Stolen in the Night
by MacDonald, Patricia
When Tess DeGraff was nine years old and on a camping trip in New
Hampshire with her family, a stranger kidnapped and killed her sister
Phoebe. Thanks to Tess's eyewitness testimony, a man named Lazarus
Abbott was arrested and convicted for the heinous crime. But twenty
years later, a test reveals that Abbott's DNA does not match that of
Phoebe's murderer. Driven by her fear that she may have sent an innocent
man to his death, Tess and her adopted son, Erny, return to the New
Hampshire town in which it all happened years ago. Stone
Hill, New Hampshire, is still an idyllic New England town. Tess's
courageous mother, Dawn, who suffered the violent loss of her daughter
and the early death of her heartbroken husband, now runs the charming
Stone Hill Inn. Tess's older brother, Jake, lives nearby with his wife, a
local girl he fell in love with during the trial of his sister's
killer. While Tess's family stands by her account of the crime, nerves
are frayed throughout Stone Hill, and others in town accuse her of lying
and view her as a murderer. In a race against time to
untangle the truth about her sister's murder, Tess encounters an
anti-death penalty lawyer, Ben Webster, who infuriates her but who also
might open her eyes and her heart; a biased police chief related to the
Abbotts; and an unknown killer who has Tess and Erny in his sights.
Hampshire with her family, a stranger kidnapped and killed her sister
Phoebe. Thanks to Tess's eyewitness testimony, a man named Lazarus
Abbott was arrested and convicted for the heinous crime. But twenty
years later, a test reveals that Abbott's DNA does not match that of
Phoebe's murderer. Driven by her fear that she may have sent an innocent
man to his death, Tess and her adopted son, Erny, return to the New
Hampshire town in which it all happened years ago. Stone
Hill, New Hampshire, is still an idyllic New England town. Tess's
courageous mother, Dawn, who suffered the violent loss of her daughter
and the early death of her heartbroken husband, now runs the charming
Stone Hill Inn. Tess's older brother, Jake, lives nearby with his wife, a
local girl he fell in love with during the trial of his sister's
killer. While Tess's family stands by her account of the crime, nerves
are frayed throughout Stone Hill, and others in town accuse her of lying
and view her as a murderer. In a race against time to
untangle the truth about her sister's murder, Tess encounters an
anti-death penalty lawyer, Ben Webster, who infuriates her but who also
might open her eyes and her heart; a biased police chief related to the
Abbotts; and an unknown killer who has Tess and Erny in his sights.