Fatal Divisions

by Claire Booth

Overview

To everyone's surprise Sheriff Hank Worth agrees to take a break and leaves Chief Deputy Sheila Turley to run the force. Meanwhile Hank has an ulterior motive for the trip. Aunt Fin is worried her husband has had a hand in the disappearance of his company's secretary. Hank is determined to uncover the truth ... no matter the impact on his family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780727889973
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	01/05/2021
Series:	A Hank Worth Mystery , #4
Edition description:	Main
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.91(w) x 8.98(h) x (d)

About the Author

Formerly a crime reporter for daily newspapers throughout the United States, Claire Booth has used this experience to write three previous Sheriff Hank Worth mystery novels based on small-town American life. She is also the author of one non-fiction book, The False Prophet: Conspiracy, Extortion, and Murder in the Name of God. She lives in California. http://www.clairebooth.com

Editorial Reviews

11/09/2020

Booth’s fine fourth mystery featuring Branson, Mo., sheriff Hank Worth (after 2019’s A Deadly Turn) finds Hank badly in need of a break from routine. His aunt provides the spark he needs when she asks him to accompany her to Columbia, Mo., to look into the disappearance of her husband’s secretary. He agrees, and leaves Chief Deputy Sheila Turley in charge during his absence. While performing a wellness check at the home of elderly Clyde Timmons, Sheila finds Clyde battered to death. In the midst of the subsequent investigation, the majority of her deputies stage a sick out, protesting her reduction of overtime. Meanwhile in Columbia, Hank, who has no authority there as a police officer, tries to keep his inquiries under the radar, but he soon realizes that the missing secretary is just the tip of the iceberg, and he has to deal with a crime that could tear his family apart. Booth skillfully combines police procedural elements with a sharp focus on the families and professional lives of her protagonists. This superior regional series reliably entertains. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

A thoughtful entry in an increasingly solid series, particularly for the added dimension it brings to the protagonist

Booklist on A Deadly Turn

“Booth skillfully combines police procedural elements with a sharp focus on the families and professional lives of her protagonists. This superior regional series reliably entertains” – Publishers Weekly

Booth skillfully juggles two stories, punctuating the novel with a series of minor cliff-hangers to keep us interested in one story when she switches to the other … Booth, a former crime reporter, has a strong prose style: it really feels like she is writing about real people and events Booklist

Fans of police procedurals will appreciate the skillful, character-driven story that culminates in a fascinating conclusion to multiple cases. Readers of Steven F. Havill’s “Posadas County” mysteries may want to try this series Library Journal Starred Review

From the Publisher

★ 01/01/2021

Branson County Sheriff Hank Worth has not yet gotten over the car accident that killed six teenagers in A Deadly Turn, so his wife, Maggie, does an intervention. He agrees to go to Columbia, MO, to visit his college roommate, but he has an ulterior motive. Maggie's Aunt Fin suspects her husband in the disappearance of his secretary, and Hank agrees to investigate the business. While he's gone, Chief Deputy Sheila Turley reorganizes the shift work, an action that causes an insurrection among the deputies. At the same time, she and Deputy Sam Karnes have a murder on their hands, a widower whose few friends are men who play bocce with him. When Hank returns from Columbia, the two cases climax on the same night that deputies have called a sick-out. It's a motley crew that handles the mess and cleanup of the cases. VERDICT Fans of police procedurals will appreciate the skillful, character-driven story that culminates in a fascinating conclusion to multiple cases. Readers of Steven F. Havill's "Posadas County" mysteries may want to try this series.—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Library Journal

Booth imbues her fast-moving narrative with humor and humanity

Booklist on The Branson Beauty