Ashwood County remembers what others forget. And it never forgives easily.
When Ezra Jennings returns, the town exhales ghosts and sharpens its suspicions. Sheriff Cal Danner, worn by years of silence, must confront a truth he tried to bury alongside everything else.
But in Ashwood, nothing stays buried for long.
Some lies rot. Others bloom.
Some lies don’t die. They wait.
Chapter Summaries
| Chapter | Title | Summary |
| 1 | The Man in the Tree | Ezra Jennings comes back to town and finds peace where he shouldn’t—ten feet up an elm tree. Sheriff Danner isn’t sure if Ezra’s trespassing or confessing. A note left behind says the town already decided. |
| 2 | Where the Light Gets In | Danner tries to be a father again, but the past waits just outside the yard. A note in his pocket reminds him that guilt doesn’t stay buried—even when the lawn looks perfect. |
| 3 | Things That Wait in the Dark | A flickering lantern, a carved word—TRAITOR. The woods speak to Danner in whispers and judgment. Ashwood doesn’t forgive. It remembers in moonlight. |
| 4 | The Shape of a Lie | Ezra gets another message. Danner opens a casefile that never closed. Reflections twist. Windows lie. The past knocks without warning. |
| 5 | Like a Bad Joke | A truck is flipped upside down at the gas station—perfectly. A woman named Naomi Greer answers questions with philosophy and fire. Danner leaves with a book and a clue he didn’t ask for. |
| 6 | The Body Drop | A girl is found staged in a tulip field—clean, cold, and out of place. Ramirez and Vance arrive from the city. Dr. Carter giggles over corpses. Ezra sees too much. Ashwood opens its mouth again. |
| 7 | The House That Remembers | Danner meets the detectives. Files are missing, names scratched out. Clem Ford returns. Ashwell Farm stirs. Nothing stays buried forever—not guilt, not history. |
| 8 | Ashwell Farm | Clem walks through the house that still breathes. Toys in windows. Metal figures nailed to poles. A letter in a drawer says the silence has grown teeth. Danner arrives. Something old wakes up. |
- Ashwood County
Some places bury the truth. Others just build fences around it. Chapter One: The Man in the Tree “Sheriff, Greta Saunders called, and she’s raising cain about Ezra Jennings being in her again!” Sheriff Danner didn’t look up from his… Read more: Ashwood County - Ashwood County 2Chapter Two: Where the Light Still Gets In Sheriff Danner stood at the edge of the blanket, boots sinking into the soft, spring-warmed grass. The air smelled faintly of clover and the last cut of someone’s mower down the block.… Read more: Ashwood County 2
- Ashwood County 3Chapter Three: Things That Wait in the Dark The note sat on the passenger seat like it might burn straight through the upholstery. WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID. Cal had read it again after leaving Kila’s place, after brushing a… Read more: Ashwood County 3
- Ashwood County 4Chapter Four: The Shape of a Lie Cal sat at his kitchen table, the wooden surface worn smooth in places, scarred in others. His coffee had gone cold, untouched in its ceramic mug. He didn’t mind. It wasn’t for drinking—it… Read more: Ashwood County 4
- Ashwood County 5Chapter Five: Like a Bad Joke The call came in just after dawn. Something about a flipped truck at the old Quikfly station on County Route 9. Danner almost ignored it — figured it was a drunk with a rusty… Read more: Ashwood County 5
- Ashwood County 6Chapter Six: The Body Drop The tulips bled red under a sky thick with haze. Rows of them stretched across the valley like obedient soldiers, too still, too perfect. Fog clung low to the ground, thick enough to hide a… Read more: Ashwood County 6
- Ashwood County 7Chapter Seven: The House That Remembers The sheriff’s office smelled like old paper and older coffee—bittersweet, sour, and soaked in regret. It was the kind of smell that sank into your skin and left a mark. The kind of smell… Read more: Ashwood County 7
- Ashwood County 8Chapter Eight: Ashwell Farm A casefile of rot, silence, and things that still breathe when no one’s left to listen. No one mowed the lawn after she left. Didn’t matter much—the grass never really grew right out there anyway. It… Read more: Ashwood County 8