Kevin West

When a cryptic email reignites a long-cold missing person case in rural Wyoming, retired teacher Kara Upton and her unlikely team of educator-detectives are plunged into a labyrinth of secrets, dangers, and heartbreak. Nine years after Hazel Jackson vanished without a trace, her niece's desperate plea and a mysterious message-"It's always the last place you look"-pulls Kara and the Baseline Detective Agency into a web tangled by organized crime, small-town loyalties, and wounds that refuse to heal.
As the team-each member balancing classroom duties and personal demons-chases fresh leads, they uncover clues buried in the past: a poisoned drug trade, a shadowy crime syndicate known as the 307s, and the enduring scars of loss and betrayal. When new evidence surfaces and old threats return, the investigation tests the limits of friendship, courage, and forgiveness. The Last Place You Look is a gripping, character-driven mystery that explores the high cost of truth in a world where silence can kill-and hope is often found where you least expect it.
Will Kara and her team bring Hazel home, or will the shadows of the past claim another victim? The answer lies in the last place you look.