Secrets of Shadow Falls Series by Maggie Shayne

FIRST YOU DRINK, THEN YOU DIE. The Nightcap Strangler, who terrorized the town of Shadow Falls sixteen years ago, has finally been executed. Case closed. Until Bryan Kendall's lover is murdered in the notorious killer's unique style and the rookie cop stands accused. Has someone committed the perfect copycat crime...or was the wrong man put to death?A continent away, Dawn Jones hears that her first love has been accused of murder and knows that only she can help him... moreFIRST YOU DRINK, THEN YOU DIE. The Nightcap Strangler, who terrorized the town of Shadow Falls sixteen years ago, has finally been executed. Case closed. Until Bryan Kendall's lover is murdered in the notorious killer's unique style and the rookie cop stands accused. Has someone committed the perfect copycat crime...or was the wrong man put to death?A continent away, Dawn Jones hears that her first love has been accused of murder and knows that only she can help him. But to do so, she'll have to face the very fears that drove them apart.Together they'll work to uncover secrets someone's willing to kill to keep, and renew a love as dangerous as it is inevitable. And their best lead is the girl found dead in Bryan's bed, reeking of whiskey poured down her throat before her killer squeezed it shut. A killer who thinks that Dawn, too, could use one last drink... less

I'm not who they say I am. TRUST ME.But can she?Reclusive novelist Aaron Westhaven, a man she's admired -- and more -- for years, has accepted Olivia Dupree's invitation to speak at a local fundraiser. But the day he's due to arrive, she gets a call summoning her to the bedside of a John Doe whose sole possession is her business card... moreI'm not who they say I am. TRUST ME.But can she?Reclusive novelist Aaron Westhaven, a man she's admired -- and more -- for years, has accepted Olivia Dupree's invitation to speak at a local fundraiser. But the day he's due to arrive, she gets a call summoning her to the bedside of a John Doe whose sole possession is her business card.Can this unbelievably compelling man -- survivor of an execution-style gunshot wound -- really be the novelist the lonely Olivia has grown to think of as a near soul mate? If not, he can be in Shadow Falls for only one reason: to kill her.Olivia, too, has secrets. And discovering the truth about the man in the hospital bed means dredging up her own past -- a past she's being hiding from for sixteen years. less

She's protected him since the day he was born. Since the day the LIE BEGAN.A long-ago act of kindness to a desperate woman changed Dr. Carrie Overton's life forever. Before disappearing, the grateful stranger had given Carrie her newborn son. When the woman is murdered, the secret becomes Carrie's alone.She had kept both it and her son, Sam, safe for sixteen years. But now a friend of Sam's has gone missing. The police believe he's a runaway--until he's found dead... moreShe's protected him since the day he was born. Since the day the LIE BEGAN.A long-ago act of kindness to a desperate woman changed Dr. Carrie Overton's life forever. Before disappearing, the grateful stranger had given Carrie her newborn son. When the woman is murdered, the secret becomes Carrie's alone.She had kept both it and her son, Sam, safe for sixteen years. But now a friend of Sam's has gone missing. The police believe he's a runaway--until he's found dead. Then another teen disappears, and talk turns to that long-ago murder.Newcomer Gabriel Cain is asking too many questions, befriending Sam, getting too close. Carrie distrusts him even as she finds herself falling for him. But Gabriel has secrets, too...Is it time for the lying to end? less