The Well-Placed Lie - Kari Lee Townsend

A winter death. A dangerous deception. A festival where one carefully placed lie could shatter everything.

Lyra Wells is determined to keep Winter WishFest steady after a year of upheaval. Snowglow lanterns. Carolers in the square. A town ready to believe in hope again. All she has to do is protect the well that binds Wishville, Vermont, to the hidden realm of Elarion-and avoid another catastrophe. But when a respected local woman collapses mid-song during the Snowglow Sing, the tragedy feels too precise to be coincidence.

The official explanation comes quickly. Too quickly. And Lyra can't ignore the quiet certainty that something about this death was engineered.

As small thefts ripple through the celebration and a hooded figure begins appearing at the edges of the snow-covered crowd, Lyra realizes someone is manipulating more than just events. Chief Holden Thorn wants evidence before fear fractures the town. Calderis senses unrest stirring across Elarion, where whispers of imbalance refuse to fade. Caught between two realms already strained by secrets, Lyra must untangle a winter mystery built not on brute force-but on misdirection.

The most dangerous weapon isn't magic or murder. It's a lie placed so carefully that uncovering it could unravel everything the well was meant to protect.

And in Wishville, the truth may be the only thing powerful enough to survive.