Final Chapter

When a century-old photograph connects Mockingbird Bay's revered founder to a notorious art thief, bookshop owner Lila Hart finds herself at the center of a historical revelation that quickly turns deadly. Mockingbird Bay's Founders Week celebration should be the perfect tourist draw for Lila's bookshop. But when a renowned historian is murdered after discovering a treasure map hidden in a book from her shop, Lila realizes someone will kill to control how the town's complex history is revealed. As competing versions of the past emerge, Lila and Sheriff Cooper Reid uncover a network of forgotten tunnels beneath the picturesque town—passages once used by the Underground Railroad and now hiding documentation that could rewrite local history and impact valuable waterfront property claims. With media attention mounting and a television producer offering Lila a career-reviving book deal, she must choose between returning to her former life or embracing her role as Mockingbird Bay's literary detective. When historical markers around town begin revealing their secrets, Lila must solve both the century-old mystery and the modern murder before she becomes the next victim of someone determined to keep the past buried. This is the third installment in the Bookmarked Mysteries series.