This story tells about what happens when old crimes and old secrets come to light. Detective Brian Donovan, an East Coast transplant in Billings, would like to clear up some old cases when he takes his job. The one that is the most haunting is the murder of Father Mike Leary who took a call in the middle of the night and was never seen again. Father Leary disappeared in 1995 and his bones were discovered in 2004.

Lindsay Keller is a lawyer in Billings who works with real estate and historic preservation. One of her clients drops off a wallet he found while moving an old house to a new site. The wallet is Father Leary's. Lindsay brings it to the police, but she removes a photo from the wallet before she turns it in.

Lindsay knew Father Leary. He taught religion at her Catholic School when she was a senior. He was very helpful to all the seniors when Mary Ellen Simonich died in a car accident early in their senior year. Lindsay and ME had been best friends until her dad got some money, moved them to the rich part of town, and ME turned mean. Lindsay has always felt guilty because she turned down the chance to be in the car that night.

The story has a third thread too. Carrie West had just come to Billings and started her senior year and was befriended by Lindsay before the accident happened. Carrie, her little sister Ginger, and grandmother Irene came to be close to Father Leary who was their father's childhood friend. Something happens that causes them all to move to Portland just a few days later.

Now, while Lindsay and Donovan are looking into Father Leary's murder, Carrie is doing her own research. Her four-year-old grandson has cystic fibrosis and needs a complete genealogy to be accepted into a drug trial. Carrie doesn't know anything about her family's past. She was told that her father died in Vietnam. She knows her mother died of cancer when she was only 32. Her grandmother never wanted to talk about her father's family and has now passed away. Her investigations into her own past will soon intersect with Lindsay and Donovan's investigations.

This story was very engaging. It is told from multiple viewpoints and takes place in a number of different time periods. Thank heavens for dated chapter titles! I was fascinated by the way the various parts of the story fit together and loved each new revelation.

The story was well-written and filled with complex characters. I highly recommend it.

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
Unfortunately, this book wasn’t really for me. I loved the premises of this book. The pace at the start was good but the multiple storylines and timelines threw me off quite quickly, making it hard to follow the story in my opinion. It did come together a bit later on keeping it interesting. But the pace was just too slow for me, with too many unnecessary and unimportant sentences. I felt the cold case itself was pushed a bit further into the background to come back into the story at the far end. The ending was good and unexpected, but a bit too rush compared to the rest of the book.
⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Multiple timelines and POVs
Cold cases
Unexpected ending

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘢, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘯 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴?

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘒𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩-𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘬, 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴. 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧.

𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸?

While I found this story interesting, it unfortunately fell flat for me. A story about a cold case involving a priest & a close knit community had me intrigued, and as I was reading, I just had to know how it ended. However, this story fought me all the way. There are multiple timelines, and sometimes it is confusing to have to try & remember what has happened and who is involved. What makes it harder is that there are some characters that are referred to by different names in different places/times - you really do need to be concentrating when you read this. At times I also found it to be overwritten, which did add to the struggle. When everything starts getting pulled together & making sense, it really does come together - while I guessed what was going to happen with most of the plot, there was a couple aspects that I didn’t see coming.

Cast of Characters/Timeframe
2016 - Carrie and Ginger - sisters; Lindsay - attorney; Donovan - detective
1982 - Carrie and Ginger - sisters; Lindsay - school mate of Carrie; Father Leary - priest/religion teacher at high school

This book is set in 2 different cities/states; Portland, Oregon where Carrie is currently living and Billings, Montana where the main story takes place. This is told from different timelines 2016 and 1981 working up to 1995.

2016 - Lindsay comes in contact with the wallet of her priest, from her senior year of high school, who went missing 20 years ago. Carrie, the new girl, went to the same school as Lindsay, very briefly, and her and her sister, Ginger were close to the priest until they suddenly left the small town in 1981.

In the very beginning of this book, there was a lot going on that didn't seem to fit, but the storyline comes together. What starts out for Carrie as learning her family history, becomes the investigation of a 20-year-old cold case, of the murder of Father Leary.

