KILLING INNOCENCE, the second installment in Merit Clark's award-winning Denver-based mysteries, takes homicide detective Jack Fariel deep into the world of human trafficking.

"How could four young women simply disappear? One similarity between them-girls no
one cared about, no one would look for, no one would miss. Perfect prey."

What if a church was a front for human trafficking?

A minister with deadly secrets.
A brutal zealot for hire.
A sadistic manipulative millionaire.

And dead girls discarded in Denver's back alleys.

Detective Jack Fariel has more bodies than leads or time. When his homicide investigation uncovers a sex trafficking ring, Jack realizes he's not up against a single murderer, but a criminal network with ties to the Middle East.

Young lives are destroyed when vulnerable, undocumented immigrant girls think they've found safe harbor at a church and instead find themselves facing sex work or death-or both.

Building a case strong enough to take down this evil enterprise will challenge Jack in ways he could never have anticipated. As he gets closer to the truth, he's hunted by an adversary with no remorse, no conscience, no hesitation.

But Jack won't let these young innocents down. He'll stop the trafficking even if it costs him his life.