First published 2000
Inspector Kathy Mallory arrives in Owlton, Mississippi, seventeen years after her mother Cass Shelly died under mysterious circumstances. The small town residents immediately recognize her. They see Cass in every feature of her daughter's face. But they don't know that the fragile child who once lived among them has become a hardened New York police detective. Mallory has returned with a singular purpose: to identify those responsible for her mother's brutal death and make them pay. The peaceful facade of this Southern community begins to crack as Mallory investigates. Old secrets surface and tongues start wagging as she digs deeper into the crime that shaped her life. Mallory must confront the tragic past that continues to torment her while navigating the web of lies that has protected the killers for nearly two decades.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: coming-of-age, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Owlton, Mississippi
Period: 17 years ago
437 pages · Mass Market Paperback · POCKET n° 10775
Content warnings: death