In a lightning-plagued mining town, a new bride turns to the alluring women of the brothel to heal her husband’s chapped skin while strikes electrify the very air around them. A woman is sent to rescue her maiden aunts from imminent collapse into a the man-made volcano of a burning coal mine that threatens to swallow their house. A man’s idea of real estate investment is a pre-emptive purchase of a gravesite, but he finds his plot is already occupied.

Kristie Betts Letter’s surreal and shimmering stories root readers in the subterrain of powerfully-developed characters who struggle to remain above ground.

---

“I adore books that seem like sleight of hand,  stories unfolding like magic tricks. This is one of those books. I don’t know how on earth these stories were born or made and that’s a holy miracle to me.”
—Amber Sparks, author of And I Do Not Forgive You

“Kristie Betts Letter has an incredible ear for voice, capturing the speech of place and time anew on every page, while remaining always on the hunt for the well-researched killer fact that brings a story to life. Her Fire in the Hole is a smart and heartfelt collection, an enviable showcase of Letter’s ability to unearth new and surprising tales from the endless possibilities of the short story.” 
—Matt Bell, author of Scrapper

“These stories will pull the reader in to a world that seems, at first, unfamiliar, until the human tragedies Letter renders so evocatively make it recognizable. A compelling read.”
—Susan Muaddi Darraj, author of A Curious Land: Stories from Home