Safe From Harm (A Sugar Land Mystery)
After Sugar Land, Texas, preacher Walker Bear Wells’ teenage daughter, Jo, texts her father, telling him to come home, Bear and his wife, Annie Laurie, find Jo cradling the body of her former friend Phoebe Pickersley. The girls had a falling out months ago, so Bear has no idea what Phoebe is doing in Jo’s room, but the police think Jo may be involved in Phoebe’s death. Phoebe was a troubled, unlikable girl, barely tolerated in her stepmother’s home, and she wanted revenge against Jo and her family. When Phoebe’s death is ruled a suicide, Jo doesn’t agree, so she investigates on her own, putting herself in grave danger. Bear enlists the help of local detective James Wanderley and attempts to unravel the mystery. Multiple plot twists, an engaging first-person narration, a cast of genuinely sympathetic characters, and a mystery framed by the details of the life of a minister combine for a satisfying story. --Sue O'Brien