Hush Money Mystery

The mayor is smart, funny, and loved by all. Except for the person who leaves him in a pool of his own blood . . . Madison is booming with dreamers and drifters, visionaries and entrepreneurs. Among them is Sydney Richardson, the daughter of a cop who died on these streets and now the proud, stressed-out owner of Hush Money, one of the city's top new restaurants. Like everyone else in town, Sydney is shocked when Madison's popular mayor-a crusty, charismatic man of the people-is shot to death in his own home. But the news hits especially close to home for Sydney because one of her own stands accused of the brutal crime. Sydney's the one person that Wanda Fields, a quiet, hardworking waitress and single mother, can think to call after her arrest. Now she might be Wanda's only hope. As Sydney gets wrapped up in the case, she runs up against powerful people with secrets to hide-and a mayor who wasn't the person everyone thought he was. After Wanda divulges a bombshell of her own, Sydney's sure the real killer is still out there, hiding among Madison's elite, perhaps even dining in her beloved restaurant . . . with more than enough motive to kill again.

Sydney Richardson already has her hands full running two successful Madison, Wisconsin, eateries and enjoying the company of handsome blues bar owner Clay Hawthorne. She doesn't have the time or patience for his ex's homecoming. Two decades ago, Miranda Greer abandoned Clay with their infant child. Now she claims she wants to make amends, reconnect with her son, and settle down. None of which is to Sydney's liking, because behind Miranda's chic, saccharine façade, Sydney senses something very bad. Bad quickly turns to worse when Miranda is found brutally murdered, with hard evidence pointing to Clay as the killer. Determined to clear him, Sydney launches her own investigation. But as Sydney digs into Miranda's past, she soon runs a foul of an enigmatic corporation that's part church, part business, and all-powerful when it comes to keeping its secrets buried-and its enemies silent.

All her life, Midwest restaurateur Sydney Richardson has been searching for answers about her past. Now, in this riveting thriller, the truth hits home-with a vengeance. Billy Tremble thought he had finally made it out of the skids. He was happy to share his good fortune with his less fortunate friends . . . and that's why he ended up dead. Sydney Richardson's enjoying a rare night out in her hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, when she learns that one of her friends has been shot. Rick Sheffield thought he was staking out a drug deal; turns out he had a front-row seat to a million-dollar cash drop gone wrong. Meanwhile, at a construction site across town, a young vagrant is killed execution-style after spreading some serious wealth among his street friends. Sydney sees no reason to link the shootings-until the money disappears from the evidence locker, resulting in the release of the suspect in the first shooting and the suspension of the detective investigating the second. Determined to connect the dots herself, Sydney uncovers evidence of a massive conspiracy tying a respectable local family to the Chicago underworld. But what frightens her most is the fact that the trail of blood leads to the decades-old cold case that has haunted Sydney's every move: her father's murder.