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Debra Webb
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Deeper Than the Dead (Vera Boyett Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Debra Webb (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 17,890 ratings
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Someone’s found the skeleton in the closet, and it’s not the only one. Wall Street Journal bestselling author Debra Webb presents an emotional new mystery.

Crime analyst and newly disgraced deputy police chief Vera Boyett doesn’t visit home often, and she certainly doesn’t venture back into the cave on her family land. But when the remains of her long-missing stepmother are discovered, Vera will have to face a past that threatens all she is.

She and her sister Eve had a fairy-tale childhood: good until it was tragic, with a stepmother they never found a bond with. At least they had each other, a baby half-sister, and a mutual devotion that would have them do the unthinkable.

It’s a summer in small-town Tennessee, so thick with humidity it could drown you and so rife with secrets it could smother you. And deep beneath the surface, there are more bodies than you’d think…

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  1. Book 1 of 2
    Vera Boyett
  2. Print length
    392 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Thomas & Mercer
  5. Publication date
    August 1, 2024
  6. File size
    7436 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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  1. A reminder that sometimes things and people need a reason to stay. A little something to hold them in place.
    Highlighted by 225 Kindle readers
  2. Had she and Eve left behind any incriminating evidence all those years ago?
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  3. Sometimes you did things for others just to boost your own self-esteem.
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From the Publisher

BURY YOUR PAST

Editorial Reviews

Review

Deeper Than the Dead

“A taut and gritty procedural with the promise of more.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Expertly plotted and whip-smart, Deeper Than the Dead is an exceedingly clever crime thriller filled with secrets, betrayals, and complex characters. Webb manages to hit that sweet spot between family drama and police procedural. This one is sure to be a hit in the crime thriller genre. A wild and massively entertaining ride.” —Christina McDonald, USA Today bestselling author

The Last Lie Told

“A complex case fraught with angst and danger ends with surprising revelations.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Debra Webb writes the kind of thrillers I love to read. Sure, there is a murder or more. Yes, there’s a twisted mystery to be solved. Once again, in The Last Lie Told, her characters are fully rendered and reveal themselves authentically as her novel unfolds and careens to its stunning conclusion. The Last Lie Told is her best yet. Webb is the queen of smart suspense.” —Gregg Olsen, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Can’t Go Back

“A complex, exciting mystery.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Police procedural fans will be sorry to see the last of Kerri and Luke.” —Publishers Weekly

“Threats, violence, and a dramatic climax . . . good for procedural readers.” —Library Journal

Gone Too Far

“An intriguing, fast-paced combination of police procedural and thriller.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Those who like a lot of family drama in their police procedurals will be satisfied.” —Publishers Weekly

Trust No One

“Trust No One is Debra Webb at her finest. Political intrigue and dark family secrets will keep readers feverishly turning pages to uncover all the twists in this stunning thriller.” —Melinda Leigh, #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Cross Her Heart

“A wild, twisting crime thriller filled with secrets, betrayals, and complex characters that will keep you up until you reach the last darkly satisfying page. A five-star beginning to Debra Webb’s explosive series!” —Allison Brennan, New York Times bestselling author

“Debra Webb once again delivers with Trust No One, a twisty and gritty page-turning procedural with a cast of complex characters and a compelling cop heroine in Detective Kerri Devlin. I look forward to seeing more of Detectives Devlin and Falco.” —Loreth Anne White, Washington Post bestselling author of In the Deep

“Trust No One is a gritty and exciting ride. Webb skillfully weaves together a mystery filled with twists and turns. I was riveted as each layer of the past peeled away, revealing dark secrets. An intriguing cast of complicated characters, led by the compelling Detective Kerri Devlin, had me holding my breath until the last page.” —Brianna Labuskes, Washington Post bestselling author of Girls of Glass

“Debra Webb’s name says it all.” —Karen Rose, New York Times bestselling author

From the Publisher

USA Today bestselling author Debra Webb delivers the first book in her exciting new series featuring Vera Boyett, a criminal analyst and deputy police chief.

When Vera Boyett returns to her hometown, she’s hoping for some peace and to get away from the trouble she’s having at work. Instead, she discovers dark secrets hidden in the caves on her family’s property, long buried truths, and a handsome sheriff she wasn’t expecting.

