Among the Innocent

A cop takes on a serial killer with a connection to her past in this taut thriller from Alford (Snowbound Amish Survival). Officer Leah Miller and new police chief Dalton Cooper investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl from the Amish community in St. Ignatius, Mont. When they discover the girl’s body in the same barn where the corpses of Leah’s family were found a decade ago, the similarities suggest that Dalton’s adoptive brother, who was blamed for the killings and died by apparent suicide, was innocent and that the murderer remains at large. Leah and Dalton discover an unsettling secret about Leah’s recently deceased adoptive father, the former police chief, and when they close in on the killer, he sets his sights on Leah. As bodies pile up, Leah must rediscover the faith she abandoned after the death of her family to keep her and Dalton safe. A romantic plotline between Leah and Dalton feels rushed and tacked on, but Alford’s assured pacing keeps the murder mystery simmering. Romance aside, this tense thriller does the trick. (June)