The Hiding Place by David Bell

When you discover a new author and are intrigued by their work, you eagerly await their next release.

I discovered author David Bell last October when his debut book, CEMERTY GIRL, was released. I’m delighted to say David - a Pushcart Prize nominee - has a new release, THE HIDING PLACE, that has been out just a short time.

THE HIDING PLACE tells the story of Justin Manning, a boy who was murdered twenty-five years earlier. The disappearance of the four-year-old rocked the small town of Dove Point, Ohio. After his body was found in a shallow grave in the woods two months later, the repercussions were felt for years. 

Janet Manning has been haunted by the murder since the day she lost sight of her brother in the park. Now, with the twenty-fifth anniversary of Justin’s death looming, a detective and a newspaper reporter have started to ask questions, opening old wounds and raising new suspicions. 

Could the man convicted of the murder—who spent more than two decades in prison—really be innocent? Janet’s childhood friend and high school crush, who was in the park with her that day, has returned to Dove Point, where he is wrestling with his own conflicted memories of the events. And a strange man appears at Janet’s door in the middle of the night, claiming to know the truth.

Dante Rogers, Justin Manning’s killer, has just been released from prison in the small southwestern Ohio town of Dove Point. With fresh media attention on the anniversary of Justin’s disappearance and subsequent death coinciding with Dante’s release, local detective Frank Stynes can’t put to rest some unsettling thoughts about putting the wrong man in prison. But if the wrong man was convicted, who killed Justin Manning?  

Soon, years of deceit will be swept away, and the truth about what happened to Janet’s brother will be revealed. And the answers that Janet has sought may be found much closer to home than she ever could have imagined. When the past collides with the present in an explosive confession, it changes everything the Mannings thought they knew happened on the day that he disappeared.  

In THE HIDING PLACE, David paints a vivid portrait of a family and their community coping with pain and loss, and the uncertainty that can bubble to the surface when questions are raised - a chilling story of the worst that can happen to a family. 

David is currently an assistant professor of English at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He received an MA in creative writing from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and a PhD in American literature and creative writing from the University of Cincinnati. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize twice. 

For more on David and his writing, visit his website at www.davidbellnovels.com

For a tantalizing glimpse at THE HIDING PLACE, check out the book trailer here.

Thanks everyone for stopping by today. Hope you have a great weekend. Do you enjoy reading stories that make you wonder ‘what if’ the killer is really innocent?