Urcelia Teixeira
Lilly's Vine - Angus Reid Mysteries Book 5
Lilly's Vine - Angus Reid Mysteries Book 5
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Some secrets are whispered. Others are worth killing for.
For twelve years, librarian Lilly Cooper has been Weyport’s keeper of secrets. But when she stumbles upon a diary linked to a dead woman, she uncovers a conspiracy stretching from her small coastal town to Boston’s highest offices. Someone will do anything to keep the truth buried—permanently.
As bodies surface and danger closes in, Sheriff Angus Reid races to unravel the deadly puzzle. But for Lilly, the real battle lies within—choosing between silence and the truth that could cost everything.
A gripping high-stakes Christian mystery thriller blending suspense, faith, and the price of truth.
🔹 Small coastal town suspense, big-time secrets
🔹 Christian themes of redemption and truth
🔹 Page-turning, faith-filled storytelling
✨ FREE themed 7 Day Bible Plan Journal inside! ✨
Read full synopsis below.
Synopsis
Synopsis
For twelve years, librarian Lilly Cooper has been Weyport's keeper of secrets, collecting whispered confessions like others collect books. But when she discovers a mysterious diary among donated volumes, she finds herself holding a secret that could shatter her coastal town's carefully maintained facade.
The diary belongs to a dead woman. The words inside point to corruption reaching from Weyport's quiet streets to Boston's highest offices.
And someone is willing to kill to keep those words buried.
As bodies surface and witnesses disappear, Sheriff Angus Reid knows this is more than a small-town mystery. With help from his team—including a determined forensic expert and a deputy who never misses—he must unravel a conspiracy that threatens everything he's sworn to protect.
But for Lilly, the danger runs deeper than physical threats. Each revelation forces her to question everything she believes about belonging, truth, and redemption. In a town built on buried secrets, she must decide: continue collecting whispers, or finally start speaking truth.
Like a vine breaking through concrete, truth finds a way. But some vines have thorns, and not everyone survives when light pierces darkness.
From award-winning author Urcelia Teixeira comes a gripping Christian mystery thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Blending atmospheric suspense with deep spiritual themes, LILLY'S VINE explores the price of truth and the power of divine timing.
★ A clean read free from graphic violence, sexual content, and profanity
★ Christian themes of redemption, truth, and divine purpose
★ Small-town mystery meets high-stakes conspiracy
★ Page-turning suspense with spiritual depth
★ Part of the beloved Angus Reid Mystery series but can be read as a standalone
Join Lilly's journey from secret-keeper to truth-seeker in this unforgettable story of corruption exposed and grace revealed. Scroll up and one-click to start reading today!
Lilly's Vine is book 5 in the bestselling Angus Reid Mysteries series.
Chapter One Look Inside
Chapter One Look Inside
Prologue
The bodies were just the beginning, according to the leather-bound diary that lay among the donated books like a coiled serpent. Its unmarked cover gathered dust like buried sins as Lillian Cooper's fingers trembled, lifting it from the box. Something in its weight spoke of secrets too heavy for paper alone.
The library's fluorescent lights cast harsh shadows across her desk as the autumn evening pressed against the windows, turning their reflection into mirrors that showed a woman she barely recognized anymore—gray-streaked hair pulled into a careful bun, silver leaf brooch gleaming at her collar, gold-rimmed glasses catching the artificial glare.
For twelve years, she'd been Weyport's keeper of whispered things. The librarian who knew everyone's stories, who collected confessions like others collected stamps. Each secret carefully cataloged and preserved, currency in a lonely economy of belonging. But this diary... this was different. Its pages carried the scent of desperate truth, of things meant to stay buried.
The note tucked within its pages stopped her breath:
They're watching. If you're reading this, they're probably watching you too. The evidence is hidden where they won't think to look—scattered among everyday things, waiting for someone who knows how to read between lines. Someone who understands the power of secrets.
I don't have much time. What I've uncovered goes deeper than anyone suspects. The environmental studies were just the beginning. The bodies...
The handwriting changed there, growing jagged with urgency. Lilly's heart thundered against her ribs as she recognized the name scrawled in the margin: Holbrook Industries.
The name carried weight in Weyport—their local lumber mill and development projects making them one of the region's most powerful employers, their influence casting long shadows from Boston down the New England coast like dark spires against a troubled sky. They'd brought prosperity, or so everyone said. But Lilly had noticed how the fishing boats returned half-empty these days, how the tide carried strange odors at dawn, how people who asked too many questions seemed to drift away like morning fog.
A floorboard creaked in the library's depths.
Lilly's head snapped up, years of watching others suddenly reversed. The empty aisles stretched into shadow, books standing silent witness as footsteps echoed against polished hardwood. Not the familiar tread of a late patron or fellow staff member—these steps moved with purpose, with the careful precision of someone who didn't want to be heard.
Her fingers tightened on the diary. In all her years of collecting others' secrets, she'd never felt the weight of discovery, the cold certainty of being watched. The silver leaf brooch at her collar seemed to burn against her skin, a reminder of all the times she'd traded in whispered confidences, treating truth like a commodity to be bartered.
