Crossroad

Original cover art for Crossroad

Crossroad (ISBN: 9781643852805) is the first book-length story in the Melisende Dulac Series.

Publication and Reception

Crossroad was published by Crooked Lane Books in December 2019.

In a pre-release review, Kirkus Reviews said, "A richly drawn background contextualizes the mystery’s melancholy, with bursts of humor emerging like sun through clouds." And Publishers Weekly said, "This pulse-pounding tale begs to be read in one sitting."

Crossroad was released on audiobook on February 7, 2022 by Scribd, narrated by Eleanor Caudill.

General Information

Though the first book in the Melisende Dulac series, Crossroad is the second story. It is preceded by Hey Nineteen, a short story taking place about eight months earlier. It is followed by the novella, "Waldo's Gold."

• Melisende Dulac Chronology

The events of Crossroad take place between 11 July 2017 and 18 July 2017, with the Epilogue occurring on 24 July 2017.

Jacket Copy

On a desolate road in the Oregon high desert, an apprentice mortician stumbles upon a horrific car crash–and into a vortex of treachery, long-buried secrets, and growing menace.

Melisende Dulac is a fish out of water after relocating from the East Coast to a small community in the Oregon high desert. But just as she’s beginning to think of Barlow County as home, her life takes an ominous turn when she comes upon a grisly multiple car wreck and three shattered bodies on an isolated road outside of town. Near the scene, Melisende trips over a fourth body, that of a newborn girl lying a physics-defying distance from the wreckage. There is no one to claim the infant, nor a clear indication she was even part of the accident.

The crash offers plenty of opportunities for an apprentice mortician–but when the victims’ bodies are stolen from her family’s mortuary, Melisende is branded suspect number one. Then, Portland lawyer Kendrick Pride arrives on the scene on behalf of one of the victim’s families–or so he says–and Melisende begins to see that there’s much more to this enigmatic figure than meets the eye.

As the shadows gather and the mystery deepens, Melisende must race to find the truth–or be swallowed by the darkness.

Plot

One July midnight Melisende Dulac, apprentice mortician, is called out to pick up a woman who died at an area nursing home. On the way, she comes upon a horrific car crash at a remote crossroad. At least three are dead and a fourth may not survive the night. But nearby, Melisende trips over a surprising survivor, an uninjured newborn girl lying a physics-defying distance from the wreckage. There is no one to claim the infant, nor even a clear indication she was part of the crash.

The baby is mystery enough, but when the crash victims' bodies are stolen from her family's mortuary, Melisende is quickly branded the best (and only) suspect in the theft. The only way to save herself is to figure out what really happened at the crossroad and how the catastrophe is linked to the unsavory past of the high desert community she's only just begun to think of as home.

Major Characters

• Melisende Dulac
• Rémy Bouton
• Elodie Bouton
• Barb Ellingson
• Deputy Sheriff Jeremy Chapman
• Carrie Dell
• Kendrick Pride
• Paulette Soucie
• Landry MacElroy
• Sheriff Hayward Turnbull
• Chief Deputy Omar Duniway
• Quince Kinsrow
• Doctor Aaron Varney

• Helene Bouton
• Paxton Berber
• Xavier Meyer
• Lydia Koenig
• Shelby Pride
• Molly Claire Maguire

Points of Interest

• Bouton Funerary Service
  • Old Mortuary
  • New Mortuary
• Crestview
• Cuppa Jo
• Shatter Hill
• Whistle Pig

• Hensley School
• Hensley Asylum for Infirm Ladies and Needful Girls

Items of Interest

• The Stiff

• Pride Locket