Bitter River

I'm so happy to have read the second mystery in Julia Keller's mystery series. In the first book, A Killing in the Hills, Keller introduces us to Belfa Elkins, the prosecuting attorney for Ackers Gap, West Virginia, her hometown. 

Bell is back in Bitter River, now living by herself as her daughter Carla has moved to Washington, D.C. to live with her father, after nearly being killed.  Life appears tranquil in Acker's Gap at book's beginning, but the discovery of a promising teenage girl's body in a car in the Bitter River begins an investigation into her death.

Bell also welcomes an old friend, Matt Harliss, to Acker's Gap. Matt, recently back from a CIA posting in Afghanistan is ready to relax in the West Virginia mountains and unwind.

There's no relaxation for Bell, however, who is investigating the mysterious death.  When a random shot is fired into the courthouse and no culprit found there is a bit more mystery to be investigated.  But before Bell can even begin to get a handle on this, a devastating explosion rips through Acker's Gap, leaving many people dead.  

Bitter River is an excellent follow-up to A Killing in the Hills.  Keller has left readers hanging at book's end again, which has me already getting anxious for the third book in this series. Anyone who loves Julia Spencer Fleming's mystery series or those written by Linda Castillo or Julie Kramer should dig right in to these books.