Detour

An atmospheric paranormal romantic suspense novel about a private investigator with a transplanted heart, the ghost who insists her donor's death was no accident, and the widowed rancher who doesn't believe the woman carrying his wife's heart.

Six months after dying, she has a brand-new heart.

An unwelcome aversion to risk.

And a ghost who insists her death was no accident.

Private investigator Sierra Martindale knows something is wrong.

Her instincts tell her that the death of the woman whose heart now beats inside her wasn't an accident.

Her other source is a little harder to explain.

Because the dead woman herself seems determined to make Sierra investigate.

Rancher Wyatt James doesn't believe the extraordinary story told by the stranger who arrives carrying his late wife's heart. He's already lost the woman he loved. He has no intention of letting Sierra turn her death into a mystery based on ghosts, intuition, and questions that should have been laid to rest.

But Sierra isn't going away.

And if Wyatt doesn't help her, she's likely to investigate on her own—and risk the second chance at life his wife's precious gift made possible.

So the skeptical rancher and determined private investigator become reluctant partners.

Then Sierra starts finding answers.

Answers someone doesn't want uncovered.

With every step closer to the truth, the danger grows—and so does the attraction between Sierra and the man who has an unsettling connection to the heart beating inside her.

Someone wants the past to stay buried. A dead woman wants the truth revealed. And Sierra's second chance at life may end if she discovers which secret was worth killing for.

What is Detour about?

Detour is Book 11 in the Midnight Whispers romantic suspense series by Sylvie Kurtz. The novel follows private investigator Sierra Martindale, whose life was saved by a heart transplant six months earlier.

Now Sierra believes her donor's death was no accident.

Even more unsettling, the dead woman appears to be telling her so.

Sierra's investigation leads her to rancher Wyatt James—the widower of the woman whose heart Sierra received.

Wyatt doesn't believe Sierra's story.

But when her questions begin putting her in danger, he must help protect the woman carrying his late wife's heart while confronting the possibility that Sierra's impossible theory might be right.

Is Detour a paranormal romantic suspense novel?

Yes. Detour blends romantic suspense, murder mystery, and paranormal elements through Sierra's connection with the ghost of her heart donor.

Sierra is a private investigator accustomed to following evidence and trusting her instincts.

A dead woman demanding that she investigate a suspicious death is something else entirely.

Wyatt is even more skeptical.

But as Sierra begins uncovering secrets surrounding his wife's death, the impossible becomes increasingly difficult to dismiss.

The question isn't only whether Sierra can solve the mystery.

It's whether anyone will believe where some of her information is coming from.

Why does Sierra investigate her heart donor's death?

Sierra believes the woman whose donated heart saved her life didn't die accidentally.

As a private investigator, Sierra can't simply ignore that suspicion.

Especially when the donor's ghost seems determined to make herself heard.

Sierra's investigation becomes more than professional curiosity. She owes her second chance at life to this woman.

If her donor was murdered, Sierra is determined to find out why.

But someone has already gone to great lengths to keep the truth hidden.

And the closer Sierra gets to uncovering it, the more willing that person becomes to stop her.

Why doesn't Wyatt James believe Sierra?

Wyatt James is the widower of Sierra's heart donor.

To him, Sierra's claim sounds impossible.

A stranger has arrived carrying his late wife's heart and insisting that the dead woman is communicating with her—and that the death Wyatt has already grieved may not have been an accident.

Wyatt has every reason to resist reopening that wound.

But he also has a compelling reason to stay close to Sierra.

His wife's heart is keeping her alive.

If Sierra insists on putting herself in danger to investigate, Wyatt can't stand aside and watch her risk the precious second chance his wife gave her.

Working together, however, creates a complication neither expects.

The woman carrying his wife's heart begins touching Wyatt's own.

What romance tropes are in Detour?

Detour combines reluctant allies, opposites in conflict, widower romance, rancher hero, private investigator heroine, forced proximity, paranormal romance elements, protector romance, second chances, and attraction complicated by grief and an extraordinary connection to the past.

Sierra and Wyatt's relationship carries an unusual emotional complication.

She is entirely herself.

But the heart keeping her alive once belonged to the woman Wyatt loved.

As attraction grows between them, both must confront what that connection means—and what it doesn't.

Their romance isn't about replacing the woman Wyatt lost.

It's about whether two people whose lives were changed by the same loss can allow themselves an unexpected future.

What is the central mystery in Detour?

The central mystery is deceptively simple:

Was Sierra's heart donor murdered?

Sierra believes the answer is yes.

Wyatt initially believes she's wrong.

But someone very much alive doesn't want Sierra asking questions about a woman who's already dead.

As Sierra investigates, each answer creates more danger. Someone has a secret worth protecting—and Sierra's determination to expose it puts the second life she was given at risk.

The dead may want the truth revealed.

The living may be willing to kill to prevent it.

What role does the heart transplant play in Detour?

Sierra's transplanted heart is central to both the suspense and the emotional story.

It gave Sierra a second chance at life, but that second chance has changed her. The risk-taking private investigator now finds herself confronting an unwelcome aversion to danger.

Her donor also connects Sierra to Wyatt in a way neither can easily ignore.

For Wyatt, Sierra is a living reminder of devastating loss—and of the extraordinary gift that came from it.

For Sierra, solving her donor's death becomes a way of honoring the woman whose gift allowed her own story to continue.

But the heart beating inside Sierra doesn't determine who she is.

And as Sierra and Wyatt grow closer, they must find a way to separate gratitude from obligation, memory from possibility, and the love that ended from the love that might just be beginning.

What can readers expect from Detour?

Readers can expect a heart-transplant mystery, a private investigator heroine, a skeptical widowed rancher, a ghost with unfinished business, reluctant allies, buried secrets, escalating danger, paranormal elements, grief, second chances, and an emotionally complicated romance.

The mystery asks whether Sierra's donor was murdered—and what secret someone is willing to kill again to protect.

The romance asks an equally unusual question:

Can Wyatt love the woman whose life was saved by his wife's heart without confusing the gift of the past with the possibility of a new future?

And Sierra faces the greatest irony of all.

She was given a second chance at life.

Solving the mystery may get her killed.

Is Detour part of a series?

Yes. Detour is Book 11 and the final book in Midnight Whispers, an eleven-book series of standalone romantic suspense novels by Sylvie Kurtz.

Each Midnight Whispers novel tells a complete story with its own characters, romance, mystery, danger, and resolution, so the books can be read as standalones.

The series is united by its dark, gothic-like atmosphere and stories in which buried secrets, lost memories, hidden identities, dangerous obsessions, unresolved pasts, and unsettling truths refuse to remain safely in the shadows.

If you enjoy paranormal romantic suspense, heart-transplant mysteries, private investigator heroines, rancher heroes, widower romance, ghosts, murder mysteries, reluctant allies, second chances, and love complicated by secrets from the past, take the unexpected Detour.

A dead woman gave Sierra her heart. Now her ghost wants Sierra to discover who killed her—and someone is willing to kill again to make sure she never does.