Gone at First Light

A seaside town. A savage murder. A family bound by secrets that refuse to stay buried.

When beloved Laguna Beach therapist Mary Purefoy is found bludgeoned to death in her oceanfront bungalow, Detective Walt Torrance is assigned the case he never wanted-and cannot walk away from. Mary wasn't just a victim. She was his former sister-in-law, his brother's first great love, and a woman woven into the fabric of his own past.

As Walt combs through a crime scene steeped in rage rather than robbery, the evidence points inward: to Mary's patients, her private life, and the intimate betrayals that only those closest to her could know. With the clock ticking and the town watching, Walt must navigate a maze of grief, memory, and moral compromise-while confronting the unsettling possibility that the killer may be closer than anyone dares to believe.

Set against the sunlit beauty and dark undercurrents of coastal California, Gone at First Light is a gripping, emotionally charged crime novel about love, loyalty, and the devastating cost of secrets kept too long.

T. Jefferson Parker is the author of numerous novels and short stories, the winner of three Edgar Awards (for Silent Joe , California Girl , and the short story "Skinhead Central"), and the recipient of a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for best mystery ( Silent Joe ). Before becoming a full-time novelist, he was an award-winning reporter. He lives in Fallbrook, California.