THE TROUBLING DEATH OF MADDY BENSON

The small-town Texas rumor mill is less help than usual in the death of a newly arrived woman.

Jarrett Creek police chief Samuel Craddock gets a phone call from the sister of Maddy Benson, who might be in trouble. Maddy answered her sister’s call from a deserted spot far from her home and was vague about why she was there. When Craddock and his deputy, Maria Trevino, go to check on her, they find Maddy shot dead on a private road. Maddy was a widow who moved to town with her son and daughter-in-law, both of whom are authors. Josh Benson writes scholarly tomes, and his wife, Krista, bestselling romance novels. Krista’s affair has put their marriage on the rocks, but Maddy had hoped they would reconcile. Craddock has to dig deep into Maddy’s life to find a motive for her death. She was independent, and Josh and Krista don’t seem to know what she did with her time or why she had a go-bag. Although homicides in small towns are ordinarily the business of the Texas Department of Public Safety, the DPS seems willing to let Craddock investigate, and at length he turns up the information on Maddy that may have made her a target. The wife of the local Baptist preacher gives Craddock an earful about Maddy, who she claims was an abortionist who deserved to die. Maddy was working with a secretive group that helps women who need abortions get to out-of-state providers. Now Craddock has to figure out whether her murder was a result of her activism or a more personal motive.

A hot take on the state of abortion access since the demise of Roe v. Wade.