Gilang Ramadhan Ramadhan itibaren Prozor, Bosnia-Hercegovina itibaren Prozor, Bosnia-Hercegovina

It was a good mystery novel, with more emphasis on psychological suspense than mystery. The author presents profiles of four of the major characters by allowing them to tell their stories in their own way. When a married couple are found dead in the living room of their home in rural Vermont, the police initially regard the case as a murder-suicide. George Hayward, a successful businessman, is a leader in his small community. He operates a restaurant, clothing store and toy store in a town in Vermont. His wife, Alice, a customer service representative at a local bank, has been keeping a secret that only her daughter and few close friends know. She is a battered wife. Alice was a member of the Baptist congregation led by Reverend Stephen Drew. During the months before her death, Alice confided in Stephen and he became one of the few people who know about the abusive relationship. Her good friend Ginny O'Brien also know what Alice had been going through. After Alice's murder is discovered, Reverend Drew blames himself for not having done more to help her. He suffers a crisis of faith and feels he can no longer function as the church's minister. Just around the same time, an author happens to be visiting rural Vermont. Heather Laurent, a writer of self-help books, experienced a similar tragedy when she was a teenage girl and thinks she can help Stephen and the Haywards' daughter Katie in dealing with their grief. As the police and other investigators examine the evidence left at the crime scene, questions are raised about exactly what occurred and the case does not appear to be as straightforward as it first seemed. A prosecutor with the state attorney's office, Catherine Benincasa, becomes involved in the case and thinks she knows what really happened, but lacks the evidence to support her theory. Most of the characters are sympathetic, with the exception of Catherine Benincasa. Although she is obviously intelligent, her smug, cynical, overzealous tone really got to me. I found myself compelled to throw the book against the wall, because she was so insufferable and I couldn't stand her already. She is supposed to be championing the cause of the victims of domestic and other abuse, so her motives apparently are honorable. But I sure wouldn't want her as an adversary--or even as a friend. The novel is sad and brought back childhood memories of a close relative of mine who was in an abusive marriage. Fortunately, she got away from her abusive husband after 11 years.