Funeral Hotdish

As she did in Cattle Kate (2014), veteran crime reporter Bommersbach draws on actual events for this ripped-from-the-headlines novel, which finds an odd but mostly effective way to show both ends of America’s illegal drug trade. In Phoenix, Ariz., in 1999, reporter Joya Bonner becomes aware that Mafia turncoat Sammy “the Bull” Gravano is bamboozling the FBI by using his refuge in the Federal Witness Protection Program to run a narcotics ring that’s distributing pills all the way to Joya’s peaceful hometown of Northville, N.Dak., where the death of 17-year-old Amber Schlener from a bad dose of Ecstasy sparks misguided vigilante violence. In Phoenix, Joya covers the police investigation that nails Sammy and his son. Back home in Northville, she keeps a lazy sheriff from arresting the wrong people—but it’s almost certain that the town’s smug innocence has been lost. Sharp writing and incisive characterization bring both stories to life. (Feb.)