Four and Twenty Blackbirds

Twin Peaks meets Riverdale in this thrilling, blustery, and romantic series starter from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Susan Dennard.

Sing a song of sixpence, a pocketful of rye . . .

Wren Peters is a dancer, a math nerd, and a loyal member of her three-person dance squad, the Inseparables. She’s home on Blackbird Island for winter break, helping prep for the annual New Year’s Festival and trying very hard not to think about Archer Sullivan. The Sullivans and the Peters have been feuding families for generations, and Archer—with his annoyingly blue eyes and boring-nice-guy routine—is off-limits. Period.

But when Wren has a vivid, visceral nightmare about a man being chased onto a frozen lake, and then he later turns up dead, she can’t help but be freaked out. Especially as her older sister and Archer’s older brother were the last ones to see the dead man alive—and now they both have vanished without a trace.

Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie.

Forced into a secret alliance, Wren and Archer dig into the island’s buried history of old money and even older secrets. To complicate things, Wren’s dreams are getting worse. Strange visions keep bleeding into her waking life. And, oh yeah, that crackling connection between her and Archer? That’s getting worse, too.

If Wren doesn’t start listening to what her dreams are trying to tell her, the killer is going to strike again. And this time, Wren will be the number one target.

Ideal Blend of Genres: This romantic mystery with a splash of horror blends steamy romance, a supernatural atmosphere, and murder. Enemies to Lovers: Sparks fly when Wren and Archer, the son of her family’s mortal enemies, must work together. Cozy Romance: This blustery winter read begs to be read in front of a fire as snow is falling. Small Town Mystery: Wren and Archer have to put aside their differences to find their missing siblings before a killer can strike again.