Over the Edge

Bryant impresses in her suspenseful debut about a bloody land rights battle in Sedona, Ariz. Disgraced reporter Del Cooper has returned home after being fired from a Boston newspaper for mishandling a murder case. Hoping to settle down and sidetrack her journalistic ambitions, Del sets out to become a local tour guide, but her plan takes a turn when she discovers a corpse during a job interview. The body belongs to Franklin Johnson, a homeless man who’s been shot and left on the side of a rocky canyon. Del soon learns that Johnson was a vocal opponent of a proposed land exchange in which the wealthy Lee family would give 100 acres for public use in exchange for a new golf resort on Forest Service property. Suspecting a link between the proposal and Johnson’s murder, Del probes the Lee family’s long history of shady dealings. When her sources start disappearing, she doubles down, and begins to wonder if old enemies from Boston have somehow tracked her down. Bryant constructs an appealing, well-rounded lead in Del, and makes expert use of her Southwest setting. Tony Hillerman fans, take note. Agent: Dawn Dowdle, Blue Ridge Literary. (June)