Tabula Rasa

When two children die under suspicious circumstances in a house fire, Arson Investigator Billy Nightingale and his brother-in-law, Police Detective Sebastian Bly, are called in to investigate. As performed by Anna Fields, Billy and Sebastian sound like square-jawed heroic types. As Edith Tuttle, the monster mother, Fields offers a psychotic, uneducated harridan. The author, a private detective and New York City arson investigator, provides insights into meticulous police work and forensics, but her lengthy explication on mothers who murder reads more like a research paper than a novel. The story ties up too neatly, and the characters lack credibility, but Fields keeps things edgy and well worth a listen. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

August 1, 2005
Reuben's fifth novel (after 2004's Weeping), a poignant crime drama, introduces Billy Nightingale, a vigilant fire investigator, who rescues "Baby Tuttle," the tiny survivor of an act of arson and multiple homicide. Billy later uncovers incriminating evidence that leads to the conviction and incarceration of the unnamed baby's mother, Edith Tuttle, who has used fire to cover the murders of seven children over an 18-year period. After Edith loses her parental rights, Billy's older sister, Annie, and her husband, state trooper Sebastian Bly, adopt the child and name her Meredith "Merry" Marmalade Bly. Reuben, herself a veteran fire investigator, skillfully depicts the arson investigation and portrays the warm Blys with an almost fairytale-like sweetness countered by Edith's hauntingly cold persona. The family's struggle to protect Merry from learning her true identity goes up in flames when Edith is released and goes in search of the last witness to her depravity. In a flashback, a character teaching a young Billy about fire investigation says, "The problem with this fire is the ignition source," and the book's hot resolution confirms that a human ignition source is the most frightening.