Sticks and Stones

Set in 1989, Hiebert’s bloated fourth thriller featuring Alvin, Ala., police officer Leah Teal (after 2015’s A Thorn Among the Lilies) centers on the murder of a woman found shot, hog-tied, and staked to the ground. The MO calls to mind the work of the Stickman, a murderer whom Leah’s detective father, Joe Fowler, supposedly shot dead 15 years earlier. Unwilling to accept that her revered father shot the wrong man, Leah, who’s Alvin’s only law-enforcement official, and her boyfriend, Det. Dan Truitt, who hails from Birmingham, pursue the case with the imminent threat of another killing hanging over their heads. Various narratives—from the points of views of Leah; her 13-year-old son, Abe; and her 16-year-old daughter, Carry—muddle what is already a rote yet convoluted serial killer story. Meanwhile, Leah ignores the problem of boorish, condescending Dan’s constant drinking, and the melodramatic climax stretches credulity farther than many readers will be willing to go. Agent: Adrienne Rosado, Nancy Yost Literary Agency. (July)