Some things are never truly buried. Not the dead. Not the truth. And definitely not the past. Nine years ago, River Bennett fled Maple Ridge with nothing but trauma and determination in her rearview mirror. Her father-once a respected cop-had been exposed as a corrupt officer, and rather than face the consequences, did something River has never been able to reconcile. The fallout destroyed everything: her trust, her stability, and the fragile connection she shared with Detective Finn Callahan. Now, she's back. Older, wiser, a psychologist with a practice to rebuild and a heart guarded like a fortress. What she doesn't expect is to be pulled into the Murder of the Month Club-a group of amateur sleuths with a love for true crime, some impressive credentials, and a pretty decent track record for solving cold cases. Or to be working alongside Finn, the man whose actions shattered her world...and whose eyes still see far too much. But when a decades-old disappearance leads to a powerful town figure with ties to both River's and Finn's families, the case becomes personal. As they dig deeper, unearthing long-buried secrets and town-wide corruption, the couple is forced to confront their shared past-and a dangerous present. In Maple Ridge, the past isn't done with them. And this time, it just might win. *A psychologist, a sheriff, a true crime club, and a cold case someone worked very hard to keep quiet. In the Dark of the Past is a small-town second-chance romance wrapped around a mystery that refuses to stay in the dark. Dual POV. Slow burn. Slow-bleed truth.*