In this โskillfully penned tale of murder and cover-up that will keep readers enthralled until the powerful finishโ (Fresh Fiction), family secrets and a serial killer from the past converge in this electrifying thriller.
In 1985, Edward Shank famously gunned down the Beacon Hill Butcher, ending the serial killerโs reign of terror over the city of Seattle. But now in his eighties, Edwardโs action-packed glory days are long behind him. The decorated former Seattle police chief has given up his high-maintenance Victorian home to his grandson Matt for a quiet life at the nearby Sweetbay Village Retirement Residence, where mac-n-cheese Wednesdays have become the highlight of his week.
Though itโs hard to watch his grandfather get older, Matt is thrilled to inherit the large house he grew up in. Already an accomplished chef with a popular restaurant and a TV show in the works, Mattโs dream life is finally within reachโฆuntil he discovers a crate buried in the backyard that holds a secret about his grandfather so terrible, it threatens to ruin all their lives if it ever gets out. Especially his girlfriend Samโs, whose mother was killed when she was only two years old.
As Matt struggles with his dark family secret, Samโs obsession with solving her motherโs murder continues to grow. A true crime writer now working on a book about the Butcher, Sam has always suspected her mother was one of his victims, even though she was killed two years after the Butcher was supposedly gunned down.
But when new victims begin to turn up, their murders eerily similar to the Butcherโs all those years ago, Sam realizes she might be right. The more she digs into the old murders, the more dangerous it getsโฆand the truth is closer to home than she ever could have imagined.
โA tense, suspenseful, thoroughly creepy thrillerโ (Booklist), The Butcher sinks its teeth in you from the very first page.