A spare, sparkling tour de force about one woman's journey to becoming a cop. Sarah Jane Pullman is a good cop with a complicated past. From her small-town chicken-farming roots through her runaway adolescence, court-ordered Army stint, ill-advised marriage and years slinging scrambled eggs over greasy spoon griddles, Sarah Jane unfolds her life story, a parable about memory, atonement, and finding shape in chaos. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she finds herself named the de facto sheriff of a rural town, investigating the mysterious disappearance of her predecessor -- and the even more mysterious realities of the life he was hiding from his own colleagues and closest friends. 'One of the best of the best.' -- Ian Rankin '.a spellbinding character study.[A] gorgeous authorial voice.

' -- The New York Times 'slim and affecting.' -- The Wall Street Journal 'A poet, Sallis packs a wealth of human experience into a small space.' -- The Telegraph ' Sublime talent.poetic storytelling of the highest quality, entrancing and yet utterly unexpected.' -- The Daily Mail.