The first in a new series that centers around criminologist, Vera, who finds herself returning home when the bones of her long disappeared stepmother are found.

I think this series has promise, but I did find this first entry a little slow. Part of it was that I think it took too long to really get going into the plot. Additionally, most chapters we follow Vera but sometimes it will just randomly change who we follow. Each chapter had a place and time stamp, so I think it could have been easy to add a character name above that. It just felt odd. I've found with Webb's series that I don't love them equally though. I really like Devlin and Falco, but Finley O'Sullivan is just ok for me. I will definitely read another in this series to see if I like it more!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this mystery well enough with its unusual plot development. We get hints of past events as characters reveal previous actions. There is not much suspense other than of a psychological nature. We wonder who really committed the murders and who is ultimately going to be blamed for them. We are bound by what is revealed to us, often by unreliable characters. I was invested in the heroine and did not want her life impacted more than it already had been.

I was a little disappointed in the ending as it seemed rushed and the resolution to the murders did not ring true to me. People all of a sudden were willing to admit actions they had kept hidden for so long. And Vera made a stupid decision near the end. I don't like it when a character willingly gets into trouble, especially a law enforcement professional.

I think this is the first novel I have read by Webb. I liked it enough to be looking for another from her.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

I’m Deeper than Dead bored because that’s what this book is, boring. It’s way to slow and has nothing interesting happening for over half of it, making it near impossible to get into but since I received this as an arc I continued anyway. Once pieces of information actually started to be revealed giving us something to hold onto as we read it got a bit better but then in the end there wasn’t enough. If you cut the first half of the book down dramatically and added more to the end so that it equals the same size book this book could be good, as is I don’t recommend.

Just how many things can go wrong and how many of them can be covered up before you despair and give up? Former Police Chief Vera Boyer is on a collision course with her family’s past, the truth and what she thinks she knows. “FRAUGHT” This story is fraught with everything, dangerous actions, the unknown, people you think you know, anxiety, stress, half-truths and outright lies.

I have always enjoyed Debra Webb’s books but this one was just a little too much of everything. It had me wondering how much can you get away with and how much can you expect a reader to believe?! There is a lot going on and each of the characters has part of the story but the pieces aren’t fitting together and there isn’t anything close to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth being offered. Having said that, the pages kept turning and I kept reading and when I was finished it was - AHA that is how it is going to go.

I enjoyed it even if it stretched my believable meter. Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for a copy.

Vera Boyett returns home to Fayetteville, Tennessee after a fall from grace at her Deputy Chief Job in Memphis. When a body is found in a cave on Vera's property, it sets off a mystery as to who is the body and how did it get there.

I'm not going to say much more about the plot since this is a mystery, domestic suspense sort of story. Making things interesting is Vera's ex-boyfriend who is now Sheriff. When more bodies show up in the cave, things do get interesting.

The first half was a bit slow, but the action picks up about halfway through. I would have liked a more evenly paced treatment as it took some time to get through the first half. But I did like Vera. She's is a complicated character who doesn't always follow the rules, and that makes her interesting.

Overall, an interesting start to a new series from Debra Webb.

Crime Analyst and Deputy Police Chief Vera Boyett, is cleaning off her desk, expecting not to return, when she gets a call from her youngest sister Luna.
A skeleton has been found in a cave on the family property – it’s Luna’s mom, Vera and her sister Eve’s stepmom.
Vera rushes to the family home that she hasn’t been to in more than 2 years. Ready to bury the skeleton, but more show up! She knows who the first is but who are the others, and how did they get there, and how can she keep her family safe, and family secrets safe.
Excellent first book – looking forward to book 2

Thank you to the author, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This mystery highlights sibling relationships and delves into a childhood which was happy and then not - culminating in the discovery in the present day of the sibling's long-ago disappeared step/mother's body. It's atmospheric and a slow burn, but the downside is that there's a huge load of repetition and lack of pacing in the first half. Another pass by an editor would not have been amiss. As often happens in cases that go back many years, old relationships, in this case between one sister and the now-sheriff, are warmed up - which f0r me was an element that was not successful. Overall, an okay read, but not something I would actively seek out.

Sometimes people need a reason to stay.

