Kate White always knows how to get our hearts racing. Whether it was as the former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan or through her irresistible thriller reads, we can’t help by wait by the edge of our seat for what she has planned next. And thankfully for us she has another mind blowing book on the way that will not only leave you breathless, but have you looking at any little detail for the truth as we follow a mother who would do anything for her daughter in the face of the worst possible news.
Cosmopolitan has an exclusive look at Kate White’s I Came Back for You, which is set to be released on March 1, 2026. The novel follows Bree Winter whose life is turned upside down yet again after she discovers that her daughter’s alleged murderer confesses to having never killed her. With so many new clues leading to unanswered questions and the truth hidden behind a pile of lies, Bree must reach back to her past one last time in order to move on to her new future. Here’s some more info from our friends at Thomas & Mercer:
A mother begins to challenge everything she’s been told about her daughter’s murder in a shocking novel of suspense by a New York Times bestselling author.
Ten years after her daughter, Melanie, was murdered, Bree Winter is finally moving on with a new love, a new home, and a new beginning. Then a deathbed confession from the convicted killer throws Bree’s life into a tailspin all over again. He readily confesses to murdering four girls. But not Melanie.
At first, Bree and her ex-husband don’t buy a word of it. Until inconsistencies about the crime emerge. So does the dreadful feeling that the monster who shattered Bree’s family isn’t lying. The only way she can get to the truth is to power through the trauma and return to the town in upstate New York where Melanie’s life came to a brutal end.
Bree will do anything to find justice for her daughter and finish this nightmare forever. Instead, it’s just beginning. Not only could the real killer still be in their midst, but as Bree begins to dig through Melanie’s past, what she discovers calls into question everything she has believed—about the crime and about Melanie herself.
Can Bree find out what really happened to Melanie. Read an exclusive excerpt below to see what happens when she returns back to it all. Don’t forget to pre-order I Came Back for You and check out some of Kate White’s previous reads as well!
An Excerpt From I Came Back for You
By Kate White
We enter police headquarters and approach the woman at the windowed reception desk.
“Logan Chase and Bree Winter for Detective Halligan,” my ex-husband says. “We’re a little early for our appointment, but hopefully he can see us as soon as possible.”
He’s all Logan Chase in Charge right now, more the Logan I remember than the subdued version who showed up out of nowhere at my door last week.
“Please have a seat,” the woman says, “and I’ll let him know you’re here.”
Soon enough the double doors in front of us swing open, and a man in a brown suit heads in our direction, his lace-up shoes squeaking a little on the artificial-tile floor. It’s Halligan, obviously, but I’m surprised by how unfamiliar he looks to me. I guess since the now-retired Caputo was the lead detective back then, my attention was focused mostly on him.
“Logan, Bree, thanks for coming in,” Halligan says as we rise and step forward. He shakes my hand, then Logan’s.
Had he called us by our first names before? Perhaps toward the end of our experience with him.
Halligan uses a fob to click open the doors he came through and leads us down a long corridor to a small, nondescript interview room. He motions for us to sit on the side of the table nearest the door, across from a spot where there’s already a stuffed manila folder.
Though I’ve never been in this exact room, it’s similar to ones we sat in eight years ago, following the brutal murder of our twenty-year-old daughter, Melanie. We’re here today to find out what Halligan has learned since Calvin Ruck, the supposed killer, confessed on his death bed that though he’d murdered four college-age women, Melanie wasn’t one of them. Logan and I are sure Ruck must have been lying. He was a monster, after all, who probably loved the idea of Logan and I twisting in the wind, forever unsure of the truth.
Inside my purse are a small pad and pen, two things I tend to carry out of habit as an editor, and I briefly wonder if I should fish them out and take notes. But no, I can’t do that, can’t have the words that will surface today jostling around in my purse. I’ll just have to listen carefully.
There’s something I will do today, however, as well as during the days ahead, and that’s assert myself. After Mel was murdered, I was so distraught and needy that I tended to go with the horrible flow, rarely challenging what we were told. One of the therapists I later saw told me that though “fight, flight, and freeze” are the stress responses we hear the most about, there’s a fourth one called fawn. It’s when you end up over-agreeing with those around you and/or trying to cope by being way too helpful or solicitous.
I was a fawner back then, but I have no intention of being one now.
“First let me start by saying how much I empathize with both of you,” Halligan says. “This is an upsetting turn of events for all of us.”
He smiles sympathetically. Though I think he’s heavier than he used to be, and the mustache might be new, he’s beginning to seem more familiar—the light-brown eyes, Roman nose, and faint acne scars along his cheeks. He’s clearly gained confidence in the ensuing years and seems at home in his skin. Good. That’s what we need.
“We appreciate that,” Logan tells him. “And we’re eager to hear whatever you’ve learned.”
“It’s been a busy week and a half,” Halligan says, opening the folder while moving his gaze back and forth between us. “I’ve spoken multiple times to investigators in both Pennsylvania and Ohio and also touched base with one of the detectives we dealt originally from Plattsburgh. And I’ve gone back over our own files as well.”
Please, I think, just tell us.
