A โgrippingโ mystery revolving around a family tragedy, and a woman who may or may not be descending into madness, by the Edgar Awardโwinning author (Entertainment Weekly).
David Sears grew up terrorized by the ravings of his schizophrenic father, a frustrated literary genius who openly preferred Davidโs sister, Diana, for her superior intelligence. When the old man died, David thought the madness had finally left with him. But the Sears family was not through with its troubles.
The drowning of Dianaโs mentally ill son was ruled a tragic โmisadventure,โ but she believes other factors were at play. After hastily divorcing her husband, she sets out to prove his guilt. Her increasingly manic behavior is becoming hard for David to ignore. He finds himself afraid for his own familyโs safetyโand must choose his words carefully when answering the detectiveย .ย .ย .
Thomas H.ย Cook explores the power of blood to define us, bind us, and sometimes destroy us, in a novel of โconsuming suspense almost too concentrated to bearโ (Daily News, New York).
โSo spare and precise, it feels as if it has been chiseled in stone with something like a surgical instrument.โ โJoyce Carol Oates
โWhatโs at stake isnโt so much the resolution of a mystery as the integrity of a family.โ โTime Out New York
โ[An] unusual, chilling mysteryย .ย .ย . Cook reveals all the pieces of the shocking story with an absolutely steady hand.โ โPublishers Weekly (starred review)