WHEN GRACIE McBRIDE, the wild girl who had left town eighteen years earlier, is found dead in an apparent suicide shortly after her homecoming, it sends shock waves through her native Starvation Lake. Gus Carpenter, executive editor of the Pine County Pilot, sets out to solve the mystery with the help of his old flame and now girlfriend, Pine County sheriff deputy Darlene Esper. As Gus and Darlene investigate, they cant help but question if Gracies troubled life really ended in suicide or if the suspicious crime-scene evidence adds up to murder. But in such a small town its impossible to be an impartial investigatorGracie was Guss second cousin; Darlenes best friend; and the lover of Guss oldest pal, Soupy Campbell. Yet with all the bad blood between Gus and Gracie over the years, Gus is easily distracted by other problems. His employer is trying to push him out, the locals are annoyed that his stories have halted construction on a new hockey rink, and Darlenes estranged husband has returned to reclaim his wife. When Gus tries to retrace Gracies steps to discover what happened to her in the eighteen years she was away from Starvation Lake, hes forced to return to Detroit, the scene of his humiliating past. And though hes determined to find out what drove Gracie back home, Gus is unprepared for the terrible secrets he uncovers. The second book in Bryan Gruleys irresistible Starvation Lake series, The Hanging Tree is a compelling story about family and friendship, sex and violence, and the failure of love to make everything right.
