Steve McManus

On the eve of a notorious murderer’s unexpected release, the woman who helped free him travels to his hometown, where she’s confronted by local prejudice, crooked cops, and a twenty-year-old secret that people will kill to keep. THE INNOCENCE MISSION is an exciting and suspenseful 95,000-word standalone thriller about justice and the dangers of rewriting history that will appeal to fans of books like INNOCENCE ROAD by Laura Griffin, SMALL TOWN SINS by Ken Jaworowski, and THE DRY by Jane Harper.

Amateur online sleuth and natural trouble magnet Evelyn McCurdle dismantled the case against a man who confessed to the murders of two girls twenty years ago. Now he’s coming home, and she plans to be there when he does. As generational jobs leave, and one of the two prisons the town relies on closing, rural Sawyerville, CA is limping toward economic extinction. The girls’ murders still feel like yesterday in a town with fewer tomorrows ahead of it. An outsider helping get the bogeyman released back into the community that banished him provokes unanticipated violence, as Evelyn talks with anyone who was involved in the case, from the district attorney to the town drunk.

With the help of a cynical local goth, Evelyn navigates conflicting memories, personal agendas, police corruption, and a population eager to take their frustration out on someone. As release day fast approaches, Evelyn uncovers a trail of lies, injustice, and murder that form a two-decade conspiracy of silence about what really happened twenty years ago—and makes herself a target of people who have everything to lose today.

steve@stevemcmanus.com