Deadly Descent

July 20, 2009
Family secrets both past and present underpin this promising mystery debut from Hinger (Come Spring
). In compiling oral histories for a county book project, western Kansas historian Lottie Albright encounters racist attitudes in a piece by a prominent local, Zelda St. John. Yet when Fiona Hadley, Zelda's sister and mother of political hopeful Brian Hadley, demands that Zelda's contribution be suppressed, Lottie's sensibilities as a historian are offended. When Zelda and her daughter are murdered, valuable documents are stolen and anonymous letters arrive from an unbalanced individual, Lottie enlists the help of her psychologist twin sister, Josie, with whom she has an uneasy relationship. Lottie's part-time job as a sheriff's deputy, tensions within her marriage and a sensational cold case involving a dead pregnant woman cause further complications. Readers who stick with the often awkward plotting will be rewarded by a nail-biting climax, when Lottie makes a life-altering choice.