Don't Call Me Hero

Former Marine Cassidy Miller knew what it took to be a good soldier and even a decent beat cop. She was starting to figure out how to be a girlfriend as her relationship with Julia Desjardin progressed, but what did she know about being a cold case detective? Buried under paperwork in the basement of the Fourth Police Precinct, she was going to have to figure it out. An unidentified Jane Doe, an unusual poison, and a decade passing since the murder wasn't going to make it easy on her. Plus a call in the middle of the night reminds her that as much as she might want to move on from her time in the military, some things would always keep dragging her back.

Most stories have a beginning, middle, and end. But when you work in the Cold Case division, you come to the realization that not every story has a tidy conclusion and not every story starts at the beginning. One little question. Cold Case Detective Cassidy Miller is beginning to feel more comfortable in her new career path. She has a close-knit group of friends and a drop-dead gorgeous girlfriend. Living together has been easier than either of them could have ever expected. But will one little question ruin everything she and Julia have built? One little secret. A young woman is found in an abandoned car with a bullet in her gut. Cassidy and the rest of the Cold Case division must team up with Homicide to bring the girl's killer to justice. But nothing is ever that easy.

William Desjardin was dead: the victim of an interrupted home burglary, according to the police. Cassidy returns to Embarrass with Julia to support her with the funeral details, rehoming Julia's mother, and settling the Desjardin estate. For Cassidy, being back in the small, northern Minnesotan town has brought back a number of good memories-most starring Julia herself. But it's also triggered some memories she'd rather leave buried. And when an unexpected life insurance policy implicates Julia in her father's death, the short visit turns into much more than a trip down memory lane.

In 1984, Danika Laroque, a young indigenous woman, was reported missing. The investigation went cold not long after. Decades later, a true crime podcaster starts poking around, bringing the missing persons case to the attention of Cassidy Miller. But how do you resolve a case with no crime scene, no evidence, and no body? Back in the Twin Cities after Julia's father's funeral, Cassidy is hoping for some good luck romantically, or at least a break. It's starting to feel like her relationship with Julia has been defined by overcoming one obstacle after the next. Between rehoming Julia's mom, a new job at a high-profile criminal defense firm, and baby fever, Cassidy worries there might not be room for her in Julia's life. But more importantly, with Julia being pulled in so many directions, is whatever's left over enough to make Cassidy happy?

Cold Case detective Cassidy Miller is no stranger to buried things-bodies, secrets, and memories she'd rather forget. Life with her fiancée, the brilliant but guarded defense attorney Julia Desjardin, is the closest thing she's felt to peace. But as Julia begins the emotional process of fertility treatments, Cassidy finds herself caught between wanting a future and fearing she doesn't deserve one. When hidden graves are unearthed at a long-abandoned public housing site, Cassidy is pulled into a case fraught with redlining, corruption, and systemic injustice. As the investigation deepens, so does the scrutiny-from the media, from city officials, and from an ex-girlfriend who's back in town and crossing every boundary. Caught between a past she's tried to forget and a future she's unsure she can have, Cassidy must confront hard truths. Because not everything buried stays that way. And the future she wants won't wait forever.