M. R. Rutter

A sinkhole is the perfect place to hide a body. Or is it?

While standing over the skeletons of young women discovered deep beneath the earth, Deputy Sheriff Ingrid Olaffsen knew she was facing the challenge of her career. One she thought she’d never see working in rural Minnesota.

She was wrong.

Soon there’s the disappearance of yet another girl and Ingrid realizes that she’s on the trail of a killer. One she has to stop, before the unthinkable happens.

When Michael Wilson appears in Ingrid’s life and investigation, Ingrid is torn. She is attracted to the handsome, enigmatic former marine with sad eyes, a slow drawl and a killer smile. More so than she has ever been in her life, but she doesn’t fully trust his motives.

Ingrid doesn’t know whether to cuff him or kiss him. But she does know that the only place she feels strong, safe and whole is in his arms.

How can Ingrid believe in love when she can’t even trust the ground beneath her feet?

"Rutter gets it right in this debut novel. With a keen eye for gritty

detail, she's crafted a compelling page-turner that will especially appeal

to readers seeking edgy, realistic romantic suspense. Dangerous Ground

launches a promising career!"

--* New York Times* Bestselling Author Wendy Corsi Staub

M.R. Rutter fills her prose with evocative details that make her settings

come to life in all their wonderful creepiness, such as describing a

tree branch, "its bark peeling off like decaying skin," or a T-shirt "the

color of wilted buttercups."

Anyone who enjoys the cool-as-hell forensics of *Bones* or *CSI *will

love *Dangerous Ground. *M.R. Rutter uses the lingo with authority and makes you feel like you're inside the investigation. Maybe it's the science nerd in me, but

reading about the effects of rodent predation on remains was fascinating.

Not many procedurals manage to pull off that sort of thing, but this

author makes it feel organic, like the reader is learning right next to

no-nonsense lady cop Ingrid Olaffsen.

The romance between main characters Ingrid and Michael is satisfying, and

not at all formulaic. Ingrid sees something she likes and she goes for it.

I like that in a woman. Tension builds for the reader because we know

Michael has an ulterior motive for charming her. His internal conflict

makes him an absorbing character.

If you like for strong female protagonists, you'll find one here. Ingrid is

the rock of her family, and that's saying a lot because she's the oldest of

eight sisters. Eight! That's some serious estrogen power. Ingrid's

relationship with her sisters is one of my favorites parts of the book. She

shares easy humor and good-natured ribbing with the older ones. To the

youngest, only 17, she struggles to fill the shoes of their dead mother.

You have to respect a woman handling the difficulty of raising a teenager

while she works to solve a series of horrific murders.

* Libby Doyle, author of The Covalent Series and member of Romance Writers of America