First published 2009
Frank Amberley stops his car on a dark country road to help a distressed young woman. He discovers a sports car containing a corpse. The dead man is a butler, and the woman, Shirley Brown, insists she is innocent. Amberley wants to believe her, but evidence keeps pointing in her direction. The Fountain family harbors dangerous secrets that someone killed to protect. Every new clue makes the puzzle more complex rather than clearer. The local police mean well but cannot solve the case. Amberley must use his legal mind and detective skills to identify the real killer. His arrogance serves him well in most investigations, but this time he fears learning the truth. The deeper he digs into the Fountain family's affairs, the more he questions whether he wants to expose what he might find.
Genres: fiction, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-detective, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Fountain Family
Period: 20th-century
336 pages · Kindle Edition · Sourcebooks Landmark