Former homicide detective Nicole Foster has hit rock bottom. Driven off the force by her treacherous partner and lover, she’s flat broke and struggling with a gambling addiction. All Nicole has left is the dream of a warm bed at a homeless shelter and the haunting memories of three-year-old Kelsey Chase—whose murder case ended her career. As Nicole obsesses over the old facts, she realizes everything about that case felt off: a disinterested mom, a suicidal pedophile, and too many questions left unanswered. When the little girl’s grieving father begs Nicole for help, she’s drawn back into the investigation…and given one shot at redemption. But the deeper Nicole digs, the more evil she uncovers, including betrayals that hit painfully close to home. Will a shocking discovery be the key to finally getting justice for Kelsey and resurrecting her own life?

A heart-pounding novel of unspeakable crimes and unforgivable sins from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sound of Rain . Homicide detective Nicole Foster has finally balanced an unsteady life and is anxious for a second chance. There’s no better place to start over than at the beginning—back at her childhood home on the Washington coast, where’s she raising her niece and keeping an eye on her increasingly fragile father. But Nicole’s past is never truly behind her—not when a disturbing new case stirs dark memories of the haunting investigation that shattered her career. In the middle of the hottest August in a century, a toddler is found dead inside a parked car. Her father says he forgot her. It’s an unthinkable crime. And for Nicole, it’s made all the more unbearable by her own suffocating secrets—those shared by an old rival who has reappeared from the shadows and is pushing Nicole to the edge once again. Now, wherever the truth lies, solving this case and avenging an unforgivable death is the most important move in Nicole’s career. But to see it through to the end, how far is she willing to go? And what is she prepared to risk this time?