On December 30, 1999, Ashley Freeman celebrated her sweet sixteen surrounded by her parents, Danny and Kathy, and best friend Lauria Bible. By dawn, the celebration turned to tragedy when the Freeman trailer was consumed by fire. The bodies of Danny and Kathy were discovered among the ashes, dead by gunshot wounds. To this day, Ashley and Lauria remain missing. Wild rumors and accusations swirled around their small, rural Oklahoma community while the investigation remained at a standstill. Miller spent years interviewing the families and investigating leads, exploring the two predominant theories: police corruption and drug-related retaliation. There are no easy, certain answers with the Freeman-Bible case, though a 2019 arrest offers hope for closure. Miller (Freedom's Child, 2015) navigates the delicate intricacies of the case with compassion and respect for all involved, never losing his focus on Ashley and Lauria. Harrowing, beautifully written, and filled with unexpected twists, readers won't be able to put down this book until they reach the very last word. A new true-crime classic that is sure to engross fans of the genre.

Crime novelist Miller (Freedom's Child) debuts with a captivating ride through the frustrating twists, turns, and dead ends of a horrifying murder case. On Dec. 30, 1999, a suspicious fire destroyed Danny and Kathy Freeman's trailer home outside rural Welch, Okla. The Freemans' burned bodies showed that they had been shot to death, and their 16-year-old daughter, Ashley, and Ashley's best friend, Lauria Bible, who had also been in the trailer at the time, went missing. For years, the Freeman and Bible families struggled against inept investigators, drug dealers who might have had reason to kill Danny and Kathy, and a flood of false leads in their search for Ashley and Lauria. In 2015, Miller moved to Welch, where she spent four years investigating the case. She brings a heartbreaking and compassionate voice to her take on those affected by the generational poverty, environmental mining pollution, and widespread methamphetamine addiction now endemic in the region's once ore-rich mining towns. The two girls remain missing to this day, though the arrest in 2019 of a suspect, whose case is ongoing, offers some hope of resolution. This is as much an exploration of the underlying social issues that feed into a system of fear and violence as it is about the crime itself. A vivid storyteller, Miller proves herself as adept at nonfiction as fiction. Agent: Zoe Sandler, ICM Partners. (July)