Julia Gooden Mysteries

Julia Gooden remembers nothing about the worst night of her life. Thirty years ago, her nine-year-old brother, Ben, was abducted from the room they shared. Now a crime reporter at a Detroit newspaper, Julia tries to give others the closure she's never found. But guilt and grief over Ben's disappearance have left her fearful that whoever took her brother is going to come back. And then, on the anniversary of Ben's disappearance, Julia's worst fears are realized when her two-year-old son, Will, is snatched from his bed.

Julia's husband, Assistant District Attorney David Tanner, is about to bring criminal Nick Rossi to trial for drug trafficking, illegal gambling, bribery, and more. However, when a courthouse bomb claims several victims, including the prosecution's key witness, David is left critically injured. Julia's certain Rossi orchestrated the attack, but she doesn't have a strong case against him, and his power and connections run deep.

The past never really leaves us. Crime reporter Julia Gooden sees proof of this every day in her stories. A dark childhood, a negligent parent, early abandonment - any one of them can seal a person's fate as either a villain or victim. Julia, who experienced all three, seems to have beaten the odds, finding happiness raising her two sons and a blossoming relationship with detective Raymond Navarro. But now, after three decades of absence, Julia's conman father has resurfaced to throw her life into turmoil again.

Crime writer Julia Gooden has just completed the most important story of her life - a book about her beloved brother's childhood abduction and how she found his killer after 30 years. But that hasn't taken her focus off her day job - especially with what looks to be a serial killer terrorizing the city. Female runners are being snatched off jogging trails, then slaughtered in abandoned churches. As Julia begins investigating, with help from Detective Raymond Navarro, she realizes just how personal this case has become.