Secrets to the Grave

Tami Hoag’s novel Secrets to the Grave, the second book in the Oak Knoll series, considers the eponymous town Oak Knoll, California. Fraught with a history of mysterious disappearances, murders, and treachery, the town reels from yet another murder scene, in which Marissa Fordham is found mutilated and dead on her kitchen floor next to her daughter, Haley, who is severely wounded. In the ensuing investigation, FBI agent Vince Leone and his wife, Anne, advocate for Haley within an inflexible and unfeeling justice system, while also striving to extract information about the murderer.

The novel begins at the scene of Marissa Fordham’s murder. A mysterious woman and an artist with great potential whom the community perceived as secretive, but innocuous, her murder comes as a shock. At the scene, the police find Marissa’s mutilated body next to her unconscious four-year-old daughter, who is in critical condition. Law enforcement cannot help but connect this incident to the string of serial killings that occurred in the previous year, which are covered in Hoag’s previous novel. The town, most of its population from the local college, reels with fear and grief.

The grisliness and cruelty of the murder suggest that the murderer knew Fordham. Oak Knoll’s sheriff and his team of investigators quickly place a call to Vince Leone, formerly an FBI profiler, to help find the murderer. Meanwhile, Leone works as a team with his wife, Anne. Presently taking night classes to become a child psychologist, Anne reaches out to the young Haley during her recovery in the hospital to give her emotional catharsis and learn more about her memory of the crime. Out of her attempts to support Haley, a conflict emerges with the appearance of the girl’s godmother, Milo, a wealthy woman and artist who demands custody of Haley. The legal system, which is largely outside of the protagonists’ control, is eager and willing to quickly ship Haley off to an obvious and expedient destination. Yet, as the only witness to the crime, Haley is needed by Leone and Anne to divulge as many details as possible.



Meanwhile, Anne juggles her responsibility to give Haley a voice with her own child-rearing of a troubled twelve-year-old student at the school where she is working as a counselor. Ostracized by his peers, extended family, and most counseling professionals, everyone has given up on him, except Anne. At the same time, Anne is busy serving as the principal witness for the serial killing spree that took place the previous year. After an appearance in front of a judge, Anne manages to win temporary custody of Haley.

In their investigation, Leone and Anne eventually confirm that Marissa’s artistic mentor, Milo Bourdain, killed Marissa. Anne coaxes confirmation out of Haley after helping her to heal somewhat from the trauma. After being discovered, Milo tries to kill Anne before she tells anyone else. Anne escapes and, investigating further, learns that the psychotic and controlling Milo wanted Haley as her own child. However, after seeing a picture of a clearly not-pregnant Marissa during the time just before Haley’s birth, Anne questions Marissa’s identity as well. The investigators arrive at the conclusion that after murdering Marissa in her own home, Milo realized that Haley saw the attack, and tried to kill her to get rid of a witness.

The novel ends as Anne and Leone discuss the imprisonment of Milo Bourdain, hoping that she will be locked away for life. Illuminating the complexities of different familial relationships, the ways in which murder is aesthetically embodied by both murderer and investigator, how critical details can be kept under lock and key by the silence of a traumatized child, Secrets to the Grave is both a traditional murder mystery and a novel interrogation of the intellectual life that underlies criminality.