Before the Bell Rang: A Bellwether Mystery
A drowned town. A missing boy. Eighteen years of silence.
When drought lowers Bellwether Lake, the steeple of a long-submerged church emerges-and human remains are discovered beneath its damaged bell.
A class ring confirms the victim is Blake Hattenfield, the wealthy, reckless eighteen-year-old who vanished nearly two decades earlier.
Jennifer Michaels has spent years trying to forget the summer Blake disappeared. But when an old friend warns her not to return to Ashwick, she knows the investigation will force her to confront everything she left behind.
Back in her hometown, Jennifer faces a determined detective, former friends who still refuse to tell the whole truth, and powerful families willing to conceal crimes connected to the flooded valley.
Recovered recordings, altered police reports, and Jennifer's fragmented memories gradually reveal what happened during Blake's final night inside Bellwether Church. His disappearance is also linked to an older crime-one Jennifer's mother was investigating before her own suspicious death.
Four teenagers entered Bellwether Valley that night.
Every one of them lied.
As the investigation exposes the choices that left Blake trapped inside the tower, Jennifer must decide how much truth she is willing to face-and what justice can still mean after eighteen years.
Before the Bell Rang is an atmospheric dual-timeline mystery about first love, betrayal, buried crimes, and the devastating consequences of protecting the people responsible.
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