In this stunning culmination of the award-winning Highway 59 trilogy, Detective Darren Mathews is pulled out of an early retirement to investigate the case of a missing black college student from an all-white sororityâand soon finds a town that will stop at nothing to keep its secrets hiddenâ.Â
Texas Ranger Darren Mathews isnât sure heâs been a good cop, but believes heâs got a shot at being a good manâif he manages to dodge the potential indictment hanging over his head and if he, from here on out, pledges allegiance to the truth. Itâs a virtue the country appears to have wholly lost its grip on, but one Darren sees as his salvation. He is in the midst of remaking his life with the woman he loves, hoping for the peace of country living at his beloved farmhouse, when he is visited by someone who couldnât hold the truth on her tongue if it was dipped in sugar, a woman whoâs always been bent of tearing his life apart. His mother. Armed with a tall tale about a missing Black college student, Sera (whose white sorority sisters insist she isnât missing at all). Darren must decide if his can trust his mother is telling the truthâand what her ulterior motive may be, and what if that motive has to do with a grand jury deciding his fate.
Darren gets his hooks into the investigation, along the way discovering things about Seraâs family and her hometown that are odd at best, vaguely sinister at worst. Hamstrung by local law enforcement and the Texas Rangers who likewise doubt the account of a missing girl, if Darren wants answers, heâll need help from the person whom he swore to never trust againâhis mother.
In this emotionally stirring conclusion to the singular Highway 59 series, set three years after the events of Heaven, My Home, Darren reckons with his lifeâs purpose as heâs forced to choose between his own peace and the higher call to do good.
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, NPR, Amazon Books, Kirkus Reviews, The Guardian, and Crime ReadsÂ