August 16, 2022)

Description: Clues to a hidden treasure. Clues to a family secret. Both lead to murder in a twisting novel of suspense by Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kendra Elliot.

A national treasure hunt with a $2 million prize has driven obsessed fortune seekers to overrun the small town of Eagle’s Nest, Oregon. The hunt’s cryptic clues and the lure of wealth have exposed the desperate side of human greed: theft, fights, trespassing―and even the motive to kill. Police chief Truman Daly craves peace in his town but has a murder on his hands instead. Now the big prize isn’t the only thing hiding in the pines. So is a killer.

When a young boy walks into the local café and claims his mother and baby sister have been missing for weeks, FBI special agent Mercy Kilpatrick investigates and exposes a disturbing twist in his story. Deep family secrets and lies that started sixty years ago have burst into the present, bringing with them deadly consequences.

Mercy’s and Truman’s investigations lead down a path of murder, revenge, and buried secrets to uncover two intertwined mysteries as dark as an Oregon forest.

My Thoughts: Eagle's Nest, Oregon, has been invaded by treasure hunters since millionaire Chester Rollins died and left a mystery to be solved which will lead to a prize of $2 million. And the treasure hunters are causing problems from trespassing to exchanging gun shots. Police Chief Truman Daly and his officers are keeping really busy.

But then a boy walks out of the woods and asks Truman to help him find his missing mother and baby sister. FBI Agent Mercy Kilpatrick is the first person Truman calls since missing kids are the FBI's jurisdiction. It turns out the boy has a younger sister, and the family are preppers. Mercy grew up in that world and knows the territory.

The kids tell Mercy and Truman that their father had recently died and that their mother took their little sister to find her brother, a brother the kids didn't know existed and have no idea of his name. It turns out that the kids are the nephew and niece of Deschutes County sheriff's detective Evan Bolton, a friend of Truman and Mercy. They didn't know that his younger sister had been missing for a number of years. Evan would have had no idea that she and her family were living so close. 

Meanwhile, Evan is investigating a murder of one of the treasure hunters who was shot behind the B&B where he was staying. He's the same treasure hunter Truman had pulled in for getting into a gunfight with another treasure hunter. 

The story is filled with treasure hunts, missing persons, and old family secrets. I enjoyed the way the two separate cases came together. This was an enjoyable and exciting story. It was great to see all the favorite characters again - Mercy, Truman, Ollie, and Kaylie - in this seventh Mercy Kilpatrick mystery. 

Favorite Quote:

Parenting wasn't for cowards.

When the safety and well-being of another person depended on you, it changed the way you looked at everything.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.