The Distant Dead

Nominated for the 2021 Edgar Award for Best Novel

A body burns in the high desert hills. A boy walks into a fire station, pale with the shock of a grisly discovery. A middle school teacher worries when her colleague is late for work. When the body is identified as local maths teacher Adam Merkel, a small Nevada town is rocked to its core by a brutal and calculated murder.

In the seven months he worked at Lovelock's middle school, the quiet and seemingly unremarkable Adam Merkel had formed a bond with just one of his students: Sal Prentiss, a lonely sixth grader who lives with his uncles on a desolate ranch in the hills. It is Sal who finds Adam's body, charred almost beyond recognition, half a mile from his uncles' compound.

Nora Wheaton, the school's social studies teacher, sensed a kindred spirit in Adam—another soul bound to Lovelock by guilt and duty. After his death, she delves into his past for clues to who killed him. Yet, the truth about Adam's murder may lie closer to home. For Sal's grief seems shaded with fear, and Nora suspects he knows more than he's telling about his favourite teacher's death.

This unforgettable thriller brings a small American town to vivid life, filled with complex, troubled characters wrestling with the weight of the past, the promise of the future, and the bitter freedom that forgiveness can bring.

'Powerful and poignant.' - People

'Bright, flawless writing, wonderful characters, and a sense of pacing that ratchets up the tension... I loved this book. I bet you will too.' - Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Child Finder

The Distant Dead is at heart about the timelessness of human curiosity, the eternal possibility of forgiveness, and the everyday miracle of survival. Electrifying, ambitious, and crushingly beautiful.' - Kirkus, starred review

'With her usual blend of inventive storytelling and gorgeous prose, Heather Young delivers big themes and a poignant coming of age story in this complex, page-turning mystery/thriller... The Distant Dead is not to be missed.' - James McLaughlin, author of Bearskin

'The suspense is slow and steady in this meditative, artistic take on the murder mystery... An unusual, compelling portrait of a people and a place where the future always seems impossibly far away' - Bookpage (starred review) on The Distant Dead

'A breathtaking read, with flawed and authentic characters who hit so close to home that at times it is impossible not to root for them, just as we might for those closest to us' - San Francisco Chronicle on The Distant Dead