Killing Her Sharply

by Katherine Burnette

When officers discover the severed head of a woman in a dumpster in the quaint town of Oxford, North Carolina, the case falls to Oxford Police Department detectives Bob Kelly and Antoine "Tony" Duval. The mismatched pair must work together to solve this gruesome crime. Bob, an experienced detective, fends for himself after his son overdoses, and his wife leaves him. Tony, recently transferred in from New Orleans to Oxford, routinely insults the crime scene techs and anyone within earshot. Bob and Tony quickly realize they're hunting a psychopathic serial killer who loathes women lawyers.





With more gruesome finds of body parts, the FBI sends in Agent Augusta "Gus" Bullock and profiler Felix Fulcher. The agents, along with Lt Katie O'Connor and Sgt Walter Johnson from the Granville County Sheriff's Office, ramp up the investigation searching for a suspect with expert knife skills and burning desire to cut up the women.





Despite these combined investigative forces, the community is paralyzed by fear. Tensions mount even further when the killer taunts the investigation team. Will they solve the case before the killer strikes again? Is it someone who is a stranger-or could it be someone hidden in plain sight behind a small-town smile?

282 pages, Hardcover

Published August 21, 2025

Reviews

[Katie Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The action started on page 1! I love that she’s from Oxford and based the book around this area. It made it so exciting to read and actually envision the places she was talking about. I’m not usually a huge detective/thriller reader, but I really enjoyed this one. It had some funny moments that genuinely made me giggle, along with plenty of action, suspense, and emotion. Great read!

[Isabel Washington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it! Being from the area where the action is located, I got a kick out of it. The characters were great, so human with real life foibles. A perfect who-done-it in that I couldn’t guess the ending.
Isabel

[Kevin Rumsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an absolute thrill this book was to read. With a slight feel of Janet Evan Evanovich and the local flair I throughly enjoyed this. A must read for those who live in the area.