One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer Fleming

Two characters are the centerpiece in Flemming’s books, yet here it is just Reverend Claire Fergusson. Arriving home after serving as a combat pilot in Iraq, Claire, broken, with PTSD, is without an anchor in spite of being in love and about to marry police chief Russ Van Alstyne.  As a suicide investigation goes sideways, Claire falls more deeply into fear and obsession. Flemming painted this character with real human tones. By the end, I felt she had always been my friend. - Karen