Eventually, every story comes to an end.
Thomas Austin has three weeks until his daughter is born. Three weeks to finish the nursery, keep the peace at home, and finally put the badge away for good.
Then a priest is found murdered inside a confessional at St. Thomas Cathedral overlooking Elliott Bay. His throat has been cut and a decades-old NYPD case file placed beside the body. And on his right palm, a single carved word: AUSTIN.
The file is from Austin’s first homicide as a rookie cop, the case that sent serial killer Alexi Chronich to prison for life. Chronich walked free six months ago after new DNA evidence ripped apart the original conviction. Now the people tied to that case are dying one by one: the defense team, the witnesses, even jurors.
Was Chronich innocent, or simply better at hiding the truth than the science was at finding it?
As bodies appear across Kitsap County and Seattle, Austin is forced to relive the case that shaped him. Each answer drags him closer to a past he’d hoped would stay buried. And when the killer’s final target is revealed, Austin must face a truth he’s avoided for twenty-five years.
Every story has an ending. The only mystery left is whether Thomas Austin can survive returning to where his began.
Important note from the author:
A title like An Ending on Elliott Bay invites a certain assumption, and I want to address it before you turn the page.
When I started this book, the thought crossed my mind that it might be Austin’s last. Thirteen books is a long road, and there was a temptation to have Austin set down the badge.
So I made the decision early on to choose a title that could end the series and a story that would close the circle on the case that started Austin’s career twenty-five years ago. I wanted to give this story the weight a finale deserves, whether or not it turned out to be the finale.
I’m glad to tell you it isn’t.
Austin has more road ahead of him. The Confession at Friday Harbor, Book 14, is coming later this year, and there’s a great deal still in store for Austin. And, of course, for Run.
The “ending” in this title is Austin’s reckoning with where he began, not a farewell to where he’s going.
Thank you, as always, for staying with Austin, with me, and—of course—with Run.
– D.D. Black
A triple homicide. A blind witness. What is the sound of evil?
A thousand people watched. No one saw a thing.
An elusive terrorist. A city on razor's edge. Twenty-four hours to stop a massacre.
Across the Pacific Northwest, a twisted killer stalks victims representing ancient archetypes: The Ruler. The Warrior. The Scholar. The Priest.
In the fragments of a failing mind lie clues to a forgotten evil. Can FBI Task Force S.W.O.R.D. uncover the truth before it disappears forever?
What did Daniel Kessler see before the Salish Star vanished beneath the dark waters off San Juan Island?
The most dangerous people in the world have nothing left to lose. Except each other.
Some mysteries aren't solved. They're survived.
