First published 2005
The body of Janelle Vonn turns up in an abandoned orange packing plant in 1968 Orange County. Three Becker brothers find themselves pulled into the case, each bringing his own skills and obsessions. One brother works as a cop handling his first homicide. Another serves as a minister hoping to perform his first miracle. The third pursues stories as an ambitious reporter. The Beckers and Vonns share a violent history stretching back to high school, when the brothers from each family fought in a brutal confrontation. Now Orange County transforms around them as developers tear up orange groves for new housing tracts. War protests rage while Nixon and Timothy Leary represent opposing visions of America's future. Each Becker brother approaches Janelle's murder differently, but all three dig deeper into family secrets and old grudges. The investigation draws them into the social upheaval of the late 1960s while forcing them to confront their shared past.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, sibling-rivalry
Setting: Orange County, California
Period: 1968
464 pages · Library Binding · Center Point Publishers