High summer in Acker's Gap, West Virginia, means more time for its mountain residents to enjoy the rugged beauty around them.  And yet, few seem to be outside, taking advantage of the long, arid days.  With a killer on the loose, the hill people are scared.  Too frightened to linger, too scared to stray far from their homes.  It's up to Belfa "Bell" Elkins, Raythune County's prosecutor, and her old friend, Sheriff Nick Fogelsong, to stop the killing.  If only they had a clue where to look.  For all its breathtaking natural wonders, Acker's Gap is a hard, dead end kind of town, one where desperation leads to violence of every kind.  Who could be harboring homicidal tendencies?  Just about everyone.
Bell's got enough problems to deal with, never mind the recent murders.  Her 45-year-old sister, Shirley, has moved in with her after serving 30 years in prison for killing their abusive father.  Trying to re-form the close relationship they shared as girls isn't easy now that they're independent, headstrong adults.  Especially since Shirley refuses to listen to reason.  Bell's also missing her 17-year-old daughter, who lives with her flashy father in D.C.  The last thing she needs is more problems to solve.  Or, maybe it's the best thing to get her mind off her domestic troubles?

When Bell's investigation leads her to 19-year-old Lindy Crabtree, the prosecutor believes she's finally getting somewhere.  The jumpy teenager is hiding her sad, angry father in the locked basement.  The ex-miner, whose failing mind prefers the lonely darkness, could be the exact person for whom Bell and the sheriff have been searching.  If only the case were that simple ...

Julia Keller's exploration of Odell Crabtree's issues gives Summer of the Dead, the third installment in her Appalachian mystery series, a greater depth than what is found in the two previous books.  Keller always excels at bringing to life the struggles and stresses of her beloved hill people, but Odell's plight feels especially poignant.  As does Bell's constant worry over her older sister.  It's always been the characters and setting more than the plot that draws me to this series—still, there's plenty of action to be had in a Keller novel, no worries about that!  Although I pieced together some of the answers to the mysteries in Summer of the Dead, I didn't see all of them coming.  That suspense, as well as my interest in the daily dramas of Acker's Gap's salt-of-the-Earth residents, kept me turning pages.  Not to mention hankering for more from the indomitable Bell Elkins.

(Readalikes:  Other books in the Bell Elkins series [A Killing in the Hills; Bitter River; and Last Ragged Breath])

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John Hammond, the filthy rich owner of a premier biotechnology company called InGen, has a grand dream—to bring dinosaurs back to life for the viewing pleasure of the public.  For a handsome price, tourists will be able to visit a lush island where the animals roam free in all their ancient glory. Thanks to the cloning methods discovered by Hammond's scientists, his impossible goal is coming to life.  Jurassic Park is almost up-and-running.  Before officially opening the park, however, Hammond brings in a team of experts to experience what has—up until now—been a (mostly) secret project.  Hammond's visitors—Alan Grant, a professor of paleontology; Ellie Sattler, a paleontologist; and Ian Malcolm, a mathematician, specializing in chaos theory—are as amazed by the living dinosaurs as Hammond expected them to be.  He didn't anticipate the trio's skepticism, however.  No matter.  Hammond's grandchildren have also arrived.  Having the youngsters on the island will make his point very nicely—Jurassic Park is as safe as any other amusement park.

 If that were true, there wouldn't be much of a story, of course.  So, naturally, things start to go wrong.  An InGen employee tries to smuggle dinosaur embryos off the island, dinosaurs escape their pens, the animals—supposedly incapable of reproducing—do exactly that, etc.  As everything goes haywire, it's up to Hammond's terrified visitors to save themselves and the children.  Can the horrifying chaos be contained on the island?  Will anyone make it out of Costa Rica alive?  What will happen to John Hammond's glorious—and deadly—Jurassic Park?