by James Hayman
First published 2015
Detective Mike McCabe stares at the carved letter "A" on eighteen-year-old Veronica Aimée Whitby's chest. The murder scene on the private Maine island mirrors another killing from 1904, when Aimée Garnier Whitby, a French artist married to a wealthy Maine patriarch, died with the same marking. McCabe and his partner Maggie Savage face mounting media pressure as they investigate the copycat crime. The current victim looks almost identical to her ancestor, and both women belonged to the powerful Whitby family. The detectives must uncover connections between the century-old murder and the present case. McCabe realizes the solution may lie buried with the original victim, but time runs short as the killer remains free. The investigation forces McCabe and Savage to dig through family secrets spanning generations while racing to prevent another death.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-detective, copycat-crime, family-legacy
Setting: Maine, Private Island
Period: 1904, 21st Century
384 pages · ebook · Witness Impulse
Content warnings: murder