The peaceful Virginia community in Mason County is divided, tempers are hot and it looks like things could easily explode as tensions are high for everyone. Ever since the Packard Development Company started offering big cash payments in a small town with high unemployment and low incomes, former friends and neighbours quickly become divided over what should happen. Some want and need the jobs and the cash while others just want to live peacefully in their homes and on their farms.

Things are bad enough with the heated words and minor vandalisms, but when a well-liked couple who look like they are not willing to sell their farm are gunned down in cold blood in their own backyard, things really start to turn ugly. Used to speaking her own mind, Rachel Goddard, the County's veterinarian and relative newcomer to the area, is miffed when her beloved husband, Sherriff Tom Bridger, attempts to rein her in. Can Rachel just stand aside when her friend, Joanna McKendrick, gets attacked?

With fewer people holding out, the developer ratchets up the pressure and life gets worse for those looking deeper at what lies under the glitter of the polished words. Meanwhile, as Tom and his deputies continue to investigate what happened at the Kelly's farm, more disturbing information comes to light. Can something else be going on besides the fight over property rights?

POISONED GROUND is the sixth book in the popular Rachel Goddard mystery series written by Sandra Parshall, a well- regarded and Agatha Award author who is very knowledgeable about the Virginia area in which she sets this intriguing series. While Parshall's fans will certainly relish this follow-up book to Bleeding Through, it also reads very well as a standalone novel.

In POISONED GROUND, Parshall paints a stark story of small town meanness that is nicely balanced by the kindness and support of friends to each other when adversity strikes. The story has a strong plot, a well written narrative and lots of characters with the potential to be suspects for the murders involved. Without giving away too much in the story, many other interesting themes are nicely intertwined into this powerful story focusing on big land development versus the rights of property owners.

I am sure Parshall fans, both existing and new, will find this a fast paced mystery with its relatively short chapters to be highly engaging and captivating. Personally, I found POISONED GROUND a hard book to put down and it is the first book I had read in the series. I definitely will be looking to read the five earlier books as well as looking to more in this series in the future! I think mystery loving fans wanting to be engrossed and well rooted in a good "whodoneit", need look no further than to POISONED GROUND!

Book Summary

When a powerful development company sets its sights on Mason County, Virginia, as the location for a sprawling resort for the rich, the locals begin taking sides. Many residents see the resort as economic salvation for the small Blue Ridge Mountains community, while others fear the county will become financially dependent on a predatory company. Few oppose the development more vocally than veterinarian Rachel Goddard. She sides with locals reluctant to sell their land and, in the process, complicates the life of her new husband, Sheriff Tom Bridger.

When a beloved couple is gunned down on the farm they refused to sell, it seems supporters will stop at nothing to ensure the success of the resort. Disagreement in the community explodes into civil war with both sides lashing out. Can she bring the truth to light before her community tears itself apart?

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