Webb’s new book delivered in on all fronts. She writes some of the smartest suspense novels I’ve ever read, blending procedural, psychological, and family dramas in a way that makes her stories propulsive and satisfying. This novel took twists and turns I didn’t see coming—never underestimate the secrets a small Southern town can keep.

—Megha Parekh, Editor

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CGVSQHNG
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas & Mercer (August 1, 2024)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 1, 2024
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 7436 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 392 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 17,890 ratings

About the author

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Debra Webb

Debra Webb

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DEBRA WEBB is the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publisher's Weekly bestselling author of more than 175 novels, including reader favorites the Devlin & Falco, Finley O'Sullivan and Faces of Evil series. She is the recipient of the prestigious Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Romantic Suspense, the Centennial Award, as well as numerous Reviewers Choice Awards. In 2012 Debra was honored as the first recipient of the esteemed L. A. Banks Warrior Woman Award for her courage, strength, and grace in the face of adversity.

With more than ten million books in print in numerous languages and countries, Debra’s love of storytelling goes back to her childhood when, at the age of nine, her mother bought her an old typewriter in a tag sale. Born in Alabama, Debra grew up on a farm. She spent every available hour exploring the world around her and creating her stories. She wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn’t until she spent three years working for the Commanding General of the US Army in Berlin behind the Iron Curtain and a five-year stint in NASA’s Shuttle Program that she realized her true calling. A collision course between suspense and romance was set. Since then she has expanded her work into some of the darkest places the human psyche dares to go. Follow Debra at Amazon to receive news about her latest books!

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
17,890 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the plot attention-grabbing and suspenseful. They describe the book as well worth reading, fun, and a page-turner. Readers appreciate the well-developed characters and realistic portrayal of families. Opinions are mixed on the pacing, with some finding it fast and others saying it's slow.

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PlotReadabilityCharacter developmentPacingWriting qualityDifficulty to put down
309 customers mention "Plot"255 positive54 negative

Customers find the plot attention-grabbing, terrific, and awesome. They say the story is at times ominous, tense, and fascinating. Readers also mention the ending is surprising and satisfying.

"Great story! Great characters! Great plot! A real page turner and a new reveal around every corner! Highly recommend this read!" Read more

"...It was a very complex story that just kept unraveling as time went on...." Read more

"...Somewhat repetitive at times but the story kept my interest. People can be led into doing destructive behavior thinking they won't get caught...." Read more

"...Too many secrets and not enough clues. This was a great read with an awesome plot. The character development was superb...." Read more

140 customers mention "Readability"140 positive0 negative

Customers find the book a great, fun, and page-turner. They say it keeps their attention with twists and turns. Readers also mention the book is intriguing and worthwhile.

"Great story! Great characters! Great plot! A real page turner and a new reveal around every corner! Highly recommend this read!" Read more

"...Well worth reading and i'll be around for version 2. Some tighter editing and fewer characters would easily make this a 5-star read." Read more

"...Great book and Narration was extremely well done! I’m looking for way too more of this series." Read more

"This is a good read, with an interesting story and some well developed characters...." Read more

133 customers mention "Character development"115 positive18 negative

Customers find the characters well-developed and realistic. They also appreciate the deep background of the characters.

"Great story! Great characters! Great plot! A real page turner and a new reveal around every corner! Highly recommend this read!" Read more

"...The characters were beautifully well developed.Well, most of them, anyway...." Read more

"This is a good read, with an interesting story and some well developed characters...." Read more

"Interesting characters and a believable story. Somewhat repetitive at times but the story kept my interest...." Read more

94 customers mention "Pacing"34 positive60 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pacing of the book. Some mention it keeps them involved to the very end, while others say the first half is slow and repetitive.

"Interesting characters and a believable story. Somewhat repetitive at times but the story kept my interest...." Read more

"...The plot is at times ominous, tense and I couldn't stop reading. The baddies were terrible people and I'm glad the good won out in the end!..." Read more

"...The first half was a bit slow, but the action picks up about halfway through...." Read more

"...Rather, I found that about one third into the book it began to get repetitious, and the investigation moved too slowly...." Read more

75 customers mention "Writing quality"46 positive29 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing quality of the book. Some mention it's well-written and easy to read, while others say it's too wordy and repetitive. They also mention there are some errors in grammar and the complexity seems unnatural and forced.

