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This intriguing mystery is also an insightful look at the impact of unresolved grief.

In a dispute over land Preacher Eli accidentally shoots three-year-old Caleb Carson. Seventeen years later Eli is released from prison and back in Alvin – and Sylvie, the only surviving Carson, and her newborn daughter are being terrorised. Abe Teal, the young son of the widowed local detective, is convinced Eli is the perpetrator. When his mother dismisses his claims he sets out to prove it. Concerned for her young son as well as Sylvie and her baby Detective Leah Teal digs into Eli’s past and discovers a lot more to the seventeen-year-old case than she imagined. Was the shooting really an accident and did Eli have a hand in the subsequent deaths of Sylvie’s parents? And who is the stranger claiming to be her dead husband’s sister when Leah knows he had no family?

Close to the Broken Hearted is a stellar mystery blended with the small town charm of To Kill a Mockingbird, particularly in the refreshingly disarming voice of Abe Teal. Leah is an interesting character and the mystery she seeks to solve is engrossing, yet it is Abe and his friend Dewey who make this novel shine. Abe’s longing to know a father who died when he was only two and the secret about his father’s family is a nice addition and a solid tale in itself. The two stories generally work well together though there are times when one storyline is diminished for the sake of the other. The clever revelation of information, however, keeps up the tension. What is really going on with Sylvie, a young woman dismissed by most of the community as unbalanced by her brother’s tragic death, and the truth about Abe’s father are questions that keep your interest until the last page.

With its a unique mix of suspense and Southern warmth, Close to the Broken Hearted is quality storytelling.