The Quiet Hand

A woman is found strangled in a rundown Portland motel. Hours later, the man tied to her death turns up dead in a city park, his throat slashed with an unusual blade left nearby. Fingerprints on the weapon lead to an ex-con at a neighborhood bike shop—until an anonymous tip brings police rushing in, and he doesn’t walk out alive. Three deaths. Three explanations that close the cases far too quickly. Detective Rebecca Friedrich can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. Removed from the investigations, she follows the threads anyway—threads that pull her deeper into a hidden pattern unfolding beneath Portland’s familiar streets. Each clue brings her closer to something colder and more deliberate than she expected…and toward the shadows she hoped she’d left behind. The Quiet Hand is a taut, atmospheric mystery that blends procedural tension with psychological depth. Perfect for readers who enjoy slow-burn investigations, layered characters, and stories where the truth hides just below the surface.