Black and Secret Midnight

It is July 1951, and in Georgia, that means oppressive, sticky heat. Twelve-year-old Beth Anne Crane and her family visit her grandmother in Columbus, Georgia. She loves all her kin, but it becomes clear that she doesn't understand the undercurrents of hatred and greed roiling under a surface calm. As she tries to acclimate to the changes around her, the killing starts. First it's the mentally retarded young black son of her great-aunt Ophelia's former cook. Then Beth Anne's friend Nina disappears. Then it's Auntie who disappears. Who will be next? Beth Anne herself may be the next one to fall prey to the killer's mania.