Into the Fire

Secrets She Knew by D. L. Wood is Book 1 in the Secrets and Lies Suspense Series. 

For thirteen years now Detective Danielle (Dani) Lake has searched for anything that would lead to whom she believes is the real killer of a classmate who she discovered dead at the age of fifteen – instead of the man imprisoned for her murder. Every year when she returns to Skye, Alabama, from her home and law enforcement job in Boston, she heads up to the prison to see the convicted Dr. Beecher much to her close friends' frustration. Dani knows he isn't the murderer of the girl she found amidst the honeysuckle so many years ago, but no one else is convinced of his innocence. 

When once again she must return to Skye to box up her deceased parents' belongings and sell their home, the one she grew up in, the sorrow she faces, the class reunion for which she must help decorate with her best friend Sasha, a startling discovery when she can't resist returning to the crime scene for the first time since she discovered her classmate there, slight evidence that someone has been in her house while she's been out, and a new handsome detective on the Skye police force, all combine to up her anxiety level.

This is an enticing mystery borne out of a shocking discovery at the age of 15 while Dani's on her way to meet her best friends (Peter and Sasha). The pain she's carried since then believing with every part of her being that the man, the doctor, the husband and father to the children with whom she spent a summer being their nanny – that he suffered at the hands of the system and was incarcerated for a murder he didn't commit has not diminished over time. The story is filled with hints and twists, discoveries and disappointments, sorrow and frustrations, determination and ultimately survival. 

I think this is D. L. Wood's best work to date. It's a compelling story of a strong woman who remains unshaken in her belief of a man's innocence and her ability to fight the challenges she faces to right a wrong and overcome a killer. Well-written with that "creepy" element done just right. 

Faith factor is subtle but strong.

Father, please continue to bless D. L. in all she does to honor you with her writing. Encourage her and provide her with what she needs to do those things you've got just for her to do. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.