The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

C.J. Tudor likes writing mysteries about small towns. As reported in a January 2018 Kirkus interview, Tudor said,

"In small towns, you've got this hothouse for stuff to happen--accusations, for arguments, for fallouts, for resentments...It's the perfect breeding ground for mystery."

The Fifth Petal by Brunonia Barry

The Fifth Petal is is a mystery and high-stakes thriller yet the author, Brunonia Barry, ingeniously combines this with the historical details of the 1692 Salem witchcraft trials.

Here's a historical detail that Barry drops that ties the past with a current suspect, Rose:

"With the exception of Sarah Good, who was thirty-nine, the women  executed on July 19, 1692, were much older, ranging in age from fifty-seven to seventy-one. Some were homeless or nuisances to the community: indebt, outspoken, or otherwise troublesome. It made him think of Rose."

Rose is homeless, deranged, and is now accused of a crime that he does not think she committed. No wonder Rafferty draws the parallel.