PROMISE NOT TO TELL

4 stars out of 5

This complex, intriguing story spans more than 20 years - from the time eight young children are rescued from certain death in a barn fire deliberately set by the leader of a cult to which their parents belonged to the present, when death once again stalks the survivors. Now, one of them - an artist whose work is in an art gallery owned by another of the survivors - commits suicide. Virginia Troy, the gallery owner, suspects the death was murder; to test that theory, she hires the private investigation firm owned by Anson Salinas, a former police officer and the man who rescued the children all those years ago.

Back then, Anson adopted three of the surviving boys; one of them, Cabot Sutter (also a former cop), now works with his adopted father. Early on, Cabot and Virginia take a closer look at a few of the victim's paintings that depict the cult fire; they suggest that sociopathic leader Quinton Zane, who reportedly was killed in a boating accident years earlier, may in fact be among the living. Still other clues from the paintings suggest that the cult held many more secrets  - one of which is that cult members may have embezzled a substantial amount of money right under the leader's nose.

Apparently, those secrets aren't so secret anymore - and bodies of those who may have learned the truth are starting to pile up. Can Cabot and Virginia (who, surprise, surprise, have taken a strong liking to each other) get to the bottom of things before they themselves become victims? It's a race to the finish, with plenty of action and surprises right up to the end. 

Speaking of which, it makes sense to me that this book deserves at least one follow-up. If and when that happens, I hope the publisher will once again grant me the honor of reading an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. Very enjoyable!

Promise Not to Tell by Jayne Ann Krentz (Berkley, January 2018); 336 pp.)