Drawing Blood

December 1, 2015
A dysfunctional family to die for. CeCe Prentice's life became ever more complicated when her brother was murdered, her father disgraced, and her mother sent to rehab. As it turned out, Teddy Prentice was not her real brother but rather the twin of Detective Frank DeRosa, who helped solve his murder. Both boys were taken in as babies by CeCe's father, who founded Sound View Labs in the wealthy New York suburb of Cold Spring Harbor. He had an obsession with proving his hypothesis that nature tops nurture, so he placed Frank with a poor, uneducated family and was dismayed that he made a success of his life. Most of the family's problems, even Teddy's murder, were caused by Prentice's illegal genetic schemes. Learning that her father had harvested an egg from her and probably fertilized it with Teddy's sperm, CeCe realizes that she may have a child out in the world and resolves to find the truth. At the same time, Big Bob, her pal from the local recycling center, goes missing and turns up dead in a pile of garbage. Naturally, CeCe and Frank are an item. She's a talented sketch artist who picks up extra money working with the police to help support the freegan lifestyle that she and the housemates in her ramshackle family home supplement with an organic garden and the sale or trade of homegrown products. What possible connection could Bob's fascinating garbage art have with a warehouse full of toxic products, storage units, and an online meeting place Bob ran? The answer to that question will help solve a murder and lead CeCe to the truth about her putative child. Familiarity with CeCe's debut (Drawing Conclusions, 2015) will help readers digest the complex back story. But her second case is every bit as twisty and surprising.

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