Ever since I picked up books by Helen Phifer, another author was recommended by Goodreads and that author is Rita Herron. I’ve been reading Ellie Reeves for a long while, loving it. Why? Small town policing but a big town murder rate.

Midnight Ridge is the 12^th book in the Ellie Reeves series by Rita Herron. With all books in this series with a 4+ average rating on goodreads, you best believe they are good. This book is expected to be published on the 12^th of June so, you’ll have time to start at the beginning.

Cord is a mountain rescuer knowing the trails like the back of his hands so, when a call comes in about a possible suicide on Midnight Ridge Cord finds the location in no time. The eye witness Roman told Cord that he might’ve heard a scuffle on the ridge before seeing the girl fall. With that this could be a possible homicide and he makes the call to Ellie, filling her in. This would be the third suicide this year, even though they find a suicide note it becomes clear that this girl was indeed murdered which means the other suicides might not be suicides at all.

The teenager has been identified as Millie Benton and what comes as a shock is, Millie was a mother but they haven’t found a child yet. Not knowing the gender or even the age of the child they decide to go to her parents first. Learning Millie ran away from home more than a year ago and getting a weird feeling from the hardness of the father, Ellie had the feeling he knew his daughter was pregnant and kicked her out.

Slowly but surely connections are getting made, Millie was a resident at a special home where a 70-year-old lady named Hazel provided a save haven for pregnant or addicted teens, helping them get back on their feet. The clock ticks and the child, 15-month-old Iris still hasn’t been found. It becomes clear that the other suicide victims were actually murdered. The connection? A counselor they all talked to.

A girl named that has been assaulted a couple of years prior still has a blank on what happened that night, still a mess and very fearful of going outdoors with her now two-year-old daughter Lou Lou feeling guilty about not being the mom she should be. Trying to finally take Lou to the park and have a picknick only to lose sight of her girl and fear and panic taking over. When she finally located the girl, she picked her up and raced to her car. Securing her daughter and looking at the piece of woods her daughter was standing before she picked her up. The silhouette of a man standing just out of sight – fear clawing at her to get home immediately. Not long after this incident, both the girl and daughter go missing.

With one teenager dead, one missing and two missing children is becoming clear that the clock is ticking faster now. The weather has taken a turn for the worst, with temperatures below zero at night. Who is this predator murdering young girls and taking their children? Who can they trust? Will they find the teenager and missing girls in time?

I’m giving this book a ⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating.