by Joan Hess
First published 2001
The internet finally reaches Maggody, Arkansas, when the high school gets its first computer lab with web access. Police Chief Arly Hanks watches the small town descend into digital pandemonium. Students sneak looks at adult websites during class. Embarrassing photographs of local residents start appearing on computer screens around town. The virtual mayhem takes a deadly turn when someone discovers a young woman's corpse in a deserted building. The victim had a reputation for sleeping around, but her murder transforms online mischief into something far more serious. Arly must solve the case using old fashioned detective work in a community suddenly obsessed with new technology. She faces the challenge of tracking down a killer who may be hiding behind the anonymity of cyberspace. The investigation forces this small town cop to navigate unfamiliar digital territory while relying on the low tech methods that have always served her well in Maggody's previous crises.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, contemporary
Vibes: cozy, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-detective, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Maggody, Arkansas
Period: 21st-century
291 pages · Library Binding · Bt Bound