Bleeding Through: A Rachel Goddard Mystery

Parshall’s satisfying fifth Rachel Goddard mystery (after 2011’s Under the Dog Star) finds the northern Virginia veterinarian living with her beau, Deputy Sheriff Tom Bridger, and dealing with a case that literally hits too close to home. Shortly before her sister, Michelle, arrives for a stay at the couple’s old farmhouse, Rachel and Tom come across the body of missing law school student Shelley Beecher along a highway in rural Mason County. In the subsequent investigation, Tom unearths tensions that have festered in the county ever since Shelley’s attempt to exonerate convicted murderer Vince Lankford for beating another man, Brian Hadley, to death. Meanwhile, Rachel struggles to rescue Michelle from a breakdown brought on by vicious calls and texts from a stalker who appears to have followed her from her Maryland home. Well-developed characters complement the well-paced plot. (Sept.)