Wynter Evans loves her job as an investigative reporter for a St. Louis news station, but she longs to sit in the anchor chair. She hopes that her new assignment focusing on unique locales in Missouri gives her that extra boost. However, one glimpse at a photo taken in Sanctuary has her reorganizing her priorities. She plans on telling of the charms of this small Mennonite town, but she also plans to find out the identity of a boy who looks like her brother, a brother who disappeared nine years ago. Could this boy really be her missing brother? If so, how did he end up in Sanctuary?

Once Wynter arrives in Sanctuary, she recognizes a challenge. Most people are not welcoming, but thankfully, the mayor, Rueben King is an exception. He trusts her to portray the town as the hidden gem it is without exploiting its citizens. Unfortunately, someone knows her ulterior motives, and soon she starts receiving threats. Wynter and Rueben find themselves caught in a web of secrets that they must unravel to learn the truth. What is Sanctuary hiding? Is it truly the safe haven it appears to be?

Nancy Mehl builds a fast paced suspense on a solid foundation strengthening it with faith and tempering it with romance. She forms this page turner with a quiet sleepy town, an interesting array of townspeople, and a motivated reporter intent on stirring up some dust. Wynter's quest may be to find her brother, but she has a few surprises about her past coming her way. Ms. Mehl leads readers down a twisting road while keeping them entranced with an engaging mystery, a blossoming romance, and an unshakeable faith. GATHERING SHADOWS looks past the seemingly quiet exterior, and pokes into the darkest corner illuminating secrets people will do anything to keep hidden. GATHERING SHADOWS is a fascinating read, and a great beginning for a new series.

Book Summary

Wynter Evans, despite her current position as a promising young reporter for a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, has never gotten over the disappearance of her brother nine years ago. But when she stumbles across a photograph of a boy with an eerie resemblance to her missing brother during an assignment to investigate unusual places in the state, she can't pass up the chance to find out what may have happened. Under the cover of research for her job, she sets out for the place where the photograph was taken: the primarily Mennonite town of Sanctuary. Upon her arrival, she meets Rueben King, the town's handsome young mayor, and together they begin to uncover long-held secrets that could not only tear the small town apart but also change everything Wynter believes about her own life. As the truth of her family's past hides in the shadows, it soon becomes clear someone will stop at nothing to keep the answers she's searching for hidden forever--even if the cost is Wynter's very life.