The Abortionist's Daughter

March 27, 2006
Dr. Diana Duprey—abortion clinic director, wife of local Colorado DA Frank Thompson and mother of 19-year-old college freshman Megan—has plenty of enemies, so when her body is found floating in the exercise pool of her garden tour–featured house, the list of suspects is long. Aside from abortion opponents and distraught parents, there were the arguments overheard between Frank and Diana, and Megan and Diana shortly before. The coroner, a woman with whom Frank had had an affair, won't do the autopsy, and a man harboring a grudge against Frank takes her place. Meanwhile, Megan finds herself attracted to Huck Berlin, the policeman assigned to the case, and Huck finds Megan in various compromising positions. Former U.S. attorney Hyde (Crazy as Chocolate
) describes Megan's contradictory, confused emotions without oversimplification ("Have fun killing babies
" were Megan's inadvertent last words to her mother). Hyde also jumps back in time, delving into Diana's work at the clinic and her feelings about it, as well as the lives and feelings of her clients. Rather than generating suspense, the murder provides a frame for the turbulence in and around a woman propelled by idealism and strongly held beliefs. Look for this book to get play as South Dakota's challenge to Roe
v. Wade
wends through the courts. 150,000 announced first printing.

May 15, 2006
On a chilly December evening, Colorado abortion clinic founder Dr. Diana Duprey is found dead beside her home pool. Who killed her? The clues are few but the suspects are legion -Diana's high-profile career had inflamed feelings on both sides of the "Roe" v. "Wade" aisle. Among the suspects are the minister whose pro-life group regularly picketed her clinic; the woman who left hate messages on her voice mail; her daughter, with whom she'd argued that morning; and her husband, whose litany of resentment and rejection grew daily. The police have a tough time sifting through the sensational publicity and intricate interrelationships of these small-town, high-powered people to answer this fundamental question. Hyde's ("Crazy as Chocolate") latest novel deftly probes the many daily pains inflicted in relationships and delicately examines the sacrifices of her characters as they rebuild their lives amid swirls of ethical dilemmas. This is an exceptionally well-written book that pulls the reader nicely along right up until the surprise ending. Recommended for all fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 2/1/06.]" -Susan Clifford Braun, Aerospace Corp. Lib., El Segundo, CA"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2006
When Dr. Diana Duprey, who runs the Center for Reproductive Choice in a small Colorado town, is found dead in her swimming pool one night, her family is stricken with grief and guilt. Her husband, prosecutor Frank Thompson, remembers their loud and bitter argument over provocative photographs of their daughter found on the Internet, just hours before finding his wife's body, and title character Megan, a college freshman, recalls her last angry words at her usually permissive mother. When the autopsy (by the coroner with whom Frank once had an affair) rules the death a homicide, police look at the minister who heads the local antiabortion effort, but Frank--who refuses to disclose his whereabouts that evening--remains the prime suspect. Added to the mix are Megan's obsessive ex-boyfriend, a botched self-abortion affecting the minister, the Thompsons' earlier loss of a son with Down syndrome, police dislike of Frank over a previous case, and Megan's attraction to a detective. Hyde tells a good story, and praise for her last novel, " Crazy as Chocolate" (2002), surely helped earn a big print run for this one. But these characters--prime among them self-centered Megan--are less sympathetic, and the magnitude of plot elements overwhelms; less resonant than Hyde's previous work. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)