| The narrator is a young half-Native American, half-White, woman named Mary. She comes back to her South Florida island home of Toliquilah after a three year absence. She is drawn back to try to find out who murdered her childhood love, a Native American named Joe Tompica.
Her first unsettling discovery is that the investigating officer on the murder was Jimmy Cusler, a high school enemy to both her and Joe. She is afraid that he actually murdered Joe. Mary gets clues about Joe's murder from his friend, Esther, an elderly blind woman who milks snakes for a living. Esther speaks in riddles and dream language, so it is not clear how much she actually knows. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - Dry-cynical How difficult to spot villain? - Moderately Challenging Time/era of story: Misc. Murder Plotlets - solving long-past murder What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 30% Murder of certain profession? 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 - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - revenge The antagonists are: - government bureaucracy How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Average intelligence Setting United States Yes The US: - Deep South Small town? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Unusual forms of death - perforation--bullets Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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