Harvest Season by Brynne Weaver

Here is a summary with spoilers for Harvest Season by Brynne Weaver

Harper works as a gardener at Lancaster Manor while secretly living under a false identity. She is actually Autumn Bower, a survivor connected to a notorious serial killer. She has been living as Harper happily for years, until Nolan comes in to avenge his brother’s killer in a hit-and-run: Harper. Now that Nolan knows who Harper really is, he decides to confront her about it. Harper fully admits that she is indeed Autumn. Nolan is furious at her because he could have killed her, not knowing he was killing the wrong person. Harper says she promised to never tell anyone, and she really only has her honor left. This leads to the two of them having a makeout session in the woods. The two then continue disposing of the bodies and evidence from Arthur and Harper’s past crimes.

While Nolan is still reeling and coming to terms with Harper’s true identity, he goes back to his place to process, where he runs into Yates, captain of the police. He mentions that he knows Nolan is part of fire safety and could use some extra help since there are now multiple murders and missing people in Cape Carnage. Nolan leaps at the opportunity because he will be able to lead people away from the spots where actual evidence is.

Harper is focused on protecting Arthur, the elderly man who has basically been a mentor to her and has helped conceal her past. Arthur’s worsening dementia creates constant problems as Harper tries to honor promises she made to him while keeping their secrets hidden. Lukas, his grandson, pushes for Arthur to enter a care facility, increasing tensions within their small family. Harper also realizes that now that Nolan knows about her, he is too close to the situation and that he should leave before he gets too entangled in her life. She sends him a text and tells him to leave.

That night, Harper is out cleaning up more of the bodies and evidence when she is sneaked up on. She believes it to be a bear, so she uses bear spray, only for it to be Nolan. He didn’t leave and is upset that she would even suggest that. They have a moment together in the woods, he professes his love for her, and they go back to her house. Not wanting to intrude too much, Nolan stays in the guest bedroom. He does take a look at the chessboard, picks up a piece, and puts it right back in the same spot. Nolan has a nightmare of Harper drowning. Harper wakes him up and sleeps in his bed the rest of the night.

Nolan goes to set up search parties for the missing people and keeps putting them in different areas where he knows they won’t find anything. He tells Harper to stay away, knowing that the Sleuth Seekers are in town and are looking for Autumn. That morning, on the Sleuth’s page, an old picture of Harper in town is posted, and the Sleuth Seekers believe it to be Autumn. She knows they are going to start asking questions. Despite this, Harper goes to be with Nolan during some of the search, wanting to look involved in the town and committed to Nolan. Yates arrives to see how things are going. He makes several comments that make both Nolan and Harper wonder how much he knows. Yates also questions Harper, as two of the missing men had some sort of connection with her; though they were not last seen with her, they were at least seen with her at some point during their stay at Cape. She denies everything and has a story and a lie for any question he has.

Back at Arthur’s home, Lukas is there with his new girlfriend Maxine, Yates’s daughter. When Harper returns home, she notices a chess piece is missing. When she asks Nolan about it, he says he did not touch it. With that confirmation, she moves on.

In a point-of-view chapter from Yates, it is revealed he was in Harper’s home and took a chess piece. He also knows who Harper really is.

Nolan confronts the reality of his own violent history as evidence of his past crimes resurfaces. He destroys trophies from previous victims and questions whether his actions were driven by justice or obsession. Harper also makes him relive his past and talk about his first victim. His first ever kill was his younger brother’s bully, who took it too far and put his brother in the hospital. After this confession, Nolan wants to know more about Harper’s past; she says she needs a bit of time. Harper and Nolan continue hiding bodies, planting false leads, and covering up evidence while trying to maintain normal appearances. One thing they constantly joke about is a metal bone from one of Harper’s past kills; her composter would not break it down. She tells Nolan where it is hidden. Nolan uses his involvement in local search-and-rescue efforts to monitor investigations, but his position also puts him closer to discovery. As the town becomes consumed by media attention surrounding missing persons cases, connections between the victims and Harper's hidden past begin to emerge. The Sleuth Seekers are also becoming very interested in the missing persons cases, not just Autumn’s. One of the Sleuth Seekers, Tyler, is very insistent. He also happens to be Nolan’s neighbor at the hotel he is staying at. This forces Harper to cut her hair so it misleads them. She also decides she might need to go after Tyler soon.

The city of Cape Carnage holds its annual party, and Harper decides to ask Nolan. They have a great night that ends with them spending it at her house. She also tells him “I love you.” She feels like she finally trusts him and has opened up to him a lot.

Arthur’s declining health continues to worsen, forcing Harper into increasingly difficult choices. This is shown at the annual garden show, something Arthur has been looking forward to for weeks. Once there, his dementia worsens; he forgets who Harper is and calls her Poppy, someone who has been dead for years. He also begins revealing facts about people he has murdered, which others hear. Yates is brought over and asked to investigate, but due to Arthur’s illness, he passes it off and lets them go. It breaks Harper’s heart to see him like that.

In a point-of-view chapter from Yates, it is revealed he has been collecting evidence and wants Nolan out of the picture and out of the town. He plans to set him up.

Sheriff Yates reveals that he is actually La Plume, a legendary serial killer who has secretly manipulated events for years. Yates has been orchestrating murders, investigations, and psychological attacks designed to push Harper toward becoming like him. His actions expose the extent of his long-term planning and reveal that many of the events surrounding Harper and Nolan were engineered by him. This is revealed only to the reader.

Harper realizes that the metal bone that only she and Nolan know about has been moved, and she never moved it. She concludes that only Nolan could have. Her trust in him drops drastically, and she cannot believe she opened herself up. She goes to confront him. Not having anything to say, she banishes him, and Nolan drinks himself deep into the night until someone knocks him out.

Yates is not done yet. He has had security cameras in Arthur’s and Harper’s home for some time now, and he breaks into Arthur’s home to orchestrate his murder. Harper is devastated by the loss of the man she considered family and the person whose promises and secrets shaped her life. Her grief quickly turns into rage when she sees a message written in Arthur’s blood: “Time demands its toll,” a quote from Nolan’s favorite book. She believes this is Nolan’s doing and realizes this is the kind of man he is. She believes he has always liked to torment his victims, and now he is doing it by making her fall in love with him. When the police come to question her, she gives them no leads. She is full of rage and decides she wants to be the one to give Nolan his final goodbye. She chooses to delay running from the Sleuth Seekers and prioritizes revenge for Arthur.

Nolan, meanwhile, has been held captive for six days. He does not know where he is, but Yates eventually comes for him. He reveals he is La Plume and explains everything he has done. He tells Nolan that if he ever gets out, Nolan will have serious trouble because it will look like Nolan killed Arthur, thanks to Yates. Yates fully embraces his identity as both sheriff and serial killer.