| Celia Nolan's past comes back to haunt her in a most terrifying fashion when her doting new husband, Alex, surprises her by buying a house for her on the occassion of her birthday. What she cannot reveal to Alex is that this was the very home she lived in as a child named Liza Barton, and that she accidentally shot her mother, Audrey, to death while trying to protect her from her abusive ex-stepfather, Ted. As Liza Barton, Celia earned mean-spirited comparisons to Lizzie Borden, and the house has since been known as 'Little Lizzie's House'.
Compounding Celia's troubles, a vandal intent on dredging up the past strikes, defacing the lawn, the door and masonry of the house. Then, the real estate agent who sold the house to Alex is murdered, and Celia becomes the prime suspect, hounded by an obsessed, over-zealous detective. Never fully vindicated and cleared in her mother's death and the (justified) shooting of her stepfather, Celia decides to find out why Ted was in the house the night of the tragedy before she can come clean to Alex. When two more members of the community linked to the vandalism and to Celia's past turn up dead, it becomes clear that the danger is much closer to home than she ever realized. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - depressing/sad How difficult to spot villain? - Challenging Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60% Misc. Murder Plotlets - solving long-past murder - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect - Killer purposely leaves clues Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Unusual characteristics: Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 60's-90's Motive of antagonist - money/treasure The antagonists are: - big business leader(s) How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - Northeast Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Unusual forms of death - perforation--bullets Unusual form of death? Yes |
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