The Inverted Root: A Blackwood Ridge Novel

By Cassian Draken

THE INVERTED ROOT
A Blackwood Ridge Novel

When Detective Lena Blackwood returns to her hometown of Blackwood Ridge, British Columbia, she expects to bury her aunt and leave. But a brutal snowstorm closes the only highway, trapping her in the isolated mountain community-just as the first family is found slaughtered in their home.
The crime scene defies explanation. The bodies are arranged with ritualistic care. Above the fireplace, painted in blood and ash, is a symbol no one recognizes: a tree with its roots clawing at the sky.
As the death toll rises and the storm cuts off all outside help, Lena discovers that the victims share a hidden connection. They are descendants of the five families who once owned the Blackwood Mining Company-the same company responsible for a catastrophic collapse thirty years ago that killed thirty-four men and was quietly covered up.
Now someone is hunting the families. One by one. Erasing entire bloodlines.
But Lena's investigation takes a terrifying turn when she uncovers the truth: the killings are not the work of a single murderer. A conspiracy of killers is at work-each with their own role, their own alibi, their own reason for revenge. And one of them may be standing right beside her.
With the mountain pass sealed and the bodies piling up, Lena must navigate a labyrinth of old secrets, buried guilt, and a cult-like devotion to the dead. Because the roots of this crime go deeper than she ever imagined. They run through the town. Through the mine. Through her own family tree.
To stop the killers, Lena will have to descend into the darkness where the thirty-four miners died-and confront a truth that someone has spent thirty years killing to protect.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H8QW6GWP
• ISBN13: 9798187105632
• Release Date: July 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"