Millersburg

During the steamy summer of 1939, a lurid double murder rocks sleepy Millersburg, N.J., in Cauley's accomplished third novel. The crime implicates Josh Pritchard, the beloved uncle of Ben Whyte, who's about to turn 17 and undergoes a triumphant rite of passage as he learns many shocking truths about his family. Much to the distress of Ben's formidable grandmother, Adela Pritchard Wayland (aka Mamu), the murder investigation overshadows her announcement that she plans to die by summer's end. Memorable characters include Ben's sweet sister, Estella; his seemingly fragile mother, Eulalie; and the true heads of the Wayland household, Priddie and Osceola Flowers, a serenely powerful African-American couple employed by the domineering Mamu, whose bitterness and anger are as fully evoked as the farm and goats she loves more than anything or anyone. Cauley (The Botticelli Angel ), who's also a playwright and actor, doesn't waste a word in this exquisite time capsule. (Oct.)