ECHO

Mercer & Bennett Mysteries: Book 2

Advance Reader Copy

Genres

Science Fiction Thriller, Crime Mystery, Crime Thriller, Police Procedural, AI, Technothriller, and Novels

Trigger Warnings

None

Type of Ending

Series

Mercer & Bennett Mysteries — Book 2

Series Read Order

Reading prior books is recommended, but not required

Author Prefers A Review On

Goodreads, Amazon, BookBub, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, or Apple Books

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Number of days to read

Publication Date

Aug 27, 2026

Page Length

791 pages

Available Formats

ePub and PDF

ECHO

Mercer & Bennett Mysteries: Book 2

Advance Reader Copy

Blurb

Loneliness made them vulnerable. Technology made them reachable.

When a schoolteacher is found murdered in her apartment, Detectives Daniel Mercer and Laura Bennett discover that her death was preceded by months of ignored warnings—harassment, surveillance, and an artificial companion that seemed to know exactly what she needed to hear.

Then another victim emerges.

And another.

The trail leads beyond one killer to a network built around synthetic intimacy: systems designed to listen, adapt, and earn trust from people who have nowhere else to turn. Somewhere inside that machinery, private grief is being transformed into opportunity—and vulnerable users are being quietly routed toward predators.

With the restored LANTERN intelligence Clara working under strict new limits, Mercer and Bennett must untangle a case in which affection can be programmed, identities can be manufactured, and the most dangerous voice may be the one that sounds as though it understands you.

Because an echo does not care what created the original sound.

It only knows how to repeat it.

Details

Genres

Science Fiction Thriller, Crime Mystery, Crime Thriller, Police Procedural, AI, Technothriller, and Novels

Trigger Warnings

None

Type of Ending

Series

Mercer & Bennett Mysteries — Book 2

Series Read Order

Reading prior books is recommended, but not required

Author Prefers A Review On

Goodreads, Amazon, BookBub, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play, or Apple Books

Reader Spots Remaining

Number of days to read

Publication Date

Aug 27, 2026

Page Length

791 pages

Available Formats

ePub and PDF

Author

Susan Trott is a Canadian author whose work spans visionary eco-fiction, science fiction, cozy romance, memoir, and myth-infused nature writing. Through her independent imprint Tagger Press, she creates stories that explore the quiet magic of the natural world, the resilience of ordinary people, and the threads of meaning that connect past and future.

She is the author of The Oak Witness, King of Dams, CAPPED, Escape, Snowfall in Cedar Hollow, and many other titles across her expanding creative universe. Her writing blends emotional depth with imaginative world-building—from near-future thrillers to ancient alien civilizations to gentle, heartwarming tales of small-town life.

A lifelong animal guardian and dedicated “cat lady,” she lives with her husband Jim and a multigenerational feline family in Ottawa, where fresh snow, koi ponds, and the quiet presence of trees often find their way into her stories.