Longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize 2020 Quiet towns keep big
secrets. Private investigator Jessica Shaw is leading a quiet life
in a Californian desert community, where she spends her days
working low-level cases. But when a former resident asks Jessica to
help her sister, Rue Hunter-a convicted murderer whose execution is
days away-Jessica can't resist the offer. Rue doesn't remember what
happened the night two high school students were killed thirty
years ago, but everybody in town is certain she's guilty. As
Jessica looks for answers, she finds that local rumors point one
way and evidence points another. And nobody wants to face the
truth. Meanwhile, Jessica can't shake the feeling that someone is
stalking her-now more than ever, she knows she can't trust anyone.
As Jessica digs deeper, she encounters local secrets in unlikely
places-including the police department itself. But the clock is
ticking, and Jessica must find the truth fast-or Rue's bad memory
may be the death of them both.
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My review
Wed, 2 Oct 2019 | Review
by: Breakaway R.
California has not executed a prisoner since 2006, and a woman has not met her end in the death chamber since 1964. But this is about to change – after more than 20 years on death row Rue Hunter must pay for a brutal double murder.
Rue
Still, after all these years, her dream is the same. After confessing to the double murder, she has lived with her deed in the confines of her six-by-eleven-foot cell. Now though, at the point of facing the finality of her death sentence, she wishes she could remember the actual deed of plunging a knife into the bodies of the people she loved most. Her dream brings her to the edge of Devil’s Peak – but she was high, and the disconnect between the vivid image of the man in a plaid shirt and her blood-soaked dress keeps haunting her.
Rose
Hundred Acres has not seen her since her sister’s trial, but now Rose returns to her childhood town. She feels responsible for Rue’s destroyed life and wants to fix it. With her life’s savings in her handbag, she hopes to persuade the newly appointed investigator to find any new evidence in Rue’s favour. Rue is no killer, even though the town was quick to accuse the disturbed teenager.
Jessica
It is not her choice to be stuck in the sleepy community of Hundred Acres, sixty miles north of LA. With her peroxided blonde hair and brightly tattooed arm, she is not a regular cop. Rose Hunter’s thick wad of cash prompts Jessica to go through the motions of looking over the evidence – everyone knows that Rue Hunter is guilty. However, she is intrigued by Rue’s dream and its mismatch to the evidence file. When she realises that some evidence has been omitted from the file, she is drawn into the case.
Lisa Gray’s novel is a detailed narrative of the intrigue and drama around a crime investigation. Her depiction of small-town community life and the ripple effect of a brutal act will keep the reader engaged.
Ange
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.
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