About this item
When a powerful development company sets its sights on Mason County, Virginia, as the location for a sprawling resort for the rich, the locals begin taking sides. Many residents see the resort as economic salvation for the small Blue Ridge Mountains community, while others fear the county will become financially dependent on a predatory company. Few oppose the development more vocally than veterinarian Rachel Goddard. She sides with locals reluctant to sell their land and, in the process, complicates the life of her new husband, Sheriff Tom Bridger. When a beloved couple is gunned down on the farm they refused to sell, it seems supporters will stop at nothing to ensure the success of the resort. Disagreement in the community explodes into civil war with both sides lashing out.
About the Author
Sandra Parshall is the Agatha Award-winning author of the Rachel Goddard Mysteries. Although her series features a young female veterinarian and animals abound in the stories, the books aren't cozies. They've been called thrillers, suspense novels, and dark mysteries, and the author considers them a blend of all three subgenres. Sandra and her journalist husband share their home in the Washington, DC, area with two unbelievably spoiled cats, Emma and Gabriel, who have acquired their own fan base on Facebook and never let Mom forget it for a second.
Sandra is a past member of the national board of Sisters in Crime and a member of Mystery Writers of America. She interviews other writers regularly for the The Big Thrill, newsletter of International Thriller Writers, and she reviews crime fiction for the Washington Independent Review of Books.
Her latest Rachel Goddard novel, POISONED GROUND (March 2014) ) , is a fast-paced story of the repercussions when a huge corporation invades the small mountain community of Mason County with the intention of building a sprawling resort for the wealthy. Their plans involve taking land from people who don't want to sell. No one is more vocally opposed to the company's predatory tactics than Rachel, and her outspokenness complicates the work of her new husband, Sheriff Tom Bridger. The jobless poor ally themselves with the money-hungry rich, and a small-scale civil war erupts. When a beloved husband and wife are gunned down on the farm they refused to sell, it seems supporters will stop at nothing to ensure the success of the resort. As the violence escalates, Tom and Rachel discover the attacks are more sinister than they appear, rooted deep in the poisoned ground beneath their county's bucolic surface.
