Dark Road Home

The summer after she graduated from high school, Gin Sullivan's little sister Lily went missing. Her family fell apart, not to mention her relationship with her high school sweetheart, Jake. Now, almost twenty years later, Gin is living in Chicago and working as a medical examiner when she gets the call: a body's been found in the woods outside her small hometown. It could be her sister. After all these years, it's time for Gin to go home and face the demons she tried to leave behind.

Confronting your past is never easy, but for Gin it also means confronting Jake, who was the prime suspect in Lily's disappearance. To find an answer to the question of what happened to her sister that fateful summer, Gin makes the difficult decision to use her talents as a medical examiner to help the police investigation. But as Gin gets deeper into the case, she uncovers a shocking truth that could change everything—if it doesn't destroy what's left of her and her family first.

Buried secrets come to light in Dark Road Home, Anna Carlisle's sharp and simmering debut mystery."Outstanding. An engrossing story line and cast of fully developed characters make this debut psychological thriller hard to put down."
—Publishers Weekly starred review

"With protagonists so well drawn that readers will feel as if they know them intimately, this excellent mystery will appeal to fans of Gillian Roberts and Nicci French."
—Library Journal starred review

"Carlisle brings...originality and spin to the proceedings...Gin is a strong protagonist, and readers will wonder what is in store for her next."
—RT Book Reviews

"Anna Carlisle’s Dark Road Home grabbed me at the very beginning and never let go. It’s a tense, taut, gripping thriller about long buried secrets and the powerful hold the past has on all of us. You won’t be able to put it down, and the book’s final chapters will leave you shocked and satisfied. Don’t miss this great debut!"
—David Bell, bestselling author of Somebody I Used to Know

"Dark Road Home is a gripping, twisty journey into the past that surprised me at every turn. Gin is an appealing heroine and her family is dysfunctional enough to feel absolutely real. A very accomplished novel."
—Jane Casey, Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author of the Maeve Kerrigan mysteriesAnna Carlisle lives in Northern California, where she teaches writing. This is her first novel.