Thursday 14 November 2013

CRIME REVIEW: Bitter River - Julia Keller


Release Date: 03/09/13
Publisher:  Headline

SYNOPSIS:

Bell Elkins returns in this electrifying thriller from Pulitzer-prize winner Julia Keller. For fans of Dennis Lehane and Linwood Barclay. When tragedy hits Acker's Gap, no one escapes its effects. In Acker's Gap, West Virginia, a high-school student - sixteen, full of promise, and pregnant - is found murdered in a car at the bottom of the Bitter River. Her death devastates the community, but one among them must be responsible. Bell Elkins, Raythune County's prosecuting attorney, is determined to bring the killer to justice. But someone else has their own agenda. Amid the shadow of the Appalachian Mountains, another act of violence is about to strike. As Bell and Sheriff Nick Fogelsong work to uncover the truth, one thing is certain: no one can truly understand Acker's Gap until they are in the thick of it. Bell returned to her hometown to make a difference. But just how much is she willing to risk?


REVIEW:

Whilst Crime in a big city takes you on a helter-skelter ride, the ones that tend to get to you emotionally are the ones set in small towns, after all everyone knows everyone else so the crime is not only more personal but harder hitting emotionally. That’s what works wonderfully with this new title by Julia Keller, as a young woman is murdered with a huge number of secrets that will see the light of day.

It’s very dark, the prose is sharp but the emotional context is what really hits the reader, the way that the principle characters interact with the supporting cast really works wonders and when you add into this multifaceted believability all round makes this a book that I had one hell of a time putting down. All round a great book and one that has definitely added Julia a top spot in my TBR pile.

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