The Cold Way Home: A Novel

Written by Julia Keller

Narrated by Shannon McManus

"[An] emotion-charged mystery.... Keller's sleuths are easy to like and the murder story is moving; but the object of fascination here is Wellwood, a state-run mental institution with a dark history as a repository for 'rebellious, unruly women.'" ―The New York Times Book Review

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Julia Keller welcomes readers back to West Virginia, where her lyrical and moving stories of the people of her native state have unfolded since A Killing in the Hills, the acclaimed first novel in the series.

Deep in the woods just outside Acker's Gap, West Virginia, rises a ragged chunk of what was once a high stone wall. This is all that remains of Wellwood, a psychiatric hospital for the poor that burned to the ground decades ago. And it is here that Bell Elkins – prosecutor turned private investigator – makes a grim discovery while searching for a missing teenager: A dead body, marred by a ghastly wound that can only mean murder.

To solve the mystery of what happened in these woods where she played as a child, Bell and her partners – former sheriff Nick Fogelsong and former deputy Jake Oakes – must confront the tangled history of Wellwood and its dark legacy, while each grapples with a private torment. Based on a true chapter in the troubled history of early treatment for psychiatric illness, The Cold Way Home is a story of death and life, of despair and hope, of crime and – sometimes, but not always – punishment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Oct 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781799747550

Julia Keller

Julia Keller, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and former cultural critic at the Chicago Tribune, is the author of many books for adults and young readers, including A Killing in the Hills, the first book in the Bell Elkins series and winner of the Barry Award for Best First Novel (2013); Back Home; and The Dark Intercept. Keller has a Ph.D. in English literature from Ohio State and was awarded Harvard University’s Nieman Fellowship. She was born in West Virginia and lives in Ohio.

Reviews for The Cold Way Home

[hobbitprincess · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This latest Bell Elkins book is a good murder mystery with Bell in a different role. I thought this book was better than the 7th one and more reflective of the characters I've grown to care about in the previous books.

[beamis12 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the rare series that I became attached after the first book. Now on number right, I am enjoying these more and more. These are not typical mysteries, but stories of a particular time and place. Yes, there is a murder, but it is a murder to hide secrets from over fifty years before. Akers Gap, West Virginia has been hit hard by the opioid crisis, large number of unemployed and people with little about which to care. There are also good people, people who do care, sticking around to try to help the inflicted. It is also a town that harbors a dark secret. A mental institution that once stood in the woods, but now has crumbled to bare bones, nature overtaking much of what was left. A secret buried in the past of this once mighty institution.The characters are fantastic, Bell, Jake and Nick, have been through much, but have now formed their own investigation agency. There back stories are interesting, some of the tendrils of their past are far reaching. These stories seem so very real, and I imagine things like what happen within, do happen in cities all over the US. Highlighting the plights of the Appalachians, a much marginalized people that are brought to the forefront in this series. Extremely well plotted and well written.ARC from Edelweiss