Dacie Mae — Gwenn Wright

A little bit Veronica Mars mixed with some Justified, Dacie Mae: Midnight Under the Magnolia is a coming-of-age story wrapped in a mystery filled with a whole lot of Ozark sass and deep-seated guilt. Twenty-two-year old Dacie Mae MacIver has big-city dreams but her small-town roots have her all tangled up. Stubbornly refusing an internship in the city, Dacie Mae works her backwoods beat. Among the meth lab explosions and drug busts, she meets US Deputy Marshal Harrison McClain. Tall and lean, with a cowboy hat on his head and just enough swagger, Harrison McClain commands the attention of every female around--except for Dacie Mae's, whose eyes are only on the story. When the town's crown prince and famous rocker, Henry Wallace, strolls back into town with his guitar on his back and lust in his eyes, the bodies start dropping and Dacie Mae is thrust into the media's spotlight and a confusing entanglement of emotions. With each new murder it becomes clear that Henry Wallace is at the center of the mystery and Dacie Mae soon finds that her darkest secret will be dragged into the light and put her own life in danger.