High Lonesome Road — Betsy Thornton

Chloe Newcombe once traded in her sixties' sensibility to be an investigator in New York. Then she swapped that for the solitude of the Arizona desert. Now she finally has a full life working as a victims' advocate -- helping witnesses and survivors of crimes and accidents. It's a little more money -- and a lot more rewarding...

When a bookmobile librarian is found dead, her body riddled with bullets, Chloe is braced for the worst. But nothing could have prepared her for the unparalleled shock of actually knowing the victim. Erica Hill was once a good friend of Chloe's late brother. Now driven by guilt for not keeping in touch with her, Chloe combs Arizona's hot, dusty terrain, searching for answers -- questioning everyone from Erica's teenaged son and her jealous sister to a nosy defense attorney. What Chloe discovers is a secret so dark that even after Erica's death it threatens to crash and burn everyone who knew her -- including Chloe...