Silence has a price. Some families pay it in secrets. Others in blood. Journalist Leni Spencer is drawn into a world of carefully guarded lives and institutional silence. This new mystery asks a simple question: What happens when the cost of keeping quiet becomes too high?
Katherine Bennett
Katherine Bennett is the author of two books in the cozy mystery series, Heartland to Hometown Mysteries:The Next Great Discovery (book 1), and The Past Is Not at Rest (book 2);
She is busy working on the third book, The Cost of Silence. You can sign up to get updates about her writing here. Follow her on TikTok @kb.author
Katherine “Kathie” Bennett graduated from Illinois State University with a major in art education and a minor in Russian language. She studied writing under Paul J. Gillette, a novelist and screenwriter in Los Angeles. She wrote press releases for the major Chicago newspapers and later founded Rockbridge Publishing Co., which published books about the American Civil War and Virginia travel guides.
She is a self-described serial careerist. In addition to book publishing, her professional experience includes teaching elementary art, arranging charter tours for golfers that took her all over the world, owning and operating a stained-glass studio, and serving as executive director of a historical association. She was, for a time, a headhunter.
She devoted two decades to creating miniatures comprising houses, a houseboat, a pottery shop, and a quilt shop. See her miniatures blog here. Kathie and her late husband, artist and educator Lloyd Bennett, Jr., investigated their family genealogies. Their research took them to France and the Czech Republic, where they connected with distant relatives.
The Heartland to Hometown Mysteries grew from Kathie’s love of mystery stories and an urge to share 80+ years of living an adventurous life.
Katherine Bennett is the author of two books in the cozy mystery series, Heartland to Hometown Mysteries:The Next Great Discovery (book 1), and The Past Is Not at Rest (book 2);
She is busy working on the third book, The Cost of Silence. You can sign up to get updates about her writing here. Follow her on TikTok @kb.author
Katherine “Kathie” Bennett graduated from Illinois State University with a major in art education and a minor in Russian...
A threatened cemetery. An ancestor’s will. Dark secrets revealed. Where heritage and power collide, some truths are too dangerous to print.
Reporter Leni Spencer’s investigation into the sudden death of Muriel Banks, a beloved town matriarch, unearths missing records and buried secrets in her Missouri...
A threatened cemetery. An ancestor’s will. Dark secrets revealed. Where heritage and power collide, some truths are too dangerous to print. Reporter Leni Spencer’s investigation into the sudden death of Muriel Banks, a beloved town matriarch, unearths missing records and buried secrets in her Missouri hometown. Muriel’s daughter, Elizabeth...
Silence has a price. Some families pay it in secrets. Others in blood.
After a violent tragedy shakes her small Missouri town, journalist Leni Spencer heads to Southern California, hoping distance will quiet the echoes. Instead, she’s drawn into a situation that feels disturbingly familiar—a friend’s wealthy client, a strained marriage, and a...
At the heart of the series is Leni Spencer, a 24-year-old reporter for the Hawkinston Daily News. Born and reared in small-town Hawkinston, Missouri, she leads a seemingly linear life, living in the family home she inherited when her parents died and working for her...
"A smart, well-paced, and cozy mystery with a large cast of lovable characters"
(Click the red "Kirkus Review" button in the header for the full review.)
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---Kirkus Reviews
The Next Great Discovery
“5 out of 5 stars” “character development is fantastic” “[complex] plot … kept me intrigued” “professionally edited.”
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OnlineBookClub
The Next Great Discovery
Kathie! The book is amazing. I enjoyed it tremendously. I received it yesterday and started it after supper, and hated having to go to bed. I continued this morning and finished it about 9am. It was an exciting story that kept me intrigued and guessing til the end. And I love all the details and facts you included. I felt like you were talking to me. Can't wait for the next one!
When investigative journalist Leni Spencer heads to Southern California for a holiday, she expects sea breezes and sunshine—not secrets that could shatter lives.
