Heart of a Runaway Girl by Trevor Wiltzen

In the first of a multi-award-winning series, readers meet big-hearted Mabel Davison, who runs a little diner and motel in the small mountain town of Blue River. Recently separated from her alcoholic husband, she’s looking to rebuild her reputation and create a safe place for her kids.

But this seemingly sleepy, friendly town is anything but.

One night, a teen girl, who breezed through Mabel’s diner, is discovered murdered by State police at a local sawmill. Sheriff Dan Gibson looks no further than the teen’s black boyfriend, Winston Washington, a known drug dealer. But Mabel fears Dan’s only trying to keep the peace in a town rife with racism, and her big heart won’t let that stand.

As she starts digging, the Sheriff warns her to stop. But with Winston’s trial looming, each step of her unlikely investigation draws the attention of a local drug ring—and the killer—closer.

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Category: Mystery – Historical

In this multi-award-winning page-turner, Mabel Davison runs a struggling motel and diner while caring for two small boys in a mountain town where many shun her for what she’s done.

Desperate to rekindle fractured friendships, she is surprised one night by an alcoholic ex-husband showing up on her porch, setting into motion events that could either unite her family or tear it apart.

Encouraged to restart a missing girls’ cold case weighing heavily on her heart, she gets nowhere fast — until she desperately questions a gang member she helped put in prison. His sordid tale is more lies and threats than truth. But the clues he gives point to her past, and she uncovers to her horror, a serial killer on the hunt.

As a cat-and-mouse game unfolds, she unravels a web of secrets in her inner circle that threatens to destroy everything she holds dear.

Other Retailers
Apple Books | Nook | Kobo