STAMFORD, Conn. - s4story -- RALEIGH, N.C. — What if the most important witness to a murder couldn't speak, but could still reveal when, where, and perhaps how a person died?

In A River Remembers, North Carolina's award-winning author Lee Clark introduces readers to Tegan McFarland, a forensic entomologist whose expertise in insects helps investigators uncover answers the dead can no longer provide.

The novel is the first book in Clark's Red River Murders series, blending murder, forensic science, family secrets, and a protagonist who is far more comfortable with bugs than she is with people.

Tegan deliberately left the tiny North Carolina town of Piney Grove behind to build a life and career in Raleigh. But murder, mystery, and circumstances beyond her control keep drawing her back.

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Waiting for her there is something even more complicated than a crime scene: family she never knew she had and, as it turns out, fervently wishes she didn't.

Jaded, sarcastic, and sometimes snarky, Tegan has learned that insects can be easier to understand than human beings. They don't judge. They don't bully. They don't belittle. And the evidence they leave behind can help her speak for victims who no longer have a voice.

As Tegan works with investigators, her determination remains constant: find answers for the murdered and provide closure for the families left behind.

A Raleigh native with family ties to Virginia, Clark spent more than 20 years in the software technology industry before pursuing a longtime passion for writing fiction.

While the crimes and characters of Clark's fictional world are imagined, some of the emotional foundations behind the writing are deeply personal. Clark has said that another of the author's fictional characters from her first seven-book series, Matthew Paine, was inspired in part by two important men in Clark's life, brother Sean and son Will, who may recognize elements of themselves and some of their struggles in the character.

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With A River Remembers, Clark brings together a distinctly North Carolina setting, an unconventional investigator, the fascinating science of forensic entomology, and the complicated ties of family and home.

Unfortunately for Tegan, Piney Grove isn't finished with her yet.

About Lee Clark

Lee Clark is a North Carolina native and award-winning author who spent more than two decades in software technology before turning to fiction.

About A River Remembers

A River Remembers is the first book in Lee Clark's Red River Murders series.

Books are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other retailers.