A popular Sigma Rho Senior goes missing after a spring party on a college campus.  Some saw her arguing with a couple of her sorority sisters, while others saw her trying to persuade a homeless man to leave the campus.  A week later, her body is found in a golf course lake.  Who was the last person she interacted with and why did she have to die?  Who is responsible for THE SORORITY MURDER?

Criminal Justice student and podcaster, Lucas Vega, tackles the unsolved case of Candace Swain’s disappearance and murder for his Capstone project.  He knew the pretty girl who helped tutor him in English his freshman year and now he is searching for answers three years after the crime.  However, Lucas has other motives as well, but he won’t be disclosing that information until he learns more about the week between Candace’s disappearance and her body being found.  

Regan Merritt served fourteen years as a US Marshal, but now she’s on leave after the death of her son and the demise of her marriage.  She is back home living in Arizona with her father and she is guest lecturing at the university.  Her old university friend and professor, Henry Clarkson, thinks it would be worthwhile for her to help Lucas with his podcast and the cold case investigation.   Regan needs a purpose and this might be the distraction she needs.  As she and Lucas start uncovering more information about the crime and Candace’s movements before her death, they stir up a hornet's nest.  With the sorority closing ranks, it may be hard for Lucas and Regan to find what they need.  Candace was guilt-ridden by something before her death.  What did she know?  Or what did she do?   And will uncovering the truth bring a cold sociopathic killer to justice or will it just bring more dead bodies?

The concept of THE SORORITY MURDER captures the true-crime podcast craze.  It takes place on a college campus and involves a sorority where secrets are kept between sisters.  It is a suspense-filled investigative ride with some great characters and a harrowing final showdown.  Lucas Vega is young and ambitious and Regan Merritt is the skilled former US Marshal who can help him out.  Both characters have backstories and Lucas is looking for answers while Regan is looking for purpose after the death of her son.  The mystery is well-plotted and the revelations come at a nice pace.  As the story progresses, we learn the price for sisterhood is silence, and that guilt will persuade one young woman to take a stand, even if she pays with her life.  Good writing and a suspense-driven plot make this an entertaining read.  There is a little rehashing of events that could have been excluded, especially at the end, but it did not detract from the overall enjoyment of the novel. 

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