“And?” Logan says as if reading my thoughts.
“Why don’t I lay out what I learned, and then we can discuss the possible implications. What you need to bear in mind is that we’re working with a lot more information now that there are two additional cases in the mix.”
There’s an ominous undertone to his words. More information. If it were more information in our favor, he’d probably be saying so upfront. I squeeze my hands into fists in my lap, urging myself again not to get ahead of things.
“Based on the directions Ruck gave,” Halligan continues, “the police in both states had little trouble finding the remains of the two college students he killed. The body of Jessica Lombardo, the Ohio girl, was buried under leaves and dirt in some thick woods about two miles from the highway, and the girl from Pennsylvania, Rachel Mullen, was also found in a wooded area.”
He pauses and plucks two pieces of paper from his folder and then, after turning them around, slides them across the table toward us. They are photocopies of the “Missing” poster created for each girl a decade ago. I wince at the sight of the photos on them. Jessica is brunette and Rachel, very blond. They’re both pretty and friendly looking and seem full of life. Ready to take on the world.
“They were each killed in the same way,” Halligan continues. “Struck on the back of the head with some kind of blunt object and then strangled.”
“Jesus,” Logan exclaims. “They were able to tell that after all this time?”
“Yes, with the help of both a pathologist and a forensic anthropologist, who examined the skeletal remains. In each instance there was a small linear fracture in the skull from the blow, as well as a fracture of the hyoid bone in the throat, caused by strangulation. Since the skull fracture in each case was not catastrophic and probably didn’t result in the crushing of any brain tissue, it indicates that the victims must have been struck first, probably to incapacitate them, and strangled to death afterward.”
I get a taste of bile in my throat and wish I’d requested a glass of water.
“So, Ruck had the same MO right from the start,” I say.
Halligan nods. “Yes, it appears that way.”
“Can they tell what type of ligature was used?” Logan asks. “I mean, was it a dog leash?”
The words made me flinch. That, of course, is what Melanie was strangled with. When I glance at Logan, I see that his face has gone slightly gray. Underneath that confident demeanor, he must be as distressed as I am to be covering this ground again.
Halligan shakes his head. “Since there was no tissue remaining in either case, it was impossible to make that determination.”
“But there’s no reason to think it wasn’t a leash?” Logan says.
“That’s right.”
“So even without the leash marks, there are strong consistencies among all five crimes,” he says.
Crinkles form in Halligan’s forehead. “Yes and no. There are a couple of similarities among the two newer cases and the two in Plattsburgh that aren’t there in Melanie’s case.”
Okay, here it comes, just what I was dreading. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Logan shift anxiously in his seat.
“The first has to do with the location of the bodies,” Halligan continues. “What we’ve learned in law enforcement over many years is that some serial sexual murderers take pains to conceal the bodies of their victims in a so-called organized way, and others simply leave them at the crime scene, and they stick with one approach or another, rarely varying it. As I’m sure you recall, Sailor Abbott’s body was discovered in a wooded area a few days after she disappeared. And Ruck was apprehended hiding Amanda Kline’s body in woods north of Plattsburgh. But there appeared to be no attempt to dispose of Melanie’s body.”
“That never bothered you eight years ago,” I say and quickly warn myself to tone it down. The goal here is to be less fawning, not hostile.
“And it wasn’t a concern for good reason,” Logan says. “It always seemed that Ruck got spooked somehow that night and didn’t finish what he set out to do.”
“Yes, that’s still a possible scenario,” Halligan says. “But I want us to factor it in now that we have something else to consider.”
“Well, let’s hear it,” Logan says. He’s letting his agitation show, but I can hardly blame him.
Halligan turns over the page he’s been glancing at and picks up the sheet underneath it. “As I mentioned a minute ago, forensic anthropologists were brought in to examine the remains in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. In the end, a forensic odontologist was also consulted.”
“An odontologist?” Logan says.
“It’s a specially trained dentist that police sometimes rely on during an investigation. They can help identify a deceased person from dental work when the body is badly decomposed, and in certain cases, they’re asked to examine bite marks on victims. What they found in each of these two new cases is a bite mark on the victims’ right index finger.”
The bile is back, nearly making me gag.
“A bite mark?” Logan exclaims. “They think the fucking bastard bit them?”
“Yes. It might have been in a frenzy, but since it was on the same finger in each case, we’re thinking it could be some kind of signature. As we touched on in the past, serial murderers often leave those.”
“But couldn’t those marks have been made by animals?” I say. “The bodies were in the woods for years.”
“From what the odontologist concluded, the marks were from human teeth,” Halligan explains. “So, as soon as I heard this, I requested a fresh look at the Plattsburgh autopsy report and photos. And lo and behold, there were similar bite marks.”
We stare at him, now waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Then we took another look at Melanie’s file,” he adds. “There were no bite wounds on any of her fingers.”
Adapted from I Came Back for You by Kate White, published by Thomas & Mercer, an imprint of Amazon Publishing. Copyright © 2026 Kate White
I Came Back for You, by Kate White will be released on March 1, 2026 from Thomas & Mercer. To preorder the book, click on the retailer of your choice:
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