When Secrets Die

Accused of murdering her child, a suspected sufferer of Munchausen syndrome by proxy seeks help from Southern private eye Lena Padget, in this riveting thriller.

Lena Padget has dedicated her life to helping women in trouble, but she's never dealt with a case as desperate and complex as that of Emma Marsden, who recently lost her infant son to a fatal liver ailment. The pediatrician who treated the child has accused the devastated mother of poisoning her son. Dr. Theodore Tundridge firmly believes that the tragedy was the result of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, which can cause sufferers to inflict harm on others to draw attention to themselves. Now Emma is terrified that Children and Family Services will take her teenage daughter away from her.

Lena's search for the truth leads her into the dark, shadowy regions of the medical establishment—where a nightmare of unethical science may be unfolding behind the doors of Dr. Tundridge's hospital pathology laboratory—and into troubling areas of her enigmatic client's psyche. What initially appeared to be a case of medical malpractice and character assassination suddenly takes a sharp and dangerously unexpected turn, setting Lena on a race to untangle a twisted web of secrets before more children die.

Shamus Award–winning author Lynn Hightower delivers a must-read for fans of Karin Slaughter, Laura Lippman, and Marcia Muller—a powerful story of medicine, motherhood, and madness that will stay with the reader long after the mystery's surprising denouement.

When Secrets Die is the 3rd book in the Lena Padget Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.