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Corn, politics, and cannibalism: this book has them all.

Bodies are found in a sleepy county, bodies with bites taken out of them. Riley Fisher, newly promoted to head of investigations, granddaughter of the previous Sheriff, is tasked with solving the murders. The first body is her childhood friend, Chloe.

Riley wades through her own personal Hell of remembering why she left Black Hawk County while navigating other officers’ resentment for being passed over for promotion as she gathers evidence to solve her old friend’s murder. Along the way, she stumbles on a political coverup right smack dab in the middle of election campaigns.

I never guessed the ending of the book. I thought I had it, I thought I knew where it was going when niacin deficiency was mentioned, but the novel took a turn I didn’t anticipate. Once I finished the novel I could see all the clues, which just made the revelation that much better. The author was skillful in withholding tiny tidbits until the very end without making the story feel full of holes or contrived.

This is the first book in a planned series focusing on Riley. I’d read the next one, mostly to see if the author can pull off another murder mystery with the same flair.