Play the Villain

In this follow-up to To the End of Reckoning, Lukas Moore and his psychiatrist father Richard investigate the double murder of a high school teacher and her neighbor.

Life has regained a semblance of normalcy for Lukas and Richard Moore after having solved their first murder together nine months ago. Richard’s traumatic brain injury has healed enough for him to take on some administrative work and develop a passion for chess. Meanwhile, Lukas has started taking classes at community college and substitute teaching at the local high school. Then, one freezing night, Lukas receives a call from Theo Newsom, a promising but fragile high school student he has been tutoring. Against a background of police sirens, Theo gasps a disturbing account, pleading for help before the line goes dead.

In the coming days, the small community of Faith, New York, is gripped by the horror of a double murder. Beloved high school English teacher Louise Eldridge was found dead in her farmhouse from a shotgun blast to the chest alongside her neighbor, Roger Forman, who had dropped by for tea. There is no mystery as to the perpetrator: Theo was found hiding in the nearby woods.

Lukas is unconvinced. He and his father are joined by Frankie, a journalist who has arrived in Faith to cover the story, as they begin to investigate. When one member of the team is attacked and another goes missing, it becomes clear that someone wants the investigation to end before more secrets about Louise Eldridge, the Newsom family, and the town of Faith come to light. With the clock ticking on Theo’s day in court and the danger closing in, Lukas and Richard must unlock the true story behind that fatal night before more victims can be claimed.