Cold, Cold Death — Emmett K. Smelser

The frozen bodies of two women are found, a month apart, at the same spot along a rural Indiana roadside. But apart from the location, nothing about the crimes is the same. The first victim was horribly beaten and raped, but the second was unmolested and lying chillingly as if she were merely asleep in a ditch. The two deaths have shattered the illusion of safety in their small community. Authorities are stymied in their quest for the killer or killers. But newspaper editor Brock Andrews and police reporter Jeni Jermaine unearth clues the cops, including the editor's detective wife, can't find. And along the way they must challenge the complacency of elected officials and demand answers to assure that justice is done.