BETTER LEFT BURIED

KNIVES OUT meets A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER in Mary E. Roach's debut YA mystery Better Left Buried in which two girls try to get to the bottom of a town full of secrets, a family full of mystery and an abandoned amusement park where people keep turning up dead.

Seventeen-year-old Lucy never wanted to end up in Haeter Lake. But when her private detective mom is hired for an investigation in small-town Appalachian Tennessee, she's forced to kiss her spring break dreams goodbye. Soon, Lucy finds that not everything in this sleepy town is as simple as it seems. All the townsfolk are at the beck and call of the all-powerful Anselm family. She can practically see the puppet strings on their backs. The death of the Anselm patriarch under suspicious circumstances leaves everyone on edge - including her mother. Local high schooler Audrey Nelson has been an outcast since her dad's death at the Anselm's now-abandoned amusement park. So when she hears of Pierce Anselm's mysterious death at the very same park, it sounds like justice to her. Sparks fly when Lucy and Audrey meet. Lucy is desperate to find out why her mom dragged her to Haeter Lake and why everyone seems to know her like an old friend. Audrey is happy to help her - as long as they don't have to talk about what really happened on the night Pierce Anselm was murdered. Together, the two girls set out on their own investigation. As Lucy and Audrey inch closer to the truth, it quickly becomes clear that someone would do anything to keep the past in the past, where it belongs. Mary E. Roach is a writer of books for young adults and adult audiences. Mary is an active member of the writing community, mentoring the First Five workshop, Author Mentor Match, and Pitch Wars. They also served as the 2021 judge for the Young Writer's Initiative manuscript contest. When Mary is not writing stories for and about powerful girls, they can be found practicing martial arts, gardening, or arguing with their insufferable cat Mumford.