Cirrus@Austlit

'It was summer in the mountains when five small children vanished from their nursery school picnic. The heat was stifling that day, the tinkle of an ice-cream van in the air.

'Three and a half years later, in the dead of winter, the children are returned to their families... one by one.

'All except for Ivy - the granddaughter of homicide detective Kate Wakeland. The other four children say Ivy is dead.

'Speculation grows that the kidnappings were revenge for an offender that Detective Wakeland put in jail years before.

'She engages in a battle of wits between herself, the kidnapper and the cold, vast expanse of mountains in between.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A decade ago, The Lullaby Man preyed upon young girls in Tallman's Valley. He stole into their lives, whispered in their ears, spoke of love.

'Abby Wakeland was fourteen then. Now twenty-four, she's found the courage to tell her mother--Senior Detective Kate Wakeland--about what happened.

'The Lullaby Man was her teacher.

'What Abby reveals next will lead Kate down dark, twisting tunnels of discoveries that will blow this small town apart.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'For some time, Senior Detective Kate Wakeland has sensed dark undercurrents swimming in the depths of her beloved small town, Tallman's Valley.

'She is determined to find answers to the questions that no one is asking and find out what lies beneath the surface.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.