Shattered Justice

In Furlong’s intriguing third Bone Gap Travellers novel (after 2018’s Fractured Truth), alcoholic deputy sheriff Brynn Callahan, a former Marine who was wounded in Afghanistan, is resented by the Irish Travellers, to whom she’s related, and the other residents of Bone Gap, Tenn. Brynn’s life gets more complicated when a Traveller nemesis returns to town determined to kill her and expose a dark family secret related to Brynn’s rape as a girl. Meanwhile, the discovery of severed ears with a “Hear No Evil” note attached and later a tongue with a “Speak No Evil” note suggests a serial killer is roaming Bone Gap. If the attempts on Brynn’s life and the serial killings are connected, then her two worlds are colliding, and she’s in danger of becoming the “See No Evil” victim. Furlong carefully interlaces the two story lines as they come together in an unexpected and nail-biting resolution. Brynn’s interactions with Wilco, her body-sniffing dog that lost a leg in the same IED attack that injured her, bring some relief from the grim goings-on. Readers will hope Brynn and Wilco will be back soon. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds Literary. (Jan.)