I knew Julia Keller as a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch several years before she won a Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles she wrote for the Chicago Tribune. Her name is still spoken with reverence by fellow Dispatch reporters. When she turned her hand to writing a series of mystery novels featuring a somewhat complex and quietly damaged county prosecutor, I and many others expected nothing short of excellence. We were not disappointed.

Keller’s Bell Elkins books rely more on drama than action (though they are not necessarily bereft of the latter) and on slow-boil plots as opposed to explosions. However, there have been plenty of judiciously placed twists and developments to keep the pages of each novel turning. The newly published BONE ON BONE is no exception.

"Keller is at her chilling best in BONE ON BONE, particularly when giving the reader an up-close, unblinking look at the physical and emotional tolls of addiction on both the addicts and those closest to them."

The series is set in the fictional West Virginia town of Acker’s Gap, which is modeled after a small town that was assimilated into the city of Huntington (Keller’s hometown) over a century ago but continues to exist as a neighborhood. Acker’s Gap is the type of place where everyone at least knows of everyone else and their business. As is the case in the real world, Acker’s Gap is plagued with drug addiction. Change also occurs in the real world, and there is indeed change in Bell Elkins’ life.

Bell is no longer the Acker’s Gap prosecutor as BONE ON BONE begins. She has just finished serving three years in prison for the murder of her abusive father, a crime she committed when she was much younger, and is wrapping up her mandatory community service. The backstory behind this is woven throughout the book as a secondary plot while Bell adjusts to life as a civilian, with the goal of taking on a pharmaceutical company that manufactures the painkilling drug that seems to have the streets of Acker’s Gap in its thrall. Indeed, addiction influences and propels every cranny of the book.

The primary focus is on the Toppings, a prominent family in Acker’s Gap. Brett, an executive with a local bank and a pillar of the community, and his wife Ellie are stunned by the cycle of addiction and rehabilitation that their son, Tyler, has been undergoing to the extent that he has become a stranger in their family and home. Brett resolves to become proactive in battling the effect it has had on Tyler, which results in Brett’s murder by an unknown assailant. There is a likely suspect, but the investigation takes longer than anyone anticipates at first. One of the side effects of the inquiry ultimately touches Bell, who is not officially involved in the matter. A series of stunning revelations occur as the book concludes, of which at least one is almost sure to play out in the next installment.

Keller is at her chilling best in BONE ON BONE, particularly when giving the reader an up-close, unblinking look at the physical and emotional tolls of addiction on both the addicts and those closest to them. There have been video documentaries concerning various aspects of painkiller abuse in Huntington, but Keller’s vision and voice add a new dimension to the problem, one that stays with the reader long after the last page is turned. It is unsettling but makes for necessary reading.