Buried Secrets: (3 Deadly Secrets Texas Trilogy)

About the Book

Danger. Corruption. Passion.

When an explosion unearths human remains--and almost lands them in the morgue--historical preservationist Samantha Jordon and San Antonio police detective Nick Ballard reluctantly team up to investigate. Since the case is as cold as the corpse, Samantha turns to the cutting-edge science of genetic genealogy to unravel the dark history of a gruesome unsolved murder and identify the body. But Nick is obstructing her at every turn. Then a targeted hit and run and a break-in force them to seek refuge in San Antonio's forgotten historic sites and underground tunnels. Despite their differences, Samantha is falling for the jaded detective. And Nick cares for her more than he should. But coming clean about his past--and the reason he's been dragging his feet during the investigation--could end his career and put his deceased partner's family in jeopardy. As the final puzzle pieces fall into place and Samantha discovers the truth, Nick will have to face his own demons and the corruption rampant in the SAPD to save her from a cunning killer. Can love survive their buried secrets?

About the Author :
Denise Huddle was raised by her oil man father, who was fifty-three when she was born. He took Denise with him almost everywhere he went. Instead of cheerleading camp and home economics class, she grew up in her father's office and in the oilfields, a world away from the nearest charm school.After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in geology, she went to work in her father's business. In the early months of her job, she attended a meeting where the topic was a missing landowner, the countless efforts to locate the woman over the past months, and the serious legal ramifications of the company's inability to find her or her heirs. Denise excused herself from the meeting, slipped into her office, and started making phone calls to funeral homes near the well location. In fifteen minutes, she was on the woman's trail and had found her heirs by the end of the week. That single experience changed the trajectory of her entire career.While Denise was one of the few professional women working on drilling sites in the Texas oil fields in the 1980s, the attorney working to resolve the problem with the missing landowner she'd found reminded her that moving over to the land department meant working in air-conditioned courthouses and sleeping in motels instead of trudging around rattlesnake-infested drilling locations, sleeping in her car, and eating cold Hunger Busters for breakfast. It wasn't a hard decision. As a landman, Denise bought and sold oil and gas real estate and examined land titles across West Texas and the Texas Gulf Coast. But mostly . . . she found missing landowners.Finding people and evidence and unmasking secrets and hidden information were Denise's one true professional love. In 1995, she got her private investigator's license and started Aardvark Investigations. As a private investigator and forensic genealogist, she specialized in the location of missing heirs and mineral owners for oil companies and law firms across the country.Now retired, Denise brings her investigative experience to historical true crime and writes novels inspired by cases and experiences from her colorful career. Decades of discovering hidden secrets and unraveling complex family histories have left her with a lot of stories to write. Amanda Ronconi is an actress and narrator who divides her time between New York City and upstate New York. She has a BFA from NYU, where she studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory. She has performed in theaters around New York City and regionally at the Alley, Capital Rep, and many productions at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Her Off-Broadway solo comedy, Shirley at the Tropicana, received critical acclaim and was subsequently featured in the New York Times. Film and TV credits include Daydream Believer (Slamdance 2001's Best Dramatic Feature winner), The Understudy, Deadly Sins (ID Discovery), and IFC's Get Hit and Chasing Paradise. National network and regional commercials include Chase Bank, Sony, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Her voice-over work encompasses nearly 100 audiobooks available on audible.com. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors' Equity.