Wicked Whimsy — Lily Harper Hart

Morel season is in full swing and Ivy Morgan and her brother Max are on a mission to see who can bag the most of their favorite treat. Instead of mushrooms, though, they find a traumatized boy running away from a shooter. After tracing his footsteps back to the source, they find his father dead and a mystery that desperately needs to be solved. Jack Harker's investigation is a doozy. The boy's family life is a mess, there's no one to take him in and every source leads to more questions. Once the state takes custody, Ivy can't stay away and instead tries to bond with the boy to offer solace. Jack has to delve deep, and when clues start pointing in a startling direction, he can't stop himself from wondering if he's really investigating three murders instead of one. When the truth comes out, no one is prepared for the fallout. Ivy and Jack manage to put their heads together and come up with a scenario, but it's darker than anyone ever dared dream. Ivy thinks she's in control of the situation until the tables are turned and she becomes the central piece in a twisted game. It's a race against time to take down a killer and Ivy might not survive to see the finale play out. It's all hands on deck for another adventure, and this one will leave the survivors traumatized for a long time to come.