Ava Logan is a newspaper publisher in small-town Jackson Creek, North Carolina. She's involved with Sheriff Grayson Ridge, and so far, they've managed to work together and keep things on an even keel between them as far as it goes. When she's working on a feature article of a local man who's a rabbit hunter, one of his dogs comes across human bones located near an old mill that closed down. She notifies Grayson, and he, in turn, notifies an anthropologist to see if they can determine how long the bones have been there.

But she also finds a couple of key pieces of evidence - the person has been shot in the head, and there's a class ring nearby with the initials KJD and MAM engraved in it. Now, while Grayson is looking to identify the body, so is Ava -- but from a different perspective. She wants to find out whose initials these are. But when Ava starts digging into the mystery, she doesn't realize it's going to come closer to home than she imagines -- and could possibly damage or destroy the lives of those she cares for...

I have read the previous two Ava Logan mysteries and enjoyed them both, and I have to say that this one is just as good. It's not a 'feel good' mystery; nor is it meant to be. It digs down into those deep places where some people want to forget, and others never want to go again. It brings forth the damages of life, and people who were hurt and permanently scarred along the way -- in more ways than one. In other words, it's what happens in real life. It's raw, painful, and even at times, a bit uplifting.

We are given in this book to know more about the local "granny woman" Mary McCarter and her slow-witted son Keeper, two characters I've liked from books before. Keeper is the best of us; he has no guile and no evil within him, and he's joyful to others. But we also learn more about the woman who basically raised Ava, too, and we see how Ava and Grayson's relationship has grown.

For Ava, she's a strong woman who never walks into situations that could cause her to be in potential danger. She also doesn't set out to hurt others in her line of work, and her newspaper isn't a rag that publishes lies and rumors. She's made a future for herself and her kids, and is smart while still having her own insecurities.

When we get closer to discovering the murderer, it was fairly easy for me to figure out who it was (but then again, I read a lot of mysteries), but the reasons behind it stunned even me. It seemed so worthless and cruel, and some things one may never recover from. This is indeed a book that will stay with you for awhile after being read, and I look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended. ( )