Fast Falls the Night

Despite its 24-hour timeline, Keller’s sixth Bell Elkins novel (after 2016’s Sorrow Falls) feels less than urgent. In a plot inspired by a true story, a tainted batch of heroin makes its way through Acker’s Gap, W.Va., putting police and paramedics into overtime as dozens of addicts overdose. County prosecutor Bell and Deputy Jake Oakes quickly trace the source and warn a community to which they sometimes turn a blind eye. Procedural readers will be disappointed by the lack of case-changing reveals, but they may be assuaged by Keller’s skill in depicting the strained relationship between a realistic but unjaded law enforcement team and those whom they could but don’t generally prosecute, while treating all the players with human compassion. Keller keeps a core series theme—deep connections in a small multigenerational community—strong by bringing in old family secrets through a secondary plot focusing on child abuse and dramatic developments in Bell’s relationship with her ex-felon sister. Agent: Lisa Gallagher, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Aug.)