For Vera Boyett, the small town of Fayetteville, Tennessee, was instead always the place from which she wanted to run away. Too small, not enough to challenge her….and that was before her mother died when Vera was 15, setting into motion a series of catastrophic events. First, her grieving father got entangled with the much younger Sheree Corbin, a young woman with a bad reputation, and married her within months of his wife’s death. When she gave birth to Luna six months later, the reason for the hasty marriage became obvious (as was the fact that their affair started while his cancer-ridden wife was still alive). Next, as Vera and her younger sister Eve grieved the loss of their mother they had to deal with a nasty stepmother who left the household work (including ultimately caring for their baby half-sister) to them. Their father was too infatuated with Sheree and busy dealing with his own grief to apparently notice. Finally Sheree disappeared, apparently abandoning her marriage and baby for a more exciting life elsewhere, never to be heard from again. Vera escaped to college and eventually a storied career in law enforcement as soon as she could, leaving Eve behind. Eve quickly slipped into a pattern of abuse of alcohol and other substances, barely graduating from high school and heading in and out of rehab. She still lives in Fayetteville and ultimately has found a career as a mortician, which seems oddly fitting as she often claims that the dead speak to her. With their father suffering from dementia and living in a care facility, Vera and Eve stay in touch through occasional phone calls. All that changes in a single day. First Vera has to leave her job as head of a law enforcement team within the Memphis PD that utilizes predictive analytics to prevent crimes before they happen after a scandal which left two team members dead and for which Vera, as head of the unit, is being held accountable. As if the implosion of her 15 year career isn’t bad enough, she then gets a call from Luna….a dead body has been found in a cave on the Boyett family land and it looks like it is Sheree. Vera heads back to Fayetteville to get a handle on what is going on, and to protect her family from the accusations that are sure to come their way. Things get exponentially worse when additional bodies are found in the cave. Vera and Eve know more than they are willing to share, and may have good reason to fear being named suspects. Sheriff Gray Benton is both the person who broke Vera’s teenaged heart years ago and also a solid investigator.. As Vera inserts herself into the investigation, Bent can sense that she is holding back information from him. Has a serial killer been at work in their town, or is there more than one killer behind the dead bodies? Who but a member of the Boyett family would know the location of the cave and use it as a place to stash their victims? Can Bent get through the secrets and lies that have compounded over the years to identify the killer(s), and if he does what will happen to what remains of Vera’s family?
After a slowish start that works to set up both the current scandal which is possibly ending Vera’s career as well as the backstory to the events in the Boyett family before and after the disappearance of Sheree, the story kicks into gear as Vera and Bent delve into identifying the other victims found in the cave as well as possible killers. Vera tries to keep Luna calm and get Eve to level with her about what is going on as someone seems to be threatening the three of them, and also struggles with her still-present attraction to Bent while she works to lead his investigation away from some painful truths with which she doesn't trust him enough to share. Small southern towns have more than their fair share of secrets, and although everyone thinks they know one another’s misdeeds and skeletons some are buried deep enough to avoid detection, at least for a while. Vera is a strong, smart woman whose traumatic adolescence left scars with which she still struggles, including her relationship with her sisters. Bent’s childhood was brutal and no one thought he would amount to much, although Vera’s mother tried to set him on a better path. Twenty years in the military made him a better man, and retuning to his roots provides him with the opportunity to repay some debts to those who had helped him. Deeper Than the Dead is the first in what looks to be a series featuring Vera as she begins a new phase in her professional life. With much of the background established in this installment, hopefully the next book will be able to launch right into the mystery at hand. Readers who enjoy a good small town police procedural or those with a strong female lead should check this one out, as should readers of authors like Allison Brennan, Melinda Leigh and Tracy Clark. Many thanks to NetGally and Thomas & Mercer for allowing me early access to this intriguing start to a new series.

Having never read anything by Debra Webb before, I went into this one with a completely open mind and really enjoyed it. This book started out a bit slow for me but really picked up in the last half. I couldn’t wait to flip the page to find out what happened next. It kept me guessing right up to the end. That’s exactly what a want from a good “who done it” mystery.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Headline: Finely crafted police procedural-cum-family drama thriller!

Book Review: Deeper Than the Dead (Vera Boyett, Book 1) by Debra Webb
Published by Thomas & Mercer, August 1, 2024

★★★★★ (4.5 Stars rounded up!)

// "....Secrets only stayed hidden if you buried them deep enough."
. - From "Deeper Than the Dead" by Debra Webb //

Writer of 170 novels and recipient of numerous prestigious award, Debra Webb, introduces her new strong female protagonist, Vera Boyett, in a finely crafted, gripping police procedural-cum-family drama thriller that spans decades.

With themes and a writing style reminiscent of a favorite "Upper Peninsula" coastal family drama thriller writer, I did quite enjoy reading this book, my first of the author's, and it got me to add Ms. Webb's "Finley O’Sullivan" series on top of my TBR.

// Deeper Than the Dead (Vera Boyett, Book 1) by Debra Webb (2024) //

Fayetteville, TN, about 250 miles east of Memphis

Memphis PD Deputy Chief Vera Boyett finds herself packing up back to her childhood home in Fayetteville to preempt the adverse outcome of an investigative incident in Memphis which may have cost lives and summarily jeopardize her position in the department.

Thus, after an absence of years, she gets reacquainted with her younger sister, Eve, now a mortician by profession, and, half-sister, Luna. But even before the sisters could relish their refreshed companionship, neighborhood boys exploring a hidden cave in the Boyett family property find the bones and remains of bodies long dead, buried in shallow graves.

Flashback to that dreary night more than twenty years removed when two young girls were fated to be tasked with a deed that would forever haunt them.

The burial of their stepmother.
In that very same cave....

Review based on an advanced reading copy courtesy of Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley.

