A Moth to Flame

A Moth to Flame tells the story of two sisters, Lydia and Jessica Barrett, who is found, dead, at the bottom of a ravine in 1991 after attending a protest in a support of a recently fired, popular teacher.

Twenty-five years later, Lydia, who suffers from nyctophobia (a fear of the night), is a coroner's investigator on the graveyard shift in Los Angeles. Her mentor Maureen Gearon is grooming Lydia to take over as county medical examiner. If Lydia can conquer her fear of the dark.

Early one morning Lydia encounters a woman, whose neck has been broken like her sister's. Checking a missed voicemail, Lydia hears a message from the dead woman who claims to have information about Jess.

Lydia stumbles upon a true-crime YouTube channel, Night Shade, hosted by a former classmate, Shane Ellet, who maintains Jess's death wasnst an accident; it was murder. Caught in a web of lies and deception are Cam Rawls, Jess's ex-boyfriend and current hometown sheriff; Brad Pearce, the handsome, young English teacher who was sexually involved with students; and a recovering addict, Mark Burns, employed by Richard Fontaine, Mom Gloria's new boyfriend and general contractor. Will Lydia learn the truth in time?

©2023 Joe Clifford (P)2024 Tantor

Fantastic!

Fabulous mystery!! Kept me guessing until the end! Amazing the author has written in the voice of a strong female main character’s! The narrator is great but I felt her voice to be breathy and found myself rewinding several times to listen to sections again for clarification.