Lorna Temple has come back to her childhood home because her mother's last wish was to have her ashes scattered in three different locations on their property. The last thing she was thinking about was her childhood best friend Melinda Eagon. Melinda disappeared on her birthday when Lorna was nine and at first everyone thought that her scary older brother Jason had something to do with it but when he disappears shortly after, the mystery of the Eagon kids goes unsolved.

When Jason's body, along with a few others, is found on a portion of property that Lorna's mother sold before her death, the case is re-opened but the police quickly conclude that the killer is Jason's mother, Billie Eagon. Lorna refuses to believe that Billie could have killed Jason, going on mostly faith because Lorna's mother believed in Billie. She contacts T.J. Dawson, a private investigator, and hires him to look into all the killings. Lorna and T.J. are soon hot on the trail of a killer but there are some buried secrets that someone just doesn't want them to uncover and will do anything to hide.

Having been a fan of Ms. Stewart's since her dark trilogy came out, I was really looking forward to reading her truth trilogy and I can't say I was disappointed. HARD TRUTH gives you everything you've come to expect from her books. It's an exciting mystery with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing 'til the very end. Be sure to look for the other books in this exciting series, COLD TRUTH, DARK TRUTH and also FINAL TRUTH, out May 30, 2006, which concludes the series.

Book Summary

TELL THE TRUTH AND SHAME THE DEVIL

Two children who mysteriously disappeared twenty-one years ago are the last thing on Lorna Temple's mind when she returns to her Pennsylvania hometown to sell the old family property in the wake of her parents' passing. But instead of memories, the fields where Lorna grew up yield something utterly chilling.

All those years ago, when nine-year-old Melinda Eagan vanished on her birthday, her foulmouthed older brother, Jason, quickly became the lone suspect. Yet when he went missing, too, the case turned cold. But Jason, it seeems, never got far: His bones have been moldering on the Temples' land for two decades. As far as the local police are concerned, the book is closed on Melinda's murder--and Jason's death is justice served. But Lorna refuses to let the dead rest uneasily. She turns to private eye T.J. Dawson to dig up the dirt of the past and see what lies beneath. Only there's someone out there who hasn't forgotten--and who won't be the least bit forgiving about being exposed as a killer.