The footsteps drew closer. Somewhere in the stacks, a book shifted, then fell. The sound echoed like judgment through the empty library.
Lilly moved quietly, sliding the diary into her bag as training and instinct warred within her. For years she'd hoarded information, treating other people's pain as currency. Now she held something different—truth that demanded action, secrets that carried the weight of life and death.
The corner security mirror showed a shadow moving between the shelves, tall and deliberate. Male. Professional. Someone who knew how to hunt.
If you're reading this, they're watching.
The words of warning lingered. Her fingers brushed the silver leaf brooch at her collar, a nervous habit born of years of social uncertainty. She'd spent her life collecting secrets to fill the void left by abandonment, by the mother who'd left her at St. Michael's, by the families who'd passed her by, by the man who'd left her standing alone at the altar. Each whispered confession had been another brick in her wall against pain.
But this secret... this one would either save her or destroy her.
The figure emerged from between the stacks, streetlight catching the metal in his hand.
Lilly Cooper, keeper of Weyport's secrets, stood at the crossroads of everything she'd been and everything she might become. The diary's weight pressed against her side like truth demanding to be spoken.
The time for collecting whispers was over.
The time for running was about to begin.
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A new Angus Reid mystery to sink our teeth into.
Lilly is a small town gossiper who is well connected within the centre of Weyport's social website of secrets and shenanigans.
Lilly's skilful navigation and meticulous attention to detail have now landed her in hot water with someone who is very determined to keep her silenced and the secrets buried deep.
As Angus and his dedicated team search for Lilly and any answers to her whereabouts or what secrets Weyport is hiding, now becomes more dangerous as the truth starts to reveal itself.
A very well intricate woven web of secrets and betrayal and corruption and hidden truths will be revealed plus a few questions that will keep you coming back for the next Angus Reid mystery.
Sheriff Reid investigates the disappearance of librarian Lilly Cooper. Lilly has been collecting all of the secrets she uncovers, until she uncovers one that someone is willing to kill to keep it secret.
As witnesses to Lilly’s disappearance come to light Sheriff Reid is on a hunt to find them to help locate Lilly. Then as their bodies are found the hunt intensifies and other clues must be found.
When it is discovered that the secrets involve law enforcement, politicians and officials of the highest order Sheriff Reid does not know who he can trust.
Join Sheriff Reid on the hunt to find the truth and to hope you can locate Lilly before it is too late.
There many layers with twists and turns, as the story unfolds before Sheriff Reid can put all of the puzzle pieces together.
I think you will really enjoy this book, I know I did!!
Great story. She only gets better with every book. A must read.
Lilly’s Vine is book 5 of Urcelia Teixeira’s book series about Angus Reid, the sheriff in Weyport, a small coastal town in New England. (I suggest you read Urcelia’s prequel, Lost Boy Found, which lays the foundation for Angus and the town he is now protecting.) Even though Lilly’s Vine is book 5 in a series, you can enjoy this book without reading the earlier books in the series as they are all stand alone books.
Lilly Cooper is the protagonist in this book. She’s the librarian in Weyport and keeper of the town’s whispered things. She knows about everyone, but no one knows about her as she keeps to herself. Sadly, the town misjudges her. She is alone; a woman who has been rejected by family and friends.
The prologue immediately drew me in, gluing my eyes to the pages. A leather-bound diary is left in the donated books. One evening, after the library is closed, Lilly begins reading the diary. She is alarmed at the nefarious details. “If you are reading this, they’re probably watching you too.” Then she senses someone else is in the library. My skin stood on end, wondering what was going to happen next.
The first five chapters help set the backdrop for the rest of the book. The reader gets to know a few more details about Lilly and the diary. Lilly keeps the diary with her and continues reading of a crime scheme that runs deep in the community and all the way to Boston and the State level. And then, the end of the prologue is repeated, this time with Lilly being chased by the unwelcomed guest.
Sheriff Angus Reid appears in chapter 6. Angus is on the Weyport shoreline with his border collie, Scout, when he gets a call that Lilly is missing. Her front door was open and her house ransacked. Angus and his associate, Miguel, slowly begin piecing together clues. A mysterious woman on a bike, a hooded man seen outside Lilly’s place, a dead body. I’ll stop with details as it is quite the mystery that gets unraveled and solved. But do note, the last chapter leaves the reader hanging as a years’ old nagging question for Angus gets new information. More, please…..
I’ve read all of the Angus Reid books and with each one I see Urcelia growing in her craft. Her wordsmithing in this book caused me to visualize what was happening. Urcelia has great attention to detail. I could not put the book down and was kept on the edge of my seat.
I appreciate the cleanness of Urcelia’s books. No swearing. No sex. No graphic violence. I love that God is always part of every book. Her books are inspirational and have great redemptive endings. Urcelia writes a novel everyone can enjoy – from teen to grandparent.
I recommend you add Lilly’s Vine to your spring reading list. It’s a great suspense filled book that will keep you guessing until the end.
