by Ace Atkins
Part of Spenser, book 20
First published 1994
Spenser stares down at the body on a Beacon Hill sidewalk. Someone used a hammer to kill this woman, a model wife and mother who seemed to have no enemies. The Boston private investigator starts digging into what looks like the perfect murder. He searches for any reason someone would want her dead. The case pulls him deeper into the victim's life than he expected. Each conversation reveals another secret the family kept hidden. Spenser realizes the woman's perfect exterior masked complicated truths. The killer planned this murder carefully, but Spenser refuses to let them get away with it. He must untangle the web of lies before the trail goes cold.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigation, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Beacon Hill, Boston
288 pages · Mass Market Paperback · G.P. Putnam's Sons