Pros and Cons Mysteries

During this snowstorm, the true danger isn’t the cold—it’s the secrets people keep.

Olive Sterling and Jason Stewart expected Aegis’s Christmas retreat in the Smoky Mountains to be a rare chance to breathe, reconnect, and enjoy a peaceful holiday away from the chaos of their high-risk world. Instead, they discover that even the most picturesque setting can conceal the darkest of intentions.

When Olive finds a teammate’s body frozen in the snow, she instantly knows his death was no accident. As a brutal storm traps the team on the mountain with a killer in their midst, Olive and Jason must uncover the truth before the body count rises.

But when every footprint leads to more questions—and every teammate becomes a suspect—suspicion turns as lethal as the dropping temperatures. With trust eroding and fear closing in, Olive and Jason must decide who they can truly rely on—and who they can’t.

Pros and Cons Mysteries

Misdirection

 

Smokescreen

 

Deception

 

Artifice

 

Obscurity

 

Enigma

 

Frostbite

 

 

Some secrets refuse to stay buried . . .

Olive Sterling thought time off from her job would finally give her the chance to uncover the truth about her family’s unsolved murders. The man she believes holds the answers is none other than the father of Jason Stewart—her former boyfriend and current colleague. But when that man turns up wounded and then vanishes, Olive has no choice but to bring Jason into the hunt.

When Jason discovers Olive went behind his back to investigate his father, the betrayal cuts deep, threatening the fragile trust between them. Yet with his father missing, Jason can’t stay on the sidelines.

Together, Olive and Jason search for the truth, following the evidence back to Oasis, Texas—the town where their story first began. But every answer uncovers more questions, and each step pulls them deeper into danger.

Secrets from past and present collide. Can Olive and Jason unravel the mystery before the peril surrounding the truth consumes them both? Or will the answers they seek destroy them forever?

Pros and Cons Mysteries

Misdirection

 

Smokescreen

 

Deception

 

Artifice

 

Obscurity

 

Enigma

 

Frostbite

 

 

Deep in the forests of Blackridge, shadows have secrets—and a hidden predator waits.

When the daughter of a tech billionaire vanishes while hiking near Pinecrest, private investigator Olive Sterling and her new colleague Jason respond to the desperate plea for help. Seven hikers have already disappeared in these woods over the past three years, each one during the new moon, each one without a trace.

The only clue? A final text message from the missing woman: The trees are watching.

Olive and Jason discover an abandoned mining town slowly being reclaimed by the forest. But someone has transformed the ghost town’s crumbling structures and the surrounding woods into an elaborate psychological maze designed to disorient, terrify, and ultimately trap its victims.

With the new moon approaching and time running out, Olive and Jason must navigate both the dark woods and the suspicious townspeople, each who seems to guard secrets about the abandoned settlement. But the most dangerous secret might be the unresolved tension between Olive and Jason themselves, as their first case together forces them to confront their complicated past.

In the darkest nights of Blackridge Forest, what’s more dangerous—the predator hunting them, or the truths they’ve been hiding from each other?

The thrilling fifth installment in USA Today bestselling author Christy Barritt’s Pros and Cons series.

Pros and Cons Mysteries

Misdirection

 

Smokescreen

 

Deception

 

Artifice

 

Obscurity

 

Enigma

 

Frostbite

 

 

Three missing teens. One coastal retreat. Zero room for error.

When the teenage son of a prominent Boston family vanishes from Lighthouse Harbor—an exclusive therapeutic retreat for troubled youth—private investigator Olive Sterling is called in to find him. The pristine coastal town appears picture-perfect, but beneath its charming New England exterior, something sinister lurks.

Going undercover as a wealthy benefactor, Olive infiltrates the rehabilitation center where something doesn’t add up. Strange behavior from the staff, whispers of experimental treatments, and a suspicious death labeled as an accident all point to a dangerous conspiracy. As two more teens disappear, the stakes escalate.

Complicating matters is “Sean,” a curriculum consultant whose penetrating questions and convenient timing make Olive question his true motives. Their undeniable attraction only adds to her confusion—is he an ally in her investigation or someone with his own dangerous agenda?

With time running out and a storm approaching the treacherous coastline, Olive must uncover the truth before another life is lost.

Pros and Cons Mysteries

Misdirection

 

Smokescreen

 

Deception

 

Artifice

 

Obscurity

 

Enigma

 

Frostbite

 

 

Sometimes, coming home is beautiful. Other times, it’s fatal.

Private investigator Olive Sterling never wanted to return to Oasis, Texas. But when an old flame asks her to investigate a beloved local teacher who claims to have terminal cancer, she reluctantly agrees to help. While the community rallies around Rebecca Roberts with prayers and financial support, something about her story doesn’t add up.

As Olive digs deeper, disturbing patterns emerge. Then there’s the mysterious man on a motorcycle who’s watching her every move. For Olive, whose own father was a master of deception, this case hits dangerously close to home.

When threatening messages start arriving, Olive realizes this investigation is stirring up secrets someone would kill to keep buried.

Pros and Cons Mysteries

Misdirection

 

Smokescreen

 

Deception

 

Artifice

 

Obscurity

 

Enigma

 

Frostbite

 

 

She was raised by a con artist. She’s using the skills she learned to catch a killer.

Growing up as a scammer’s daughter, Olive Sterling learned early on that deception is an art form. Now as a professional investigator, she’s transformed those skills into weapons for justice.

Reid Harrison’s Wyoming ranch is under siege. As sabotage escalates to death threats, he turns to Olive’s team for help. Posing as the rancher’s girlfriend, Olive works to uncover what’s smoldering beneath a string of unlikely accidents and vandalism.

When her probing catches the wrong attention, Olive becomes the next target. With lives and millions in property at stake, she faces an impossible choice: back down and survive, or risk everything to expose a killer ready to watch it all burn?

Pros and Cons Mysteries

Misdirection

 

Smokescreen

 

Deception

 

Artifice

 

Obscurity

 

Enigma

 

Frostbite

 

 

One high-risk assignment. Two dangerous secrets.

As a teen, Olive Sterling’s entire family was murdered, leaving her alone and desperate for answers. She’s learned to compartmentalize her loss and trust no one. Now she lives in the shadows, working as an undercover investigator for an elite private security firm.

Her latest assignment seems straightforward: Identify a corporate mole who plans to sell dangerous classified technology to foreign operatives. When Olive runs into Jason Stewart—the only man she’s ever loved—at her target company, her carefully constructed walls begin to crumble.

With thousands of lives on the line, Olive can’t afford to make a mistake. But as bodies start dropping and suspicions rise, Olive must decide: Can she trust Jason with the truth? Or will exposing the painful secrets from her past prove to be a deadly mistake?

The first book in the pulse-pounding Pros and Cons series, MISDIRECTION is a high-stakes thriller about betrayal, redemption, and the fine line between truth and deception.

Misdirection Book Club Questions

Pros and Cons Mysteries

Misdirection

 

Smokescreen

 

Deception

 

Artifice

 

Obscurity

 

Enigma

 

Frostbite