Beyond the Cemetery Gate: The Secret Keeper’s Daughter

Chloe and Maggie Mystery, #1

by

Valerie Biel

Fantastic dual-timeline murder mystery with hints of the paranormal.

Beyond the Cemetery Gate: The Secret Keeper’s Daughter is the first book in author Valerie Biel’s fantastic new young adult/adult cross-over Chloe and Maggie Mystery series and features a clever dual timeline with just a hint of paranormal elements. Chloe Cowyn, who lives with her father in a house nestled with the city cemetery where he works as the caretaker, is awakened one night to screams, shouting, and flickering lights among the headstones. Thinking it is kids who have snuck in for a scary prank, she goes to wake her father so he can shoo the trespassers away. Finding his bed empty and assuming he’s already up and outside doing just that, she heads out as well in case he needs any help, only to find him dead, propped up against a monument with a needle in his arm. When the police declare his death an accidental overdose, Chloe urges them to look closer as she’s certain her father was and never had been an addict and that she had heard multiple voices in the cemetery at the time of his death. The police appear to close the case without further investigation, so Chloe decides to pursue the truth on her own. 

The story cleverly unfolds through the viewpoints of father and daughter, with his narrative providing the backdrop for her account of the events of the present. Unbeknownst to Chloe, Dean Cowyn had been keeping a lot of secrets from her regarding their past, and those secrets were just about to come out into the open in a very dangerous way. 

Chloe is a strong and determined 16-year-old, and she never wavers in her belief that her father’s death was caused by someone else in the cemetery that night. During times of stress, which is practically the entire book, Chloe figuratively turns to her guardian angel, Leb, for comfort, which is promptly given. Described as a loving presence and a warm, comforting hug, the invisible Leb has been a part of Chloe’s life for as long as she can remember. While they do not communicate per se, he is always there when she needs him and ready to provide mental and emotional support. As for Dean, he’s a dedicated father, trying to keep his daughter safe, which also means oblivious to what really happened the night of the house fire that took a life and caused the terrible scars on the lower half of her body. But while Dean kept those secrets from his daughter out of love, her ignorance of the truth puts her at a terrible disadvantage and her life in jeopardy. 

A third narrator, The Watcher, provides stalkerish commentary about Chloe’s movements, and this adds to the tense and creepy atmosphere of the entire story. The Watcher’s identity is kept hidden, and I speculated throughout the book about who it was, thinking it was first one person and then another until, in one of many surprising plot twists, they and their motives are finally revealed. 

The plot is fast-paced and compelling, and I was completely consumed by the story from the moment I began reading it. I could feel Chloe’s frustration with the lack of police action and her rising panic when she was unable to contact Maggie, her only other relative, forcing her to lie to and dodge the county’s social worker. The pressure increases when she realizes her sources of ready cash are gone and the city has given her a quickly approaching deadline to pack and vacate the cemetery house to accommodate the newly hired caretaker. While readers will be fairly certain they know who the killer is, it is the reason why and what comes next that drives the story. 

I recommend BEYOND THE CEMETERY GATE: THE SECRET KEEPER’S DAUGHTER to readers of young adult/adult mysteries and thrillers, especially those who enjoy a little paranormal element in their stories. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.