From Erica Spindler, the New York Times bestselling author of Justice for Sara and The First Wife, comes The Other Girl, a chilling new thriller about a ritualistic murder of a college professor that sends a small town cop back into the trauma she thought she'd put behind her.
"Explosive." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A fantastic thriller from one of the best in the genre!" --RT Reviews
A horrific crime. One witness--a fifteen year old girl from the wrong side of the tracks, one known for lying and her own brushes with the law.
Is it any surprise no one believed her?
Officer Miranda Rader of the Harmony, Louisiana PD is known for her honesty, integrity, and steady hand in a crisis--but that wasn't always so. Miranda comes from the town of Jasper, a place about the size of a good spit on a hot day, and her side of the tracks was the wrong one. She's worked hard to earn the respect of her coworkers and the community.
When Miranda and her partner are called to investigate the murder of one of the town's most beloved college professors, they're unprepared for the brutality of the scene. This murder is unlike any they've ever investigated, and just when Miranda thinks she's seen the worst of it, she finds a piece of evidence that chills her to the core: a faded newspaper clipping about that terrible night fifteen years ago. The night she'd buried, along with her past and the girl she'd been back then. Until now that grave had stayed sealed...except for those times, in the deepest part of the night, when the nightmares came: of a crime no one believed happened and the screams of the girl they believed didn't exist.
Then another man turns up dead, this one a retired cop. Not just any cop--the one who took her statement that night. Two murders, two very different men, two killings that on the surface had nothing in common--except Miranda.