I was happy to see that Kendra Elliot couldn't stay away from Mercy Kilpatrick and her crew in the Pacific Northwest. After a brief hiatus (the author's note in A Merciful Promise suggested it was the last in the series), Mercy and her husband are drawn into a new puzzle. Rumors of a $2 million treasure hidden somewhere around Eagle's Nest have drawn treasure hunters from all over, and the consequent conflicts are keeping Truman's force busy when a boy reports the disappearance of his mother and baby sister. Mercy dives in to investigate and finds threads leading in surprising ways.

Thanks to Montlake for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

Eagle's Nest, Oregon, has been invaded by treasure hunters since millionaire Chester Rollins died and left a mystery to be solved which will lead to a prize of $2 million. And the treasure hunters are causing problems from trespassing to exchanging gun shots. Police Chief Truman Daly and his officers are keeping really busy.

But then a boy walks out of the woods and asks Truman to help him find his missing mother and baby sister. FBI Agent Mercy Kilpatrick is the first person Truman calls since missing kids are the FBI's jurisdiction. It turns out the boy has a younger sister, and the family are preppers. Mercy grew up in that world and knows the territory.

The kids tell Mercy and Truman that their father had recently died and that their mother took their little sister to find her brother, a brother the kids didn't know existed and have no idea of his name. It turns out that the kids are the nephew and niece of Deschutes County sheriff's detective Evan Bolton, a friend of Truman and Mercy. They didn't know that his younger sister had been missing for a number of years. Evan would have had no idea that she and her family were living so close.

Meanwhile, Evan is investigating a murder of one of the treasure hunters who was shot behind the B&B where he was staying. He's the same treasure hunter Truman had pulled in for getting into a gunfight with another treasure hunter.

The story is filled with treasure hunts, missing persons, and old family secrets. I enjoyed the way the two separate cases came together. This was an enjoyable and exciting story. It was great to see all the favorite characters again - Mercy, Truman, Ollie, and Kaylie - in this seventh Mercy Kilpatrick mystery. ( )