Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter

 

Detective Lena Adams uses her day off to drive back to her hometown.  She has received a call from a childhood friend telling her she needs to check on her uncle.  Lena's uncle raised her and her sister because there was no one else but he was an addict and Lena doesn't have fond memories of it.  He got clean years ago but when Lena gets there, she finds that he has relapsed and is near death.

Police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver gets a call the next morning telling him that his detective has been arrested.  No more information is forthcoming so he decides he needs to drive the hundred miles there to find out what is going on.  His wife, Sarah, goes with him.  Sarah is a doctor, the town pediatrician and is currently embroiled in a lawsuit over a young boy who died of leukemia.

When the two get there, they find almost no information except that Lena is in the hospital.  Apparently she was arrested at the scene of a death and it is unclear if she is involved.  Lena escapes from the hospital while Sarah is in her room and thus the couple feels they must stay and find out what is going on.  The local police chief is a very young man and Jeffrey doesn't feel that he knows enough to figure out what is going on.

It soon emerges that the town is awash with drugs and white power groups.  Did Lena get too close to the truth?  Are the local police involved?  As more bodies show up, Jeffrey and Sarah realize they are racing against time.  Can they solve the mystery and get Lena back home?

This is the sixth and final novel in the Grant County series.  Jeffrey and Sarah are remarried and now realize that each is the only one for the other.  Characters from the previous novels in the series show up in this one and it is best to read the series in order.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.