Valley of Death — Helen Goodman

A LESSON IN MURDER

Predictability can be a nice perk to small-town life -- a nicety Allison Aldridge notes when her life suddenly becomes quite unpredictable. Somebody broke in to her classroom and her house, and now her elderly neighbor is missing. Something is very wrong in her peaceful little valley. And, like it or not, she's part of it.

The missing woman, Malvina, left suddenly without her medication, leaving only a scribbled note about visiting her sister. But she never arrived. Her husband, Leroy, claims to be as confused as everybody else -- until they find his dead body tangled in a paper-rolling machine. Add a counterfeit ring, odd antics by some locals, and it's clear that danger is becoming routine. And that Allison has something somebody wants from her -- whether she's dead or alive.