Whisper of Bones

A body washes up on the state park beach, and Tessa Black's years as a Seattle detective tell her at once that this was not an accident. The dead man is a local contractor, and the list of people with a reason to want him gone is long: a bitter ex-wife, an estranged current wife, angry former clients, and employees he treated badly.

The more islanders Tessa interviews, the wider the field of suspects gets. Then an arson and a savage assault make it plain that whoever did it is willing to keep going to stay hidden.

The third Widow's Island novella, written by Melinda Leigh — a compact small-community procedural, with the series' running cold case still in the background.