Down in the Holler
Judith Temple, a hyper-logical software developer, has little patience with uncertainty and imprecision, but the apparently psychic visions she’s experiencing have turned into something she can no longer ignore. When Judith finds herself drawn into a decades-old missing person cold case in rural Kentucky, she must learn to use both her analytical mind and her newfound ability (skill? gift? curse? delusion?) to find the mysterious woman reaching out to her.
A Judith Temple Mystery
Here's what our readers say:
"I read this book during its original serialized run on Substack, and I LOVED it! I quickly bonded with this apparently neurodivergent and psychically gifted private investigator, and immediately took to shipping her with the handsome if somewhat antagonistic sheriff who helped on her investigation.
This is an engaging mystery with twists and turns and a solution I didn't quite manage to work out but made total sense. The first in a series, I've since read the sequels and I love them all. It certainly helps that Bridget Riley is a talented writer who paints vivid scenes with often poetic turn s of phrase.
I'm saying as someone who is more a fan of thrillers than of cozy mysteries. Given the subject matter, it spans those genres seamlessly. I can't wait for Judith's next adventure!"
"This story is based on an actual cold case, but where reality fails to cough up answers, Bridget takes over with fiction. The story feels tense and all of the characters in it are strong and distinct, each one adding to the tension and plot in their own way. The main character, Judith Temple, is a character I could read a dozen books about. She is consistent but not stagnant, she grows and develops, and I am very excited to see where she goes and what she does. I love the combination of an analytical and logical mind with the ability to peer into the paranormal, it works so well here. It reminds me ever so slightly of Stephen King’s Holly character, specifically in the Bill Hodges books."
"Descriptions & metaphors are beautifully executed in this intriguing story. You will be drawn into a fast read. I hope more is coming from this author."
"The psychic detective has been worked over many times, but this is an interesting take on the subject. It's also an extremely well-written one, to a degree rare in a first-time author. Bridget Riley's amateur sleuth, Judith Temple, is a driven, overly-logical and organized, and downright unsociable computer programmer who doesn't believe in the supernatural and doesn't like having psychic visions. But she can't ignore them, so she takes on a second career as a mystery-solving psychic consultant. This first case takes her to backwoods Kentucky to find a teenage girl missing for 20 years. Compelling, well-sketched characters and situations drive the story. Well worth the read."
In This Series
Down in the Holler
Bridget Riley, 2025
Beasts of the Field
Murmurs in the Walls
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