If you thought Texas was a whole 'nother country, welcome to Lake Caddo, a sprawling, irregular inland sea divided between Texas and Louisiana. Surrounded by jungle-like foliage (that's right; East Texas is a different ecosphere from the rest of the state) and rife with wildlife, Lake Caddo has long been home to people looking to "hide in plain sight," as one character in Attica Locke's new Highway 59 novel, Heaven, My Home remarks.

Those people, at any. The Texas Ranger who put him there, Darren Mathews, returns in this book for several reasons. It's a testament to Locke's skill as a novelist that, while a mystery plays out, she's able to keep all of Ranger Mathews's other life travails relevant.