The Levee — Michael McDowell

Elinor Dammert abandoned her first-born child in a bargain with Mary Love Caskey of Perdido, Alabama, and set in motion a series of strange familial entanglements. Her goals: power, money, her way.

In her way, she would begin to suck power from the weaknesses of the family she had entered through marriage. Her power would be felt again and again even if it meant murder -- or a horrifying ancient ritual death. Elinor Dammert must win.