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Jason Grow photo<\/p>\n
Peter Swanson\u2019s latest mystery is told in reverse, from the present back into the past through a series of flashbacks.<\/p>\n
Wendy herself is a published poet, putting her one up on Thom.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s always the possibility, of course, that Thom gets so drunk that he spills the beans about \u2014 no, not happening, not going to tell you here.<\/p>\n
Did we mention they\u2019re filthy rich, or that it was Wendy who brought the money to their marriage, thanks to her first husband Bryce? Her late first husband Bryce.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re getting a bit ahead of ourselves here, but fear not, we\u2019ll soon be getting behind ourselves. Far behind.<\/p>\n
Lots of books rely on flashbacks, but what the Massachusetts-based Swanson has done in his 11th murder mystery is tell his story in reverse; he starts with the present, when birthday-sharing Wendy and Thom are turning 50, and follows them back through key and deviously scandalous times, jumping back several years in succeeding chapters, all the way to meeting on a school bus in Grade 8 on a class trip to Washington.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re familiar with The Exorcist, it will be helpful in following the plot.<\/p>\n
The term \u201cfiendishly clever\u201d is often applied to Swanson\u2019s novels, and indeed he is devilish in his plotting. His best book is Eight Perfect Murders, in which the FBI is befuddled by a serial killer and turns to the owner of an independent bookstore who\u2019s blogged about eight classic real-life mystery novels in which the killer gets away with it.<\/p>\n
Characters in murder mysteries always harbour secrets, but what Wendy and Thom have are Big Secrets, which bond them more tightly than any marriage vows.<\/p>\n
Thom used to have a loathsome boss, an arrogant department head who made Thom\u2019s life miserable, and who hit on Wendy \u2014 an older chap who swam many mornings by himself in an old quarry. He drowned one morning\u2026 terrible tragedy.<\/p>\n
Wendy\u2019s former in-laws believe she killed her first husband for his money, which they insist should be their money. Wendy keeps thinking they\u2019re having her followed \u2014 could that just be her imagination?<\/p>\n
She and Bryce had a pre-nup that left her penniless if they divorced, but every penny was hers if he died while they were married. Had Wendy really married Bryce for his money?<\/p>\n