Gold Beneath the Dust: A Novel of Secrets, Betrayal, and the Ultimate Treasure

Three friends. One deadly summer. Seventeen years of silence.

When Jake Miller discovers a map hidden in his late aunt's belongings, he's forced to confront the one thing he's spent years avoiding: the truth about his grandfather's death in 1968. The map leads to gold, but more importantly, it leads back to Mira Blake and Claire Delaney, the two women who defined his youth and destroyed his future in a single summer night.

Some treasures are worth dying for. Others are worth living with.

Mira Blake built her life on being in control. A successful San Francisco lawyer who never looks back. But Jake's call shatters her carefully constructed world, threatening to expose not just her grandmother's criminal past, but the secret that three teenagers have carried since a boy named Tom Morrison drowned in a reservoir in 1979.

Claire Delaney traded her artistic dreams for survival, always caught between Jake's obsession and Mira's fears. Now she must choose between protecting the life she's built and uncovering the truth about three women who loved each other across decades of deception.

In the Mojave Desert, three grandchildren hunt for gold their grandparents stole. What they find instead will either destroy them or set them free.

As Jake, Mira, and Claire follow a trail of clues through abandoned mines and desert ghost towns, they uncover a love story that spans sixty years. Three women who chose each other despite the men who tried to own them. Eleanor Blake, Frances Rivers, and Rose Delaney built their lives on a foundation of necessary lies, hidden love, and blood soaked gold.

But someone else is following the same trail. Someone who believes the past should stay buried, along with anyone who tries to dig it up.

From San Francisco's shadowed alleys to the Mojave's killing heat, Gold Beneath the Dust weaves together two generations bound by secrets, betrayal, and the kind of love that transforms or destroys.

This literary thriller explores the prices we pay for our grandparents' sins, the truths we bury to survive, and the patterns we must break to truly live. Perfect for readers who loved Where the Crawdads Sing, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and Big Little Lies.

Because sometimes the real treasure isn't what you find. It's learning when to stop digging.

About This Book:

• A multi generational saga spanning from 1968 to 1998
• Three intertwining perspectives reveal buried family secrets
• Explores themes of inherited trauma, chosen family, and redemptive love
• Set against the atmospheric backdrop of the Mojave Desert
• Features complex LGBTQ+ characters and relationships
• A literary thriller that balances suspense with emotional depth

Content Note: This novel contains themes of violence, mentions of past trauma, and explores LGBTQ+ relationships within historical context. The story ultimately celebrates love, chosen family, and healing.