Once Wicked, Always Dead by T. Marie Benchley

Molly Madison is thrilled her parents are driving down to Florida to spend time with her and the family from Montana.  She has been lonely lately as her husband Phillip always seems to be working.  But then, her parents are killed on their trip and Molly and Phillip make a trip back to her home in Montana to settle the estate.  Phillip, a lead partner in a lawyer firm, thinks they should sell the farm.  The money would come in handy for his hopeful political career.  Molly thinks the new ranch foreman, Clayton Leatherbe, is one fine man to look at, but she doesn't agree to sell just yet.  She wants to think about it awhile.

Phillip has a secret life, and his lover wants him all to himself.  In order to do that, he knows he has to tell Molly about them, even though Phillip doesn't want him to.  But Molly takes the news better than expected, leaving Phillip everything but the ranch, and asking for a divorce.  She moves back to Montana and begins to find herself again and how to run the ranch. 

She'd like to get to know Clayton better, but he too has secrets, and is afraid to get too close just yet.  Then, someone begins sabotage the ranch.  Molly thinks she knows who it is, but is determined that the wealthy developers won't get their hands on her land.  Clayton learns a secret about Molly's family and is determined to take care of it so Molly doesn't have to get involved.  But the secret involves a sociopath who has come to town, as well as Phillips ex-lover.  The town isn't big enough for all of them, but the sociopath is determined to take a life, even if it is Molly's.

Once Wicked, Always Dead is a stellar romantic suspense.  The characters are vibrant, complex, and compelling.  The plot is sound -- I never did figure out who the sociopath was until it was revealed to me.  High marks for that! The killer is callous, cold, and calculated and quickly held my attention.  I was fascinated with the workings of their mind. The romance is more of a back story but does lend more substance to the storyline, but it was passionate and emotional.  I highly recommend Once Wicked, Always Dead to any mystery or thriller lover.  I will be looking for more work from this very talented author!