The third in Julia Keller's brilliant Bell Elkins series.

The first death came unexpectedly.
An old man attacked outside his home, his murder a shock to the town.
Then the second death came and with it fear.

For Raythune County's prosecuting attorney Bell Elkins, the inexplicable killings in Acker's Gap are all she can think about. Everything - the oppressive summer heat, her absent daughter, her troublesome sister - fades into the background as she tries to work out who is responsible.

As tensions escalate, and suspects begin to emerge, Bell will have to face demons from her own past as she comes head-to-head with a killer bent on destroying all those who stand in their way...

Julia Keller's lyrical and evocative prose in Bitter River propels the novel until all you can do is hang on until the final page. Her sense of place is spot-on and bittersweet