In this contemporary whodunit, there are lots of whos to choose from. When a woman is apparently kidnapped and murdered, the suspects start to multiply. There’s her grieving husband. But is he really grieving? There’s the husband’s grown daughter from a previous marriage who makes no qualms about detesting the deceased. There’s the sister of the dead woman, envious and jealous for more reasons than one. There’s the sister’s husband, who is perhaps too non-confrontational. There are the victim’s two teenage children, prone to sneaking out of the house in the dead of night. Then there are the family’s security personnel and household staff, all with the potential for an inside job. Of course, there’s also the possibility that none of the above had anything to do with it.

Local police detective Larkin—hardnosed on the outside but a boy scout on the inside—runs down one potential lead after another. Secrets are revealed. Lies are uncovered. Pacts are made to not disclose scandals that might do more harm than good to those who are innocent (assuming there are any of that persuasion). Before it’s all over, physical and sexual abuse have been disclosed, illicit affairs have been confessed to, and even the good detective is risking his career over a potentially fatal attraction.

Author Thompson does a first-rate job of mixing content, context, and situational hypotheticals. Her plot weaves its way through the police investigation that explores innumerable possibilities of what might have occurred. Her characterizations and scenarios are well-drawn without giving away clues as to guilt or the lack of it. Her prose and pace keep readers moving rapidly, even though occasional editing oversights pop up. All told, this is an involving mystery that definitely makes one want to know who really did it and why.

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