This was a very good mystery putting all the pieces together to form the perfect puzzle. Thank you NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Alicia Beckman.

An excellent crime/mystery novel set in Montana. It jumps around in time quite a bit over decades and is relatively slow paced making it an intricate and involved read. At first I thought it was just too much detail but it does build a good portrait of all the various characters and the their inter-relatedness. The story begins with the discovery of a wallet belonging to a priest that went missing many years ago bringing back memories for Lindsay Keller, a lawyer who is handed the wallet by a client. Another important character is the policeman Donovan working on the cold case. And two sisters Carrie and Ginger, brought up by their grandmother and a childhood of constantly moving. It all seems a bit random but it all comes together in a skilfully written and satisfying way.

Blind Faith is the second release from Alicia Beckman, whose books written under a different name have previously appeared on my reading list many times. I enjoy several of the author's cozy amateur sleuth series, and so naturally I would want to read her more suspense/thriller ones. Set across multiple timelines, readers are initially left clueless as to what the real investigation might be...but not for too long. By a third into the novel, there are three different mysteries to solve: (1) what happened in the 70s when a man was chased over a cliff while driving his car, (2) what caused a priest to disappear in the 90s, and (3) how do all the girls from a Catholic school turn out from the 80s to the present times after a strange incident with a nun. There are several more genealogical puzzles to sort through too, which made this the exact type of story I love to read.

If you don't love complex mysteries, this might not be ideal for you... but I suggest giving it a chance. It's the kind of novel where surprises pop up at the least expected moments. For instance, we're in a chapter from the 80s learning about the relationships between different teenage girls when suddenly a clue to a question from something in the present time is revealed... but moments later it explains an unexpected connection to a character from the 70s with the original accident. This theme repeats several times throughout the chapters, both perplexing and exciting readers because while some of the plot points become obvious as the pages turn, others get even more strange. Eventually, it all comes together and leaves readers with a great deal to consider. How far would you go to protect a friend?

Beckman's writing style appears easy but is filled with strong dialog and beautiful scenery. Characters offer distinct personalities and individual stories apart from the main mysteries. While there's a lot to keep track of, they each keep your attention when they are the focus of the tale. I look forward to reading more of the author's suspense fiction in the future.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So this was my first book by Alicia Beckman but it will not be my last! I enjoyed her writing immensely. The story develops a bit slow but I didn't mind it as we were told the story across multiple timelines and POVs, which of course takes a bit of time to develop. This also meant you really had to pay attention to the story to not miss any details, which to me personally is key in a great mystery story like this!

I did enjoy this book but didn’t love it. The story was a good concept but having the story told through several view points was a bit confusing and I found the pace a little slow. I’m sure a lot of people will get on board with this book and no doubt will be well received.
I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This was the first book I've read by Alicia Beckman, and the story's premise was very interesting. This was a slow-burn book, and it took me some time to get into it. I enjoyed the multiple timelines, but this is not a light read, and you need to pay attention, so you don't miss anything. I think the author's writing is excellent, and this would make a great movie.

The disappearance then murder of priest Father Michael Leary has always stayed with the people of Billings. Then twenty years on, his wallet is found in an old house. Prosecutor Lindsey Keller is shown the wallet and recognises the photo of a young girl tucked away inside. It brings back memories of her childhood and two sisters that briefly stayed in Billings, but then disappeared as quickly as they arrived. Could they be the link to what happened to Father Leary?
Told from multiple points of view over several timelines, the books keeps you on your toes but is extremely addictive. Excellent writing by Alicia Beckman and will keep you wanting to know the truth.

I'll admit i struggled with this one...moving between two older periods, and a current, the very cold case of a neighborhood priest. Not sure why this one didn't grab me...but i always finish them.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Crooked Lane Books and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.


It was a bit slow going for me but a decent plot.

