Fiction Friday: Guilt by Association

An Appalachian murder mystery that will keep you guessing until the end.

The Christy nominees were announced this week and guess what? Little ol’ moi was on the list with my 12 Days at Bleakly Manor. Sorry if my squeal is still ringing in your ears. Winners will be announced in November, and boy howdy, am I up against some stiff competition. So, if you’re looking for a great read, here’s one of the contenders: Heather Day Gilbert’s Guilt by Association. Here’s a blurb:

Tess Spencer hadn't planned on returning to her hometown, but when her ex-prisoner mom puts in a special request, Tess overcomes her hesitance to help her turn over a new leaf.

Pearletta Vee's drug-dealing past is resurrected when the body of an overdosed teen shows up—right next to her trailer. Tess decides to stick around and investigate, yet the evidence is stacked against Pearletta. Tess suspects a setup—but why?

Never one to back down from a challenge, Tess takes on a wayward teen, an abusive grandma, and more than one drug dealer in her quest for the truth. But it's going to take a miracle to keep her from becoming a casualty in her own personal war on drugs.

Plunging into the shadowy reality of the drug epidemic in West Virginia, Guilt by Association is the third book in the award-winning Murder in the Mountains mystery series.