Beneath the Pepper Tree — Michelle Montebello

NOTE: This is book 3 in the Belle Series. Please only read this if you have read INTERWOVEN and A HOUSE OF LIES.If you haven't read Interwoven or A House of Lies, you may pre-order THE SUMMER OF EVERYTHING to start the new Belle series.The Belle Series is being rebranded with new covers and new titles. Thank you.  Tuscany, 1984: On the evening of the annual Medieval Spring Festival, a child mysteriously vanishes without a trace, shattering the tranquil existence of a small town. Her body was never found.  Thirty-five years later, Belle is living a peaceful life in a Tuscan farmhouse with her fiancé, Andrea, when she stumbles across a box buried beneath the old pepper tree on the farmhouse grounds.  The box contains a collection of curious items and as Belle sets out to locate the owner, she discovers the town has some carefully buried secrets of its own. The anniversary of the child's disappearance draws near and Belle is faced with the question of what really happened to her.  When Belle digs deeper, she realises that some in the town will do anything to protect the truth about that night. Confronted with grim theories, dubious suspects and a town too entrenched in its faith to be objective, Belle, at great personal cost, must fight to uncover the truth about the missing girl and the box beneath the pepper tree.