Lies and deceit steal the show in this nail biting suspense! Debra Webb always has a way of endearing a character to her reader's heart at the same time that she weaves an intricate plot of secrets for us to uncover. Vera is a new character for Webb and gave the reader a lot unravel. Most of the characters were well developed, but there was a lot happening behind the scenes to keep straight with several moving parts so you really have to pay attention throughout. I enjoyed the book a lot and look forward to seeing Vera in the future. Attention grabbing storyline and relatable characters.

3.5 stars, rounded up. There's a nice sense of place in this one that I appreciated, and the story has a heavy bit of tension that hangs over it and kept me invested. I think Vera is a great character to carry forth a series, and I'm interested to see where this goes.

The first book in a new series introduces the reader to Vera Boyett and her family. Vera returns home when her stepmother’s body is found in a cave on their family land. I’ve ready many books by this author and am always finding out I I don’t know the story like I thought I did. There are a lot of twists and things you take as fact that are later found not to be. It kept me engaged and I’m excited to read Vera’s next case!

Vera Boyett returns to her hometown in Fayetteville after being disgraced during her position as Memphis Deputy Chief. She receives a call from her younger stepsister, Lulu, that the remains of her step mother have been found. Her step mother went missing 20 years ago. Vera, Lulu and her other sister Eve, come together to break the news to her father who is in memory care.

I liked the interaction of the sisters, and the growth in their relationship with each other. I felt the author wrote this part very well.

However, Vera has no authority to investigate the case, so she has to rely on "Bent", the sheriff and also her first love. So yes, there is a budding romance going on here. The investigation seems to have no momentum, and many things are repeated over and over. I just wanted the story to start! It was very slow, and had very little suspense. I also felt that the ending was a little lackluster. There is one part of the case that is left open, and this caused me to doubt the resolution of the rest of the case. I think the author may have done this to lead into the next book in the series.

This is the first in a series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Knowing that she will soon be asked to resign, Deputy Police Chief Vera Boyett cleans out her office and returns to her hometown. A mission went wrong, someone must take the blame and she knows it will be her. What did she miss that could have made a difference? Returning home will only add to her problems as human bones have been uncovered in a cave on her father’s property. Her father is in assisted living suffering from dementia. How will the news that the new sheriff is her former love interest, Gray “Bent” Benton, affect her? There are secrets that Vera shares with her sister Eve from the time after their mother died and her father remarried. After the birth of their half-sister, Luna, her father’s new wife left…or did she? Secrets abound in this fascinating mystery as further shocks continue to keep the story moving at a fast pace. What really happened to Luna’s mother, who are the other bodies that were found in the cave, and who is sending her threatening messages? As other agencies are called in, Vera and Bent continue their own investigation, but could anyone be prepared for the stunning finale? I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)

I enjoyed Debra Webb's Finlay Sullivan series - The Last Lie Told, The Nature of Secrets, and All the Little Truths - but this first book of the Vera Boyett series was slow and mostly boring. It took me a week to get through a 392-page book and it was a real struggle, it was way too easy to put down. An unfortunate event cost Vera her job as a crime analyst and deputy police chief in Memphis. Now she's back in her small hometown of Fayetteville, Tennessee and her family's past has come back to haunt them. Her long-missing stepmother turns up dead, buried in a hidden cave on their property. Then more bodies are discovered in another part of the cave. The new sheriff in town just so happens to be Vera's high school boyfriend who broke her heart. In an unofficial capacity, Vera works with him to try to solve the mystery of the murders. The storylines are fairly predictable and I don't recommend this one. Thanks to #netgalley and #Thomas&mercer for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Woods are supposed to keep all secrets,or are they? Vera and her sister have some deep secrets that they do not want to come out. This was a great suspense, fast paced and twisty !

A suspenseful tale with great characters and great dialogue. I always enjoy her well thought out characters and edge of your seat suspense.

Vera is a cop who is under investigation for an incident that occurred with her team. Shes forced to take a leave of absence as they investigate. She receives a call from her step sister telling Vera she needs to come home. Vera's step mom, Sheree has been found after 20 plus years of being missing.

Vera and her sisters are now faced with figuring out who murdered their step mom and placed her remains on their family's farm. With her dad in a facility with dementia, Vera is tasked with figuring out who did it. But there's a new sheriff in town, who happens to be her ex boyfriend!

Loved the story and how the author didn't divulge too much information too soon so that the reader has time to come up with their own theories.

Deeper Than the Dead is the first book in the Vera Boyett Series by Debra Webb. The last book I read by this author involved a cold case, in a way this one does too. The difference is the remains of the missing woman from twenty years ago are just now found. However, hers are not the only ones found.

Vera is a multifaceted person with ties to the woman who remains were found. She is one of those with secrets and a past that is more than complex. With work related problems, struggles and accusations this is not an easy time for her. Reliving the past as the crimes are investigated does not make life better for her. Still crimes are solved, a bit of second chance romance and perhaps growth especially for Vera. A slow beginning with a tough set of cases to be solved. The next book in the series should move faster since all the introductions to the characters and small Tennessee town have been completed.