First published 2003
Judge Oliver Garland dies without warning, but his death raises troubling questions. The brilliant conservative jurist once stood on the brink of a Supreme Court appointment before scandal destroyed his nomination on national television. Now his son Talcott, a law professor at an elite university, receives a cryptic final message about "the arrangements." His father has left him a puzzle that demands digging into family secrets and old controversies. When two more men turn up dead, Talcott realizes someone will kill to keep the past buried. The investigation threatens his academic career and his marriage as he follows a trail through two insular worlds: the upper class African American society of Martha's Vineyard and the power circles of Ivy League academia. Talcott must decide how much he will sacrifice to solve his father's mystery and learn whether Oliver Garland was murdered.
Genres: african-american, mystery, crime, contemporary, family-drama, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, family-drama, mystery
Setting: Martha's Vineyard, Ivy League
Period: Contemporary
672 pages · Paperback · Vintage