Audiobook Review: Promise Not to Tell by Jayne Ann Krentz

Promise Not to Tell
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
Narrator: Susan Bennett
Series: Sons of Anson Salinas (Book 2)
Publication: Recorded Books (January 2, 2018)
Length: 10 hours and 40 minutes

Description: A broken promise reveals a terrifying legacy in this electrifying novel from the New York Times best-selling author of When All the Girls Have Gone.

Seattle gallery owner Virginia Troy has spent years battling the demons that stem from her childhood time in a cult and the night a fire burned through the compound, killing her mother. And now one of her artists has taken her own life, but not before sending Virginia a last picture: a painting that makes Virginia doubt everything about the so-called suicide - and her own past.

Like Virginia, PI Cabot Sutter was one of the children in the cult who survived that fire - and only he can help her now. As they struggle to unravel the clues in the picture, it becomes clear that someone thinks Virginia knows more than she does and that she must be stopped. Thrown into an inferno of desire and deception, Virginia and Cabot draw ever closer to the mystery of their shared memories - and the shocking fate of the one man who still wields the power to destroy everything they hold dear.

My Thoughts: PROMISE NOT TO TELL is the middle book in the Sons of Anson Salinas trilogy. Seattle gallery owner Virginia Troy needs a private detective to look into the death of one of her artists. The local police have called it suicide, but Virginia has her doubts.

Virginia goes to Cabot Sutter to investigate. Both Virgina and Cabot were raised in a cult and nearly lost their lives when a fire was set outside the locked barn where the children were sleeping. The cult leader set the fire and escaped. Virginia was raised by her grandmother and Cabot was raised by Anson Salinas, the police officer who rescued the children in the barn. 

Cabot, Anson, and Cabot's two adopted brothers have long believed that the cult leader got away despite his proclaimed death when a boat he had stolen exploded in the ocean. Virginia's artist is also a survivor of the cult and worked out her nightmares in a series of paintings. Her last painting seems to show the cult leader in modern dress which convinces Cabot that he is still alive. 

Besides the hunt to discover if the cult leader is still alive, Cabot is also dealing with family issues. The grandfather who never acknowledged him has died and has left Cabot something in his will. A lawyer is being very persistent about wanting Cabot to sign a paper which will give him a $25 thousand inheritance. He could use the money, but something just doesn't seem right about the lawyer's need for a speedy resolution to the settlement.

Virginia and Cabot also learn that there might be some money involved in the cult too. They learn that some of the women including both of their mothers found a way to divert funds into a secret account. Now someone who might or might not be the cult leader wants the money and believes that Virginia has the key to locating it.

This was an entertaining story. I liked the relationship between Cabot and Virginia who are both still dealing with the trauma of being in a cult and almost dying while trying to escape it. This was a nice romance and a nice mystery too. 

I bought this one November 20, 2022. You can buy your copy here.