Murder Comes by Mail

April 11, 2016
Gabhart’s second Hidden Springs mystery (after Murder at the Courthouse) returns readers to the office of Deputy Sheriff Michael Keane, where another murder is under investigation in the sleepy Kentucky town, this time with taunts and clues mailed from the killer. Michael rescues suicidal Jack Smith from jumping off a bridge, and feels unsettled when Jack warns that he would soon wish he’d pushed him from the bridge instead. But everyone assures heroic Michael that he has nothing to worry about—until the first set of pictures arrives, and a body is found in nearby Eagleton. When Michael tries to share information with the Eagleton police, he’s treated as nothing more than a country bumpkin. But he’s no amateur sleuth: Michael has big-city police experience and doesn’t need much help to start piecing things together himself. Gabhart fills Hidden Springs—an intimate town where everyone knows everyone and a secret is hard to keep—with a delightful, colorful cast of characters. The commentary of Betty Jean Atkins, the sheriff’s receptionist, and her interactions with Hank Leland, a newspaper reporter, provide much-needed humor throughout the story. Gabhart keeps the mystery engaging until the very end. Some questions go unanswered, but the resolutions satisfy and the scene is set for Deputy Sheriff Keane to solve many more murders in Hidden Springs. Readers can expect Christian themes but no overt faith elements.

April 1, 2016

When deputy sheriff Michael Keane, introduced in Murder at the Courthouse, receives photos of a young murder victim, he realizes he may have rescued from suicide the woman's killer. It is up to Keane to find the man before he strikes again.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2016
As the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished, as Deputy Michael Keane learns when he saves a man from jumping off a bridge. The man tells Keane he will wish he'd pushed him, which proves to be correct when Keane learns that he has saved the life of a serial killer, who has now escaped from the hospital. Even though the killer's first murder after his escape is out of Keane's jurisdiction, the deputy wants to assist the detective in charge, who makes it clear he doesn't want Keane's help. Keane investigates anyway, and soon the killer seems fixated on Keane, taunting him, then beginning to threaten the women closest to Keane, including high-powered Washington, D.C., attorney Alex. Deeply rooted in Hidden Springs, Kentucky, Keane is a decent, hardworking deputy who hopes he can persuade the ambitious Alex to join him in his charming village, far from the Beltway. Well-drawn, sometimes-quirky characters and the charming frame of small-town America add to this page-turning mystery chock-full of plot twists.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)