Don't you just love it when you discover a new author -- or at least one you hadn't read before? I picked up Hart's book at Sam's Club before I left for a trip. It seemed like a good 'airplane read' and one I could later share with my mother-in-law. It was!!!

Adam Chase is returning home to North Carolina after an exile of 5 years. He is returning to a town and family that thinks he got away with murder. He had been accused of killing a friend, his stepmother testified against him, but the evidence was so thin he was convicted. Unfortunately he had become a pariah in his home town, even his own father seemed to doubt him. His father paid off Adam's share of his inheritance and sent him away. When an old friend contacts Adam and begs him to come home, he heads south from NYC back to his family home and the girl he left behind.

That's the start of a mystery that's steeped in family secrets. The electric company wants to buy the Chase land to build a power plant that will mean millions of dollars to the town, but Adam's father is refusing to sell. This sets up several events including fires and murders. It's a captivating mystery with twists and turns everywhere. I read it in a few short days and stayed up late one night to finish. Hart's descriptions and characterizations are interesting and detailed. It's a gripping mystery that will suck you right into the itrigue in a small southern town. A great read. I can't wait to find more of Hart's work.