The Past Is Not at Rest

Book 2 in the Heartland to Hometown Mysteries, The Past Is Not at Rest weaves together murder, genealogy, buried history, and the enduring pull of memory.When respected community elder Muriel Banks is found dead below a neglected cemetery in rural Missouri, reporter Leni Spencer is drawn into a mystery that reaches far beyond a single tragic death. Muriel had been fighting to preserve an abandoned African American burial ground tied to the forgotten settlement of Lewisburg-a community founded after the Civil War by formerly enslaved families seeking land, dignity, and a future.As Leni and Muriel’s daughter Elizabeth sort through courthouse records, genealogy files, fading letters, and family stories, they uncover clues that point toward the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where the roots of the Lewis family story begin. Their search introduces them to the Memory Keeper, Geneva Tunstall, an elderly woman whose gift for preserving the stories of ordinary people may hold the key to understanding the past before it disappears forever.What begins as an effort to honor the dead soon reveals land disputes, hidden motives, old resentments, and secrets powerful enough to threaten the living. The deeper Leni digs, the more she realizes that history is never truly buried-and that some people will go to great lengths to keep it that way.Set between the small town of Hawkinston, Missouri, and the historic landscapes of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, The Past Is Not at Rest is an atmospheric mystery about family legacy, memory, community, and the unfinished stories that echo across generations.Perfect for readers who enjoy character-driven mysteries, amateur sleuths, genealogy mysteries, Southern and Midwestern settings, and stories where the past refuses to stay silent.