A Killing in the Hills

by : Julia Keller

In this powerful, intricate debut from a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a mother and a daughter try to do right by a town and each other before it's too late What's happening in Acker's Gap, West Virginia? Three elderly men are gunned down over their coffee at a local diner, and seemingly half the town is there to witness the act. Still, it happened so fast, and no one seems to have gotten a good look at the shooter. Was it random? Was it connected to the spate of drug violence plaguing poor areas of the country just like Acker's Gap? Or were Daniel Streeter, Paul McClurg, and Ralph Rader targeted somehow?One of the witnesses to the brutal incident was Carla Elkins, teenaged daughter of Bell Elkins, the prosecuting attorney for Raythune County, WV. Carla was shocked and horrified by what she saw, but it's a few days before she begins to realize she may have seen the shooter after all--and that he might be someone she knows. What better way to repair a fragile, damaged relationship with her mother than to help her do her job? A Killing In The Hills is a gripping, beautifully-crafted murder mystery that shows that small-town West Virginia is no longer Mayberry. Great reading. --Scott Turow