Frances Downing Hunter

Delta Ridge Frances Downing Hunter

Holly Carter Scott is a historian at heart. She knows all about Crowley's Ridge, where she was born. She is an expert on her family's history-her ancestors' brave sacrifices made to conquer the wilderness, and their steadfast determination that led them to settle into positions of independence and pride in the small Southern town of Delta Ridge, Arkansas. Strength was undoubtedly the Carter family hallmark, but would Holly discover that their strength was in truth a fierce determination to shield emotionally-broken spirits, ruptured from hiding a ghastly truth that could destroy all they had achieved? Following her father's sudden death and having an ambivalent relationship with her mother, Holly leaves her home town for college, persevering to earn a law degree. She vows never to return to Delta Ridge. But following a love affair gone wrong, Holly allows herself to be coaxed back home to join the family firm. Holly will need to come to terms with her dread of returning to Delta Ridge. Is it simply fear of discovering the unknown or of learning she may have had a role in its mystery? A series of gruesome murders that begin on Holly's first day on her new job, forces her to turn detective. Will she discover a connection between the serial murders and her father's death, her mother's tempestuousness, her grandfather's kind but iron-fisted control, and reoccurring nightmares about what she fears happened on the night that forever changed her life. An intriguing plot-line laced with mystery and humor, quirky characters who are just as real whether dead or alive, and dramatic settings, painted in language often as pure as poetry make Delta Ridge's theme of family love pierced by underlying mistrust flow with refreshing honesty. This first novel by a prize-winning poet, avid traveler, and gifted teacher, with the keen eye of an artist, explodes with richness and texture, revealing with astute insight how complex living a life of trust and transparency can be.