The Kill — Jan Neuharth

When word reaches her in war-torn Afghanistan that her beloved Uncle Richard has been brutally murdered, globe-trotting photojournalist Abigale Portmann reluctantly abandons her assignment and returns to the rolling hills and rocky relationships of her past in the picturesque equestrian community of Middleburg, Virginia -- a place she has painstakingly avoided for 17 years. While the sheriff thinks the murder is a random robbery gone bad, Abigale soon becomes convinced her uncle was slain by someone he knew. Suspicion swirls among colorful characters in the tweedy, foxhunting crowd, including a superficial nouveau riche social climber, the lazy heir to an old-money fortune, and, most painfully to Abigale, her former childhood sweetheart. As the gripping plot unfolds, friends become suspects and family ties are tested, until events spin out of control and the riveting tale races to a terrifying finish.