Allreaders.com
Author Judith Guest booklist (click here)

Book Review By Harriet Klausner
The Tarnished Eye by Judith Guest



Scribner, June 2004, 24.00, 288 pp.
ISBN 0743257367

The small town of Blessed, located in Northern Michigan, is divided into two groups, full time residents and the summer people who live in their “McMansions”. Edward and Paige Norbois and their four children don't even bother with the summer residents because the father is a loner who come up to Blessed to get away from people. Except for the youngest children, all the members of the family have a problem or secret they wish to hide. The family is getting ready to fly on their new plane when someone executes everyone except for the little girl who dies from a blow to the head.

Sheriff Hugh De Witt takes charge of the investigation but he is very short of help and the Ann Arbor Chief of Police can't help him because he has his own big investigation to cover. Someone is killing female co-eds and the college town is in an uproar wanting the perpetrator found yesterday. As Hugh investigates the killings, he finds a link between the massacre at Norbois' summer home and the Ann Arbor murders. Now he has to do is find out where that link will take him.

While working the investigation, the sheriff is learning to let go of the intense pain he has felt ever since his eleven month old died from SIDS. It is fascinating reading about the investigation as the author takes us through it step by step. THE TARNISHED EYE is a very visual book that would make a good movie because the readers come to know and care about the DeWitt family inside a powerful police procedural. Judith Guest has written a very exciting and enjoyable psychological suspense thriller.

Harriet Klausner



Plot & Themes
Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80%
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 - 50 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Race

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status:
Motive of antagonist - insanity
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Midwest

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Back To Main Menu