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DEBUT crime NOVEL BY WENDY BYARD
DEVIL IN THE DUNES
HER PARENTS MURDERED. NOW SHE’S MISSING.
Can Cadie escape her kidnapper & solve the ultimate betrayal before time is out?
SIX YEARS AGO, HER PARENTS WERE MURDERED. NOW SHE’S MISSING.
Snatched from the Lake Michigan dunes six years after her parents' brutal murder, 18-year-old Cadie must escape her captor to survive and expose a horrifying truth no one saw coming—a conspiracy hiding in plain sight along the dark shoreline.
DEVIL IN THE DUNES
ADDICTIVE PAGE-TURNER ABOUT HATE & VENGEANCE, LOVE & REDEMPTION
DYING IS THE BEST REVENGE
Six years after her parents were run down on a dark highway, 18-year-old Cadie is snatched from a Lake Michigan bonfire and imprisoned in a remote hillside root cellar.
As a fierce storm batters the shore, her meticulous stalker prepares to finish a hate-fueled vendetta that began with her family's unsolved murder.
Trapped underground, the sharp-witted teen must rely entirely on her own cunning to escape her captor, uncover the terrifying truth behind a decades-old grudge, and survive as a brutal, high-stakes showdown takes place aboard a yacht on the raging lake.
Amazon Best Seller Devil in the Dunes Celebrates
MAJOR MILESTONES!
Devil in the Dunes is having an extraordinary year!
The acclaimed crime thriller—which plunges readers into the harrowing story of a young woman kidnapped from the dunes exactly six years after her parents' murder—is a multi-category Amazon Best Seller and Top Earner spanning five separate categories, boasting over 500 reviews, peaking at #427 in Teen and Young Adult Mysteries, and placing comfortably in the top tier of Amazon's entire catalog.
Adding to its critical acclaim, Devil in the Dunes was installed in the state’s prestigious Library of Michigan capital collection by the Notable Books program.
A proud member of International Thriller Writers and Detroit Working Writers, Byard has taken her electrifying novel across Michigan through a whirlwind media and event tour, including:
- Major Television Features: Fox 2 Detroit's Lit with Syd, WILX Studio 10 Lansing, ABC12 News, WNEM TV5, and Up North Michigan’s Channels 9 & 10.
- Cover Stories & Print Media: Feature profiles on the covers of Grand Haven Tribune and Women2Women magazine.
- Keynotes & Festival Appearances: Launching the Grand Haven Summer Book Series, featuring as a marquee author at the Third Coast Author Festival, and delivering engaging lectures to audiences across the state, including Mott College.
"WHAT A HEAD TURNER! WHAT A PAGE TURNER!"
- REPORTER AND HOST RACHELLE LEGRAND,
WILX TV 10 LANSING
PURCHASE DEVIL IN THE DUNES
Welcome to Wendy Byard Author
Wendy Byard is the author of the suspense/mystery/crime thriller Devil in the Dunes set along Michigan's west coast.
In 2025, her novel was installed into the Library of Michigan by the Michigan Notable Books program.
Byard also penned Teach and Reach for Classroom Miracles
- an inspirational book for educators.
It was published in 2009 by CSS Publishing/Faithwalk.
"From Class Room to Crime Scene"
Wendy Byard is Women2Women magazine's
'cover girl' for September/October 2025!
GRAND HAVEN TRIBUNE
by Elizabeth Granger March 27, 2026
ABC12 News Interview
Wendy Byard appeared on ABC12's "Good Morning Mid Michigan" November 10, 2025, at 9 am with host Matt Barbour.
WNEM TV5 Afternoon Show
Wendy Byard appeared on WNEM TV5's afternoon show with host Colette Boyd
November 10, 2025
"Moments with Marianne"
Listen to Wendy Byard's interview on "Moments with Marianne" with global radio show host Marianne Pestano on KMET 1490AM & 98.1FM, an ABC News Radio Affiliate. The interview is available on numerous platforms worldwide.
"Lapeer Living"
Wendy Byard was featured in Lapeer Living Magazine.
"Good Day, Northern Michigan"
Wendy Byard appeared on the News 9 & 10 TV show "Good Day, Northern Michigan" in Traverse City
Mott College Author Talk
Mott College Author Talk
Wendy Byard was hosted by Mott College November 12, 2025, for an Author Talk in its Center for
Teaching and Learning
FANS!
Thanks, Huey!
Thanks, Trudy!
'DYING WELL IS THE BEST REVENGE'
One evening at midnight on a dark Lake Michigan beach, a man peers through binoculars, intently observing a carefree young woman enjoying a bonfire with classmates. Knowing her patterns, minutes later as Cadie McLeod leaves the party and walks into the desolate dunes, ‘The Weirdo’ chokes, drugs, and drags the limp 18-year-old to his hidden truck. As a storm rolls in across the Great Lake, the man drives Cadie to a remote location where he imprisons the unconscious woman in an old root cellar built into a hillside.
The night selected for Cadie’s abduction is not random. Six years ago, on the very night that Cadie is abducted, her parents, Thomas and Aileen, were run down in grisly fashion as they walked hand in hand across a deserted coastal highway. Their killer was never captured, and everyone assumed it was a random drunk driver. However, the truth is far more evil and horrifying. The Weirdo is finalizing his revenge plan that began with the murder of Thomas and Aileen and will end with the murder of their only daughter.
If the highly-intelligent Cadie is going to live and solve the mystery of her parents’ murder, she must escape the unusual prison by her own cunning. Meanwhile, the investigation into her abduction leads police in many directions. At the tale’s end, a fight-to-the death takes place aboard the mini yacht Best Revenge in a raging Lake Michigan storm. The villain and his reasons for murder are revealed - hate-fueled reasons spanning decades that no one could have predicted.
The dark, mysterious, and suspenseful kidnap thriller Devil in the Dunes is an addictive, plot-driven novel. Readers will be fully immersed in this dark tale, quickly turning page after page to discover why Thomas and Aileen were murdered and what happens to their only child.
TEACH AND REACH FOR CLASSROOM MIRACLES
aims to convince teachers and leaders that love is the key to miracle-filled classrooms. When Wendy Byard first began teaching, like many instructors she thought all her students needed was a good lesson plan and an educated, well-intentioned teacher. However, on her "Journey to Love," Byard realized that what every student truly seeks from a teacher is love expressed in its many forms: kindness, humility, generosity, and compassion, among others.
What are the results of classroom love? Students who find acceptance, confidence, belief, passion, self-love, and love for others - truly miraculous results!
Teach and Reach for Classroom Miracles! chronicles Wendy's personal journey and shares classroom stories as well as the most compelling evidence of all for her view: excerpts from hundreds of student letters she's collected. The book's second section, "12 Love Lessons for Teachers," provides educators with concrete ways of expressing love and the means to create a more loving, miraculous classroom environment.
Byard's inspiring, challenging message can change lives. So start loving your students today! Reach for a miracle!
"This book will compel teachers to question how they teach and inspire them to approach their calling from a higher level."
- Shirley A. Harris, Psy.D., School Psychologist