"...Great book and Narration was extremely well done! I’m looking for way too more of this series." Read more

"...As it was written, the details of the incident were confusing to follow and didn’t add to the story...." Read more

"...the fact that I couldn,'t put the book down, the style and flow of the writing is easy and very enjoyable reading!..." Read more

"...If you get the audio book the narrator does a great job." Read more

14 customers mention "Difficulty to put down"9 positive5 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book. Some mention it's exciting, while others say it becomes tedious.

"...A real page-turner, hard to put down, but realistic in all details. Buy it!" Read more

"...what was going on could have consequences for Vera's family that it became tedious. It seemed a third of the book was that...." Read more

"Fast paced with many twists to the plot. A very fun read. Hard to put down once I started reading." Read more

"Suspenseful, so many twist and turns and very captivating, hard to put down. Look forward to more of her books." Read more

Leaves you breathless and eagerly turning pages!
5 out of 5 stars
Leaves you breathless and eagerly turning pages!
Debra Webb's latest thriller is an absolute page-turner, brimming with twists and turns at every corner. Deeper Than The Dead captivates from the first page with its gripping plot and emotional depth. Crime analyst Vera Boyett, now a disgraced deputy police chief, is forced to revisit her past when her long-missing stepmother's remains are discovered in a cave on her family land.Set in the steamy, secret-laden summer of small-town Tennessee, the story beautifully intertwines the nostalgia of a once fairy-tale childhood with the chilling uncovering of buried truths. The relationship between Vera and her sister Eve adds a poignant layer, making the narrative as heart-wrenching as it is thrilling. Debra Webb masterfully crafts an atmosphere so thick with suspense, it will leave you breathless and eagerly turning pages. A must-read for any thriller lover!
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Top reviews from the United States

Joel
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent story!
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2024
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Great story! Great characters! Great plot! A real page turner and a new reveal around every corner! Highly recommend this read!
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BeckyW01
4.0 out of 5 stars Good crime story that got confusing at the end
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2024
Verified Purchase
First and foremost: yes, I will be here for Vera Boyett book 2. The bulk of this was a very engaging, well-constructed, twisty crime thriller. There were a few times where I thought the author had given away the twist early on, but no, she had not. More than one twist caught me off guard. There were plenty of signs throughout that a twist was coming, but it was hard to know what it was.

I also greatly enjoyed the perspective of a whodunnit from the one who, ya know, dunnit. I had a hard time getting into the book at first and then that last line in Chapter 2 grabbed me and wouldn't let go. The characters were beautifully well developed.

Well, most of them, anyway. There was a sudden influx of every single character in the last couple of chapters and I was kinda fuzzy as to who was what. Mothers, sons, husbands, drifters, I got them all mixed up, and I just kind of accepted the ending on faith. I have no doubt that every one of these pertinent characters were mentioned earlier in the book, but there were many. And, yes, as other reviewers have said, the poor decision made towards the very end of the book was too obviously a poor decision. Without it, no plot development, so I guess it had to happen, but it wasn't believable.

Well worth reading and i'll be around for version 2. Some tighter editing and fewer characters would easily make this a 5-star read.
48 people found this helpful
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Book Bug!
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2024
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The story had you guessing, and trying to figure out things all the way through. It was a very complex story that just kept unraveling as time went on. The focus was on different people trying to figure out exactly how this complex case unfolded. Great book and Narration was extremely well done! I’m looking for way too more of this series.
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Constance M.
4.0 out of 5 stars Was a 4.5 up until near the end …..
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2024
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This is a good read, with an interesting story and some well developed characters. There’s a little too much in the way of foreshadowing, but I can handle that. The worst fault is the need to suspend belief toward the end of Chapter 42, into Chapter 43. I really hate it when, after developing a character as intelligent, professional, experienced, and savvy, an author then resorts to having them take a whole series of ludicrously stupid actions. There is always a better way to bring the action from point A to point B (or point W to point X), than making the hero or heroine behave like he or she suddenly doesn’t have the sense God gave geese. This was followed by what I felt to be a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion, on several levels, but I won’t go into that as to do so would give away too much about the story. Anyway others might feel differently about it. We all look for something different from our reads.
81 people found this helpful
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Histortyreader
4.0 out of 5 stars Murder never pays
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2024
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Interesting characters and a believable story. Somewhat repetitive at times but the story kept my interest. People can be led into doing destructive behavior thinking they won't get caught. Most of the time they end up paying a price for their choices.
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iwrite05
5.0 out of 5 stars What a Spine Tingling Psychological Thriller!
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2024
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Chief Vera Boyett’s career was on the line due to two murders of her deputies. Apparently there was an affair between two of her employees that got out of control. Her career and her team were being investigated. And if that wasn’t enough, her sister Eve contacted her with an emergency in her hometown. She packed up her belongings in Memphis and headed to her hometown.

