The Secrets of Good People: A Novel

A whirlwind romance. An impulsive marriage. A Floridian paradise. And a murder among friends in a twisty whodunit by Boo Walker, the bestselling author of The Stars Don’t Lie and An Echo in Time, and coauthor Peggy Shainberg.

On a tiny island off Paradiso, Florida, in 1970, neighbors gather to toast two new arrivals: shy Catherine and her taciturn husband, Dr. Frank Overbrook, who is taking over an old friend’s medical practice. It’s an intimate welcoming for the newlyweds, who have abandoned city life for swaying palms and an ocean breeze. But the morning after is anything but peaceful when Frank is found dead on the beach.

Detective Quentin Jones has his eyes on the island’s residents and the welcome party’s guest list. There’s the retiring doctor and host, as well as his nurse. Volatile marrieds Miriam and her husband, David, constantly at each other’s throats. The Carters, a strangely antisocial young couple. And Sylvie, a blind sculptor to whom Quentin lost his heart years ago.

But which one is a murderer? As the investigation unravels a close-knit group of friends, secrets are exposed―and more than one of them is worth killing for.

Boo Walker is the bestselling author of An Echo in Time, The Stars Don’t Lie, A Spanish Sunrise, The Singing Trees, and An Unfinished Story, among other novels. He initially tapped his muse as a songwriter and banjoist in Nashville, but a career-ending hand problem sent him scrambling to find another creative outlet. After a stint as a day trader in Charleston, he bought a farm in a wine-growing region of Washington State, where he found his voice. Always a wanderer, Boo has lived in South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, New York, and Valencia, Spain. He now resides in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, with his wife, son, and two troublemaking dogs. He also writes thrillers under the pen name Benjamin Blackmore. For more information, visit www.boowalker.com and www.benjaminblackmore.com.

Peggy Shainberg graduated from Baylor University in 1948 with a degree in journalism. After she and her fiancé were married on the radio program Bride and Groom, Peggy embarked on an award-winning career writing for television and radio in Hollywood. In 1965, they moved with their two daughters to Venice, Florida, where Peggy wrote for the Florida Press Association and The Venice Gondolier, and began her first, only, and sadly unfinished novel. With the help of her daughters and, serendipitously, author Boo Walker, it has finally found its way to print. The fact that Boo’s grandparents were also married on Bride and Groom in the exact same year was perfect confirmation that the coauthored The Secrets of Good People was meant to be.