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Columbia River
Series · 6 books · 2020-2024

Books in series

The Last Sister book cover
#1

The Last Sister

2020

An Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestseller. Three sisters’ secrets collide in a shocking novel of suspense by the bestselling author of the Mercy Kilpatrick series. Twenty years ago Emily Mills’s father was murdered, and she found his body hanging in the backyard. Her younger sister, Madison, claims she was asleep in her room. Her older sister, Tara, claims she was out with friends. The tragedy drove their mother to suicide and Tara to leave town forever. The killer was caught. The case closed. Ever since, Emily and Madison have tried to forget what happened that night—until an eerily similar murder brings it all back. It also brings FBI special agent Zander Wells to the Oregon logging town. As eager as he is to solve the brutal double slaying, he is just as intrigued with the mystery of Emily’s and her sisters’ past. When more blood is shed, Zander suspects there’s a secret buried in this town no one wants unearthed. Is it something Emily and Madison don’t know? Or aren’t telling? And Tara? Maybe Emily can’t bear to find her. Because when Tara disappeared, she took a secret of her own with her.
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#2

The Silence

2020

A Wall Street Journal bestseller. A dead conspiracy theorist. A mass murderer. Two cases collide for Callahan and McLane in a pulse-pounding thriller by Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author Kendra Elliot. A man is savagely murdered outside Portland, and Detective Mason Callahan finds blood-spatter evidence that tells a troubling story. Files reveal the murder victim, Reuben Braswell, was a radical conspiracist. In his home, investigators find pages of diatribes against law enforcement as well as ties to Mason’s fiancée, FBI special agent Ava McLane. The victim was her informant—and had strong reasons to be paranoid. To Ava, Braswell’s rants were those of a wearying and harmless man…until they collide with her investigation into the murders of police officers and finding the connection becomes urgent. Meanwhile, Braswell’s brother and Ava’s twin sister both disappear, and disturbing acts of sabotage target Ava’s personal life. For Mason and Ava, the brutal crimes and escalating mysteries create a perfect storm for a terrorist conspiracy that becomes dangerously personal—one that has yet to claim its last victim.
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#3

In the Pines

2022

Clues to a hidden treasure. Clues to a family secret. Both lead to murder in a twisting novel of suspense A national treasure hunt with a $2 million prize has driven obsessed fortune seekers to overrun the small town of Eagle’s Nest, Oregon. The hunt’s cryptic clues and the lure of wealth have exposed the desperate side of human greed: theft, fights, trespassing—and even the motive to kill. Police chief Truman Daly craves peace in his town but has a murder on his hands instead. Now the big prize isn’t the only thing hiding in the pines. So is a killer. When a young boy walks into the local café and claims his mother and baby sister have been missing for weeks, FBI special agent Mercy Kilpatrick investigates and exposes a disturbing twist in his story. Deep family secrets and lies that started sixty years ago have burst into the present, bringing with them deadly consequences. Mercy’s and Truman’s investigations lead down a path of murder, revenge, and buried secrets to uncover two intertwined mysteries as dark as an Oregon forest.
The First Death book cover
#4

The First Death

2023

A Wall Street Journal bestselling series. For a search and rescue expert, the buried remains of her past are a dangerous obsession in a twisting novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author. Rowan Wolff was five years old when she, her brother, and their babysitter were kidnapped by a serial killer in the Pacific Northwest. The babysitter was murdered. Rowan was saved. Her brother was killed and buried in the forest, his remains never found. The convicted killer refuses to say where he buried the boy. Twenty-five years later, Rowan is committed to search and rescue with her faithful canine and is obsessed with finding her brother’s grave—and closure. Detective Evan Bolton thrives on unraveling tough cases, but his latest is disturbing. There’s another serial killer hunting in Deschutes County, Oregon, and the crimes are identical to those committed by the sociopath languishing in prison. Each victim is linked to Rowan. When skeletal remains of several bodies are exhumed in the forest, Rowan’s connection becomes more entwined and impossible to ignore. Rowan and Evan are determined to solve the case before someone else dies. And someone else will, as the truth about the past is unearthed.
At the River book cover
#5

At the River

2024

A Wall Street Journal bestselling series. The mystery of three missing teens and a traumatizing murder unearths decades of buried secrets in a shocking novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author. Twenty years ago, five teenage campers disappeared. Two eventually turned up, bound and left for dead on the Columbia River’s rocky shore. Only Devin Bonner miraculously survived, but with no memories of what happened in the Oregon forest. After decades, the cold case generates heat for FBI Special Agent Mercy Kilpatrick and her husband, Police Chief Truman Daly. They’re investigating the murder of a true-crime podcaster found at the river’s edge in the same location, and with the exact same manner of death. With the discovery, Devin’s nightmares return. His only real friend is Ollie Smith, Truman’s orphaned ward, whose own search for the truth sucks Ollie into a mystery far greater and more dangerous than anyone imagined. Following a trail of fresh blood and an escalating series of murders, Mercy and Truman must work fast to unlock whatever traumas are buried in Devin’s memories before the secrets of the past claim another victim.
The Next Grave book cover
#6

The Next Grave

2024

A Wall Street Journal bestselling series. Following a murder and a woman’s sudden disappearance, investigations into old crimes and new collide in an alarming novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author. Detective Evan Bolton is gutted by his latest investigation. His friend and mentor, retired detective Rod McLeod, has been murdered, his body left in the trunk of a junkyard car. When McLeod’s daughter and grandson abruptly vanish, Evan knows it’s not a coincidence. Search and rescue canine specialist Rowan Wolff agrees as she and her dog, Thor, track the missing family. The two cases converge in a puzzling twist. Evan discovers that McLeod has been reinvestigating old crimes—solved but not forgotten. Evan takes them on, one by one, and a disturbing suspicion forms that someone in law enforcement has something to hide and would do anything to keep those secrets buried. But Evan and Rowan’s time is slipping away. They have to find the killer now. Before someone else disappears. Before someone else dies.

Author

Kendra Elliot
Kendra Elliot
Author · 36 books

An Amazon #1 selling author, Kendra Elliot has sold over 12 Million books and been on the WSJ best seller over a dozen times. She grew up in the lush Pacific Northwest and still lives there with her family and two cats. She's fascinated with forensics, refuses to eat anything green, and dreams of living every day in flip flops. UPDATE: She now lives in flip flops and watches the sun rise over the ocean every day. The MERCY KILPATRICK series: A MERCIFUL DEATH, A MERCIFUL TRUTH, A MERCIFUL SECRET, A MERCIFUL SILENCE, A MERCIFUL FATE, and A MERCIFUL PROMISE. IN THE PINES and AT THE RIVER are continuations of Mercy's and Truman's story. THE COLUMBIA RIVER series. THE LAST SISTER. THE SILENCE, IN THE PINES, AT THE RIVER, and THE FIRST DEATH The BONE SECRETS NOVELS: HIDDEN, CHILLED, BURIED, ALONE, KNOWN and VEILED (a novella) The CALLAHAN & McLANE novels: VANISHED, BRIDGED, SPIRALED, and TARGETED. THE SILENCE continues Ava and Mason's story. THE LAST SISTER is Zander's story She also writes the Widow's Island and Rogue River novellas with Melinda Leigh. International Thriller Writers finalist, a three time Daphne Du Maurier winner, and a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice finalist.

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