Last Ragged Breath

June 1, 2015
The Buffalo Creek flood of 1972, a real-life West Virginia tragedy in which more than 100 people died, provides the backdrop for Keller’s fourth Bell Elkins thriller (after 2014’s Summer of the Dead), an intense study of childhood trauma and corporate malfeasance. Decades later (now in the present), Royce Dillard, a recluse whose parents perished in the flood, becomes a suspect when a dog sniffs out the corpse of Ed Hackel, a slick marketer, in a creek outside Acker’s Gap. Hackel had been pressuring Dillard to sell his land so that it could be developed as part of the new Mountain Magic resort planned for the region. As prosecuting attorney, Bell is tasked with proving Dillard’s guilt. When it becomes clear that something about Dillard doesn’t fit the profile of a cold-blooded killer, Bell must dig deeper into a community rife with secrets. Keller conveys smalltown mind-sets with a folksy style that richly evokes a part of Appalachia still grappling with its past. Agent: Lisa Gallagher, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

Starred review from June 15, 2015
A West Virginia prosecutor has an uneasy feeling about her latest case. Belfa "Bell" Elkins feels betrayed by one of her closest friends: former sheriff Nick Fogelsong has recently resigned from his job and is now head of security for the Highway Haven chain of truck stops. Meanwhile, Raythune County is beset by poverty and drug use. Coal is dying, and the only new jobs on the horizon are low-paying positions at the Mountain Magic resort, whose construction has been held up by Royce Dillard's refusal to sell the parcel the resort needs for easy access to the interstate. Royce is a recluse who lives in a tiny cabin with the dogs he's adopted. A survivor of the infamous Buffalo Creek disaster, he deals with dogs better than people but is known throughout the community as a kind and gentle soul. A tiny pension from the mining company whose lax policies created the flood that killed his parents is all Royce has to live on, but despite constant hectoring and offers of big money from Mountain Magic employee Edward Hackel, he refuses to sell. When Hackel's badly battered body is found in the creek near Royce's home, Sheriff Pam Harrison arrests Royce for the murder. Then a bloody shovel is found in his shed, and Bell has no choice but to prosecute, even though she has doubts and sorely misses the chance to discuss the case with Fogelsong. Bell, not a dog person, even takes in one of Royce's pooches as she struggles with the case, angling for a plea bargain from a defendant who steadfastly maintains his innocence. The large sums of money involved guarantee other suspects; Bell just has to find one with a better motive for murdering Hackel. A beautifully crafted mystery in which Keller (Summer of the Dead, 2014, etc.) explores love, hate, and poverty in a place of stunning natural beauty with pockets of overwhelming ugliness. The ending may leave you in tears.

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Starred review from June 1, 2015
There has been a big hole in Bell Elkins' life since Sheriff Nick Fogelsong retired. As county prosecutor, Bell worked for years with Nick, her closest friend, to solve cases and fight the growing drug problem in Acker's Gap, West Virginia. But now that Nick is head of security at a chain of truck stops, Bell can't talk to him about the murder of Ed Hackel, representative for a developer with big plans for the area, plans contingent on buying land owned by reclusive Royce Dillard. Motive and forensic evidence point to Dillard as the killer: the murder weapon is found in his barn, and Hackel had repeatedly harangued him to sell his land. But Dillard, permanently marked by a flood in which his parents died when he was two years old, protests his innocence. As Bell and Sheriff Pam Harrison struggle to find the truth, tragedy strikes Nick, who can't give up his lawman's ways. While the resolution of the crime is a bit abrupt, this novellike its three predecessorsis elevated far above the ordinary by masterful character development and a keen sense of place. With bits of her backstory still being revealed, Elkins is certainly among the best-drawn characters in crime fiction today.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

August 1, 2015

This gritty series, with its unflinching depiction of rural poverty in West Virginia, keeps getting better. In the fourth entry (after Summer of the Dead), the reclusive Royce Dillard stands accused of killing Ed Hackel, who was pressuring Royce to sell his land. County prosecutor Bell Elkins, not quite convinced of Royce's guilt, faces her toughest job yet. [See Prepub Alert, 3/25/15; library marketing.]

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2015

In this third installment of Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Keller's much-starred series featuring West Virginia prosecuting attorney Bell Elkins, a development company is buying up property around Acker's Gap, WV. Ballard McCoy alone refuses to sell land inherited from his father, who died with Ballard's mother and 117 others in a tragic 1972 dam burst. The company's president says she's ready to spill a nasty secret about Ballard's father. And then she's murdered.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.