Hannah
Mary McKinnon
On Sale
Date: September 9, 2025
978077838767
Trade
Paperback
$18.99
USD
400
pages
ABOUT
THE BOOK:
You never know who’s listening.
To Stella Dixon, sneaking her teenage brother out of their parents’ house for a beach party was harmless fun—until Max disappeared without a trace.
Six years later, Stella’s family is still broken, and she can’t let go of her guilt. The only thing that keeps her going is helping other families find closure through A Killer Motive, her true crime podcast.
In a bid to find new sponsors and keep making episodes, Stella goes on a local radio show. But when she says on air that if she had just one clue, she’d find Max and bring whoever hurt him to justice, someone takes it as a challenge.
A mysterious invitation to play a game arrives, with the promise that if Stella wins, she’ll get information about what happened to Max. Stella thinks it’s a sick joke…until Max’s best friend vanishes. And she’s given new instructions: tell nobody or people will die.
Desperate and unable to trust anyone, Stella agrees. But beating a twisted, invisible enemy seems impossible when they make all the rules…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
|
|
Internationally bestselling author Hannah Mary McKinnon was born in the
UK, grew up in Switzerland and moved to Canada in 2010. Her eight suspense
novels include THE REVENGE LIST, ONLY ONE SURVIVES, and A KILLER MOTIVE, and
her work has been optioned for the screen. She also writes holiday romantic
comedies as Holly Cassidy. Hannah Mary lives near Toronto, Canada with her
husband and three sons. You’ll find her on socials as @hannahmarymckinnon, and
please visit www.hannahmarymckinnon.com for more. |
SOCIALS:
Website: www.HannahMaryMcKinnon.com
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/HannahMaryMcKinnon (@hannahmarymckinnon)
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/HannahMaryMcKinnon/ (@hannahmarymckinnon)
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/HannahMMcKinnon (@hannahmmckinnon)
Goodreads:
www.goodreads.com/author/show/15144570.Hannah_Mary_McKinnon
BookBub:
www.bookbub.com/authors/hannah-mary-mckinnon
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/hannahmarymckinnon
BUY LINKS:
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-killer-motive-original-hannah-mary-mckinnon/22162887?ean=9780778387671&next=t
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-killer-motive-hannah-mary-mckinnon/1146736156
EXCERPT:
Chapter 1
Stella
My pulse thudded in my neck like
Morse code. A steady tap-tap loosely translating as come on. Shoving my hands
under my thighs, I slid farther down the passenger seat and peered over the
dashboard toward the darkened house at the end of the street.
For ten minutes I’d willed the
motion-activated porch lights to stay off. Hoped the heavy living room drapes
with the silver ring print I’d been mesmerized by as a kid would remain closed,
allowing us to stay undetected.
Tap-tap.
Already 9:47 p.m. Where was he?
The cloudless Maine sky had long
transitioned from bright blue to bubble gum pink before enveloping our corner
of the East Coast in a blanket of rich black velvet. A cool breeze drifted
through the open car window, providing a welcome break from the searing early
August temperatures.
Rain was on its way for Portland
and beyond tomorrow, which would be a welcome relief. For now, the sound of
buzzing cicadas filled the Friday night air while this summer’s hottest anthem
played on a radio somewhere in the distance.
The classic smell of freshly cut grass
invaded my nostrils, conjuring memories of picnics in the park, running through
sprinklers, and hands sticky from melting strawberry popsicles. Like those lazy
days years ago, tonight would be perfect. All I needed was for my brother to
show up.
“Do you think he changed his
mind, Stella?” Jeff said, his voice a gentle rumble.
Glancing at my boyfriend, I took
in his dark blond hair, straight nose, and the sculpted stubble accentuating a
set of epic cheekbones. I let my gaze sweep across his toned biceps and chest.
Underneath the faded-but-somehow-still-fitted Alanis Morissette T-shirt was a
set of rock-hard abs I couldn’t wait to run my hands over again. Part of me
almost wanted Max not to show up so we could go straight home.
I reached for Jeff’s hand and
gave it a squeeze. “No, he’s too excited for the party. I bet he’s waiting for
Mom and Dad to fall asleep in front of the TV.”
Jeff laughed. “Way to make them
sound ancient.”
My parents were fifty-one. I was
about to reply that compared to Jeff’s twenty-four years and my twenty-two,
that was ancient, but the sight of Max emerging between a pair of fir trees
stopped me. With a mischievous grin on his face, he speed-walked toward us, his
hands tucked into the pockets of a Simpsons hoodie.
I smiled at my baby brother. Baby
was slightly unfair considering his eighteenth birthday was under two weeks
away, but I’d forever tease him about being four years younger. Max didn’t
mind. He knew that from the moment I first saw him in the hospital, swaddled in
a bunny-print blanket, his plump cheeks rosy red, I vowed I’d be the best big
sister in the world.
Tonight, my solemn promise meant
busting his grounded ass out of his minimum-security prison, aka our parents’
house, so he could join Jeff and me at what would be the coolest party of the
weekend. Lighthouse Beach was a twenty-five-minute drive from Deering, the
Portland neighborhood where Max and I had grown up, and now I couldn’t wait to
get going.
Max slid into the back seat of
Jeff’s old red pickup truck. I turned around, laughing at my brother’s beaming
face and the perpetual impish twinkle in his green eyes, which looked so much
like mine.
“We were about to leave,” I
deadpanned. “Thought you’d chickened out.”
Max snorted. “As if.”
“Are we picking up Kenji?”
“He’s at his girlfriend’s so
he’ll meet us at the beach,” Max said, before jokingly adding, “He’d better,
considering he’s taking off next week. Some best friend he is, leaving me
behind.”
“Hey,” I shot back with mock
indignation. “I thought I was your best friend.”
“Are you two sure about this
aiding and abetting?” Jeff cut in before Max could throw a good-natured sibling
zinger my way. “Your mom will go ballistic if she finds out.”
Max shrugged. “I don’t care.
She’s way overprotective.”
“You know her reasons,” Jeff
said.
We all did. Mom’s older brother
died when she was nine and he was seventeen. It was terrible how some asshole
truck driver had run over our uncle, killing him instantly. Still, Max’s
rebellion tonight was fueled by the fact Mom had banned him from going to
California with Kenji, saying it was too far away, and Max was too young.
They’d had a massive argument about it, which led to my brother being grounded
for the weekend, hence tonight’s great escape.
“I told them I was heading to
bed,” Max said. “They never check, but I stacked my pillows under the duvet
just in case. Nobody will notice.”
“If they do, I’ll take the full
blame.” I patted Jeff’s hand. “Max, we’ll drive you home. No after-parties with
Kenji, got it? What Mom and Dad don’t know can’t hurt them.”
“Sir, yes, sir.” Max gave me a
salute. “Anyway, I’ll need some sleep. I’m volunteering at the clinic tomorrow.
Woolly had a mass removed and I want to be there for him.”
“Woolly?” Jeff said. “Dog or
sheep?”
My brother grinned. “Giant Angora
rabbit. He’s awesome.”
“You’re such a softie,” I said
before letting out a whoop. “All right, let’s go. Lighthouse Beach, here we
come.”
A KILLER MOTIVE
by
Hannah Mary McKinnon
Available September 2025 from MIRA.
Copyright © 2025 by Hannah McKinnon
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