The Dark Below

Not all secrets stay buried. Not all deaths are what they seem.

When Chase Loudermilk, a troubled veteran, is found dead, everyone assumes it’s suicide.

Everyone except his criminology professor, Teddy Drummond. A former cop haunted by painful memories, Teddy suspects Chase has been murdered, and that the answers lie hidden in his shadowy past.

Drawn reluctantly into the case, Teddy teams up with Detective Raina Bragg—a woman with every reason to hate her. As the two dig into the town’s buried secrets, what they uncover is more than a motive. It’s a chain reaction of choices, each darker than the last.

Then another body turns up.

Now, in a place where everyone’s lives are tangled and few are truly innocent, Teddy and Raina find themselves in a race against time to stop a killer and expose the truth: that some consequences take years to surface—and the most dangerous secrets are the ones nobody sees coming…

©2026 by Sherry Rankin. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Good Story but it took some time to get into it

I did like the story and it was well written. The drawback for me is U had to listen to the first few chapters a couple of times so I could stay on the right track.

Small Town Big Stakes

So much tension in such a condensed little story. You feel the the same tension and frustration from ex-detective Teddy’s hunch that she’s missing something key for this case. Rankin does a great job of going you everything you need to feel like this chaotic web could actually happen, but hold back just enough that you stay on the edge of your seat. I love it when I feel the same emotions from a higher octane mystery thriller that I feel in a much smaller town mystery like this one. I also love crime thrillers in West Texas for whatever reason.

Excellent storyline

This was a fantastic listen. The intrigue and mystery that is revealed had me off balance until the end! The storyline flows like lava and the characters leave a visual of their journey.