First published 1989
Jenny Cain has ambitious plans for the basement of a fire-damaged building. She wants to transform the space into a recreation center where mentally ill residents can gather and find community. The project represents hope in a town that often overlooks its most vulnerable citizens. But her vision crumbles when someone dies violently in that very basement. The killing shatters any chance of moving forward with the recreation hall. Worse, evidence suggests the murderer suffers from mental illness. Jenny faces a terrible dilemma. She has spent months advocating for better treatment and understanding of mental health issues. Now a crime committed by someone with those same struggles threatens to reinforce every harmful stereotype she has fought against. The investigation forces her to confront uncomfortable truths about the people she wanted to help and the community she thought she understood.
Genres: fiction, mystery, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: social-justice, unreliable-narrator
394 pages · Hardcover · Thorndike Pr
Content warnings: mental-illness