The ties that bind - can kill.All's quiet in Reunion, South Dakota, until word comes via horse and a killer is loose in the peaceful German Anabaptist community of Eder.Outsiders call them the Mock Brethren, who only wish to be left alone. Sheriff Karen Mehaffey wants to do just that - they shunned her mother. But when the patriarch, Elder Abraham Mock, is killed, she reluctantly answers the call, more afraid to find kin than a killer.Except, that is, for the daughter she gave up two decades before.DEAD QUIET is a character-driven police procedural of a rural bent. Fourth in series. Word 101,000. Occasional profanity. Minimal gore.