Sins of Silence

Sailing instructor Kellie Montgomery discovers a luxury yacht drifting aimlessly outside a Seattle Marina--with its owners on board dead from gunshots to the head. When Kellie sets out to find their killer, she uncovers a web of secrets that link the victims' sordid past to her own family. Probing the murky depths of murder soon proves far more treacherous than any seas she's ever sailed.

Sailing instructor Kellie Montgomery discovers a luxury yacht drifting aimlessly outside a Seattle Marina--with its owners on board dead from gunshots to the head. When Kellie sets out to find their killer, she uncovers a web of secrets that link the victims' sordid past to her own family. Probing the murky depths of murder soon proves far more treacherous than any seas she's ever sailed. At first, Kellie's investigation into the victims' background seems routine--until she discovers that the lawyer who handled her daughter's adoption almost twenty years ago was not who she thought he was. Baby brokering, blackmail, and lies lead to a trail of suspects. But it isn't until Kellie's adopted daughter decides to search for her birth mother that the trail threatens to destroy their lives.

Valerie Wilcox was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. A graduate of the University of Oregon, Wilcox was a teacher and management training consultant for over twenty-five years. Much like her Montgomery protagonist, Wilcox is a lifelong boating enthusiast. She and her husband David were living aboard their sailboat when she began her sailing mystery series. As the mother of three adopted daughters, Wilcox drew upon personal experience to help her character, Kellie, deal with her adopted daughter's search for her birth mother. Wilcox currently lives in Camas, Washington where she is working on Concierge Confessions, the first novel in her new mystery series.