Scratchgravel Road

Fields sounds a warning on industrial dangers and their wide-ranging effects on ordinary people in this engrossing follow-up to her Hillerman Prize–winning debut, The Territory (2011). When Artemis, Tex., police chief Josie Gray comes across unconscious store clerk Cassidy Harper in the desert, Josie also spots the decaying corpse of immigrant Juan Santiago lying nearby, his body bearing sores of unknown origin. Cassidy later claims to have stumbled on Juan while on a walk, though his wallet is found in her car. Josie suspects the involvement of Leo Monaco, Cassidy’s deadbeat boyfriend, and Enrico Gomez, a local tough dating a colleague’s daughter. Also coming under Josie’s scrutiny are Juan’s quiet, Spartan life and the activities of Juan’s employer, Beacon Pathways, which is cleaning up a hazardous waste site in the area and may be conducting more nefarious operations. A tense climax with a flood, mudslide, explosives, and a possible murderer add to the suspense. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary Agency. (Mar.)