The USA TODAY bestselling author of Middletide returns with a lush and atmospheric novel “thrumming with suspense” (Kimi Cunningham Grant, USA TODAY bestselling author) as it follows a young woman whose job as a game warden puts her in the path of a murderer in a small town eager to protect its own.

When a cougar is spotted in Lake Lumin, a picturesque mountain town in the Pacific Northwest, Annie Heston, the community’s new game warden, does her best to warn residents of the danger. But she quickly discovers that many in the tight-knit town are reluctant to trust an outsider in the role. One exception is Daniel Barela, a reclusive carpenter who lives in the shadow of the mountain. They form an instant bond, though Annie soon comes to realize there is more to his past than meets the eye.

When the body of a young woman is found in the briars that border Daniel’s property, the peace Annie has found in Lake Lumin shatters. As she assists the local sheriff with the investigation, Annie must rely on her wilderness training and intuition to find a murderer hiding in plain sight.

“A complex, thrilling page-turner that will stay with you long after you finish reading” (Sarah Pearse, New York Times bestselling author), The Briars marries an exploration of human nature with a plot as thorny and twisted as the brambles for which it is named.