Review: Mercy Creek by M.E. Browning

Author: M.E. Browning
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Publication date: October 2021

The late summer heat in Echo Valley, Colorado turns lush greenery into a tinder dry landscape. When a young girl mysteriously disappears, long buried grudges rekindle.Of the two Flores girls, Marisa was the one people pegged for trouble. Her younger sister, Lena, was the quiet daughter, dutiful and diligent--right until the moment she vanished.

Detective Jo Wyatt is convinced the eleven-year-old girl didn't runaway and that a more sinister reason lurks behind her disappearance. For Jo, the case is personal, reaching far back into her past. But as she mines Lena's fractured family life, she unearths a cache of secrets and half-lies that paints a darker picture.

As the evidence mounts, so do the suspects, and when a witness steps forward with a shocking new revelation, Jo is forced to confront her doubts, and her worst fears. Now, it's just a matter of time before the truth is revealed--or the killer makes another deadly move. 

Mercy Creek is the second book featuring detective Jo Wyatt.  This takes place months after the first book.  I think it could be read as a stand alone novel. This time around Jo and her partner Squint are looking for a missing girl.  Jo has a personal tie to the parents of missing Lena. 

I enjoyed this one as much as the first book.  I still love Jo as a character.  She goes through lot of growth in this book.  I was totally on board with her career decision in the end. She goes through a lot in this book. This was definitely a more disturbing mystery.  I kept wavering on what I thought really happened.  But I don't want to spoil anything, so that's all I'll say.  I definitely recommend this one and I can't wait to see what Jo is up to next.