The Bell That Never Sleeps

The Bell That Never Sleeps (Mari & Esme #2)

At 10 p.m., a century-old church bell tolls with no hand on the rope—and won’t stop.

Fifteen-year-old Mari Daniels hears more than sound; she hears intent. The late-night ringing pulls her and her cousin Esme to River of Mercy, where a donor wall has been “perfected,” a ledger has a name carved out of history, and a neighborhood is being scared into silence. The little clues—the “little bells”—won’t lie: a cracked desk bell, a missing plate, a legal promise buried in fine print.

With Esme as her anchor, Mari follows those signals through steeples, case files, and community meetings—guided by ancestor whispers and grounded by Aunt Denise’s legal savvy and Detectives Lovell and Nguyen’s patience. What they uncover isn’t just a haunting; it’s an attempt to erase a family’s gift and a community’s memory. To set things right, Mari will have to practice the hardest kind of courage: seeing clearly without rushing to condemn, and learning the difference between mercy and letting things slide.

A gripping, atmospheric mystery set in Minneapolis–St. Paul, The Bell That Never Sleeps blends ghost story, legal puzzle, and found-family resilience. It can be read as a standalone and continues the Mari & Esme series that began with Shadows of the Twin Cities.

Includes Mari’s Casebook (Vol. 2) and a sneak peek of the next Mari & Esme novel, The Mask of Silence