Bones Under The Ice by Mary Ann Miller

Bones Under The Ice by Mary Ann Miller

First Paragraph:

Sheriff Jhonni Laurent half-strode, half-slid down the huge pile of snow, her breath streaming out in a white plume.  A February blizzard had blown through northern Indiana the night before.  The gusting winds had now died, but the late morning temperature was plummeting.  She glared at the pesky reporter perched at the bottom of the hill, pelting questions.

My Thoughts:

I'm laughing because I've had a 'read cold books in summer' way of doing things for a long, long time.  And yet - this is the second book I've read recently that is definitely 'cold'.  Ah well.  Bones Under The Ice is a debut mystery by Mary Ann Miller.  It's the first in a planned series and features a female sheriff in small town Indiana.  Set in the winter, it begins with the discovery of a victim in the snow.  The question arises whether the young woman got lost in the blizzard or if more nefarious things are going on.  I did like this one and really more so as the story continued.  As I mentioned, it's a debut book and we are getting to know the characters and place, etc.  The story is a little slow at first, but it ramps up by the end.  I've found that the next book in the series will be coming out in October.  It's called Cracks Beneath The Surface.  I'll be watching for that one.  If you try this one, let me know what you think.

Blurb:

Jhonni Laurent is the first female sheriff of Field' s Crossing, Indiana— and now she has her first murder case.

Two days after a blizzard hits Field's Crossing, Indiana, Sheriff Jhonni Laurent discovers the frozen body of a high school senior under a fifteen-foot pile of snow and ice. Murder is rare in farm country, and this death marks the beginning of Jhonni' s first homicide case.

Just as the investigation gets underway, Jhonni' s opponent for sheriff from four years ago wages a bitter reelection battle to oust her. Then, Jhonni finds another body, and further complications arise when a century-old feud between two families reaches its breaking point.

Soon, a slew of newspaper articles causes the Indiana State Election Board to doubt her credibility. Jhonni must fight to maintain her reputation, keep the small farming community together, and find the murderer at large— all while demons from her own past threaten to crush her. Can she find the killer and mend her battered spirit before it' s too late?