I liked this book but didn't love it. The plot was interesting but the story dragged and was told from multiple viewpoints in a confusing way that detracted from the potential mystery. I don't want to work overtime trying to keep characters straight and that was hard here. I would read more by this author because I think she knows how to write but this one was a bit of a miss. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

This was a good book, though I found at times the multiple points of view were confusing. Lindsay Keller is a lawyer working on real estate transactions, helping interested parties purchase historical buildings in Billings MT. Lindsay had previously worked as a prosecutor but left after a decision on a case she was prosecuting by her boss that she didn't agree with (which she had a hand in later getting overturned). A wallet belonging to a priest that had been murdered 20 some years ago is given to her by a guy renovating a house she had assisted him purchase. The wallet contains a picture of a young girl, this leads Lindsay to try to find out who the girl is and why her picture was in his wallet. She keeps the picture but gives the wallet to a police detective who opens the cold case on the priest, Mike Leary. The story is told from the perspective of three individuals in different timelines, some from the 1980's and some from 2016 and present day. I found it a tad confusing at times to follow what was going on, although in the end the author ties all the the timelines together. Thank you to #Netgalley and #Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Just a little slow and unbelievable at some points. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Long buried secrets come to light as cold case of the unsolved murder of Father Michael Leary is once again being investigated. What do the connections between community members reveal about past events and do they have a bearing on the murder. Will the children, now, adults, be able to shed any light on the matter? Interesting group of people - intriguing read.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy.

A horrible crime happened many decades ago in Billings, Montana. A leader in the community, Father Michael Leary, was murdered! The case went cold without a suspect identified. Lindsay Keller was a teenager at the time and had a good relationship with Father Leary and was always troubled that it was never solved. Decades later, Lindsay finds herself in possession of Father Leary’s wallet with a photo of a young girl inside. Will this help finally solve the case?

This was the first book that I've read by Alicia Beckman and the premise of the story was very interesting. This was a slow burn book and it took me some time to get into it. I enjoyed the multiple timelines, but this is not a light read and you really need to pay attention so you don't miss anything. I think author’s writing is excellent and this would make a great movie.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

Immersive, Atmospheric…
The county’s longest running cold case has been a constant headache in this Montana set mystery. None more so than for Lindsay Keller and Detective Brian Donovan - though for different reasons. The murder of Father Michael Leary remains unsolved. As new evidence comes to light could it be possible to get to the bottom of this mystery or will danger stand in the way? Intriguing mystery with an atmospheric setting and a cast of carefully crafted characters. It’s fair to say that the tale does it’s share of jumping around but in essence this is an immersive and engaging read,

A historical crime thriller with a good plot. There are too many characters and quite a lot of timelines with different POV, that took some time to get my head around. Some of the chapters need to be cut short to maintain the pace. Otherwise the reader would get distracted by the unnecessary trivia. I felt this was better than Bitterroot lake.

For decades, the death of Father Mike Leary went unsolved. But this once cold case is now being re-opened after new evidence comes to light. Brian Donovan, a detective from Boston, wants to solve Billings, Montana’s oldest cold case. He begins his investigation by going through the old case file and speaking to the old witnesses. What he uncovers is a tangle of lies and secrets. At the same time, a short time resident of Billings, Montana tries to figure out her family tree and it’s genetic history to help her grandson. What she finds is that she is apart of this tangled web of lies and secrets.

I wanted to like this book. I enjoyed the description and was so excited when I was approved for this ARC. However, the book fell flat for me. The story is told in the present time and in the past and in the third person point of view. But there are times when it feels as it’s in the first person, and just very confusing. Additionally, each chapter focuses on a character, but sometimes you don’t know which character until you read half a page or more. It would have been helpful to have the character listed at the top.

There are so many characters, and non-characters named, that it makes the story convoluted and confusing. The multiple sub story lines also make the story very confusing. At some point, these sub plots really needed to be edited down. There is too much description, and other non important information – such as someone’s egg roll dripping down their face, that just doesn’t need to be there. None of this information pushes the plot forward. It felt as though the author had a character minimum and so she just kept adding more unnecessary scenes.

I didn’t put together the who and the why when it came to Father Leary’s death, and for that, I’ll give it two stars.