Savage Cut — Jo Dereske

THE CRUELEST CUT
She was the prodigal daughter, returning to the Michigan hometown she'd fled in disgrace seventeen years before. But now Ruby Crane is back at her family's isolated lakeside cabin--alone except for her fourteen-year-old daughter, Jesse, who is recovering from a debilitating head injury. Ruby's job as a forgery expert at a California detective agency is behind her now. Jesse's recovery is her priority, that and trying to ignore the rumors about her return. The town gossips already have plenty to chew on...Ruby is just dessert. It seems Corbin Turmouski, a local mill owner, was cut in half by his own saw blade. Some say it was no accident. When Ruby visits Corbin's widow, she barely recognizes her once-vivacious friend, Mina, now a nervous, frightened woman. But at least Mina is alive-until she decides to talk to Ruby....

That's when Ruby starts looking for clues, starting at Corbin's sawmill, where she meets forester Hank Holliday. They're two of a kind, outsiders investigating the missing and the dead in a town determined to bury the past--and them as well....