When she arrived there, she was informed that her stepmother’s body had been found in the cave on their farm. Everyone had thought that Sheree had left on her own.

Did her father have anything to do with the death? Would they find out what really happened almost 25 years ago? Would Vera be able to help with the investigation? Too many secrets and not enough clues. This was a great read with an awesome plot. The character development was superb. There were certainly lots of twists and turns. I really enjoyed this book. It definitely kept my interest and attention.
One person found this helpful
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JKF
5.0 out of 5 stars Debra Webb never disappoints! Great writing,compelling story
Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2024
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Besides the fact that I couldn,'t put the book down, the style and flow of the writing is easy and very enjoyable reading! I have read Debra Webb before, she never disappointed. I highly recommend this novel. .
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Lil One
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Murder Mystery
Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2024
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This is the first Debra Webb book I've read; it was an Amazon First reads pick.

As others have said, the story started off somewhat slowly. However, at about 150 pages, the pace picked up considerably.

For me, there was a bit too much detail on the Memphis situation. It’s my opinion that the entire incident could have been left out without detriment to the overall story. For example, Vera might have been portrayed as a superstar cop who took a leave from her position to help her family through a difficult time. As it was written, the details of the incident were confusing to follow and didn’t add to the story.

On the other hand, the interaction between Bent and Vera unfolded beautifully, at just the right pace. The roles of various other characters emerged in intriguing ways, sufficient to create page-turner engagement for the reader.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Deborah
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written!!
Reviewed in Canada on August 12, 2024
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Debra Webb wrote to keep the story moving in multiple directions. I found the story interesting and I think it would make a very good movie for TV. I'm looking forward to more of her writings.
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Molloy
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written crime story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2024
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A real pageturner could not wait to get to the end of the book to find the culprit. Good characterisation and a very pleasant read.
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Nora
4.0 out of 5 stars Twisted as in the plot
Reviewed in Canada on August 6, 2024
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Interesting read, even though you know the killer there are several twists and turns that keep you guessing and you get sucked in deeper.
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Sue
4.0 out of 5 stars Eventually a page turner.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 17, 2024
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It took a little while to get into - but then I couldn’t put it down!
Hadn’t notice who the author was - but realised it was a woman with all those little gems in Vera’s interaction with Bret!
Very much enjoyed the book and would read more in this series.
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Linda Pfeiffer
5.0 out of 5 stars Who Done It, also a What and Why will keep you guessing
Reviewed in Canada on August 2, 2024
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What I truly enjoyed about this book was figuring out who, what and why. Whenever I thought I had it solved something else would happen and I would have to start over. Truly, I didn't know until the final chapter. And yet, I found the book very satisfying. Vera Boyett's career with the Memphis Police Department had just ended and her position as the deputy chief was over as she was forced to resign over a mistake that was not really of her making. But the buck stopped with her. She chose to return home to a small town named Fayetteville in Tennessee where both her sisters, Eve and Luna lived. Her father, diagnosed with Alzheimer's, lived in a home/care facility nearby. She moved into the family homestead. When some bodies were discovered in a cave on their property, her old high school boyfriend, Bent came to investigate as he was now the sheriff in town. Vera agrees to join the investigation though she carries some insider information that only she and one of her sisters know. That is the only tidbit I'll offer. Reading the book will eventually answer all the questions. This is the first book I've read by Debra Webb, but I'm certain I'll be following it up with another in this series.
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