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Amy Steadman, heir to a book publishing empire, leaves New York to travel to North Carolina to settle her grandmotherís estate. Amyís own mother, the only child of Bailey and Frances Barbour, the founders of the publishing company, committed suicide when Amy was three. All of her life Amy has wondered why her mother would kill herself and leave Amy, whom everyone said she adored. When her father remarried, she felt isolated from her half siblings and stepbrother by her special relationship to Frances, the frosty old woman to whom they all owed their wealth and position. Frances had been murdered in her home, the old farm house, home to the Barbours for over a century. While most people thought it was a robbery gone wrong, Amy learns upon arrival that the local police do not share that view. Believing that her marriage is crumbling and the foundations of her world are eroding, Amy defies her husband and her father, opting to stay in the old house sorting papers and disposing of furniture and other items before the house is torn down to make way for a shopping mall. After a brief misunderstanding, when she thinks they are stealing her kitchen table, Amy is taken into the bosom of the large southern family of her long deceased grandfather Bailey. She soon learns that the money they will all receive from the sale of the family property had been held up due to Frances refusing to sign the necessary documents. Thus, she is disheartened to learn that members of the Barbour family are suspects in the murder. Shortly after her arrival, she receives an anonymous call in the middle of the night telling her she is next if she does not leave immediately. When another murder occurs, she knows she is in trouble, but joined by her half-sister, Beth, she is determined to get to the bottom of the murder and to the mysteries surrounding her mother and her motherís death. Taking a break from her Deborah Knott series, the author has created a new protagonist, the vulnerable, shy Amy, who more than comes into her own by the end of the book. Ms. Maron also gives us an unforgettable cast of interesting characters in the large extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins that Amy barely knew previously. Finally, there are two mysteries to be solved, one past and one present. Already an acknowledged mistress of southern story telling, the author has presented her fans with a little gem.
Reviewed by Lorraine Gelly, July 2003
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