A Day Too Long by Pat Welch

Helen Black is out on parole near the small Mississippi town she escaped in her youth. As she struggles to put her life back together and make friends with the residents of Tynedale, Helen is pulled into the seamy underside of this ostensibly placid town. But it's the one place she can't go -- the seamy underside will lead Helen straight back to prison. Then a brutal murder rips the town apart. Everyone, from a scheming ex-cellmate to a new police detective with a chip on his shoulder, seem to align themselves against Helen. But it was Helen who found the body and to save herself, she must now find the killer.