Boomtown

Carter’s suspenseful third outing for Det. Delia Mariola (after 2022’s The Hostage) again exploits its Rust Belt setting for maximum grit. The tiny town of Baxter has hitched its economic hopes to plans for a massive new Nissan factory; meanwhile, a massive crime wave is alarming the incumbent mayor, who’s facing a primary challenge. Both the mayor and key players in the Nissan deal are putting pressure on Mariola and her officers to keep crime down when the mangled corpse of a local sex worker turns up. To make matters worse, rumors are swirling that both a group of New York City mobsters and a violent motorcycle gang called the Horde are poised to arrive in Baxter looking to exploit the influx of cash from the Nissan factory. Carter alternates perspectives between Mariola; Charlie, an ex-con who dumped the sex worker’s body but claims not to know how she died; and Maggie Miller, who believes the dead woman is her sister. Efficiently attending to each of the numerous conflicts and characters, Carter drives the narrative toward a ripping climax and adds vivid new shades to Baxter and its neighboring communities. Admirers of Ace Atkins’s down-and-dirty Quinn Colson books will find much to like. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Assoc. (Sept.)