A Field of Darkness A Novel

In this "spellbinding" thriller, a former socialite turned working class wife is drawn to investigate a twenty year old murder to clear her family's name (Marilyn Stasio, New York Times ). Madeline Dare isn't your average detective. Born into a blue-blood family, she followed her heart to marry ruggedly handsome Dean, a farmboy-genius investor who's as far from high society as humanly possible. Now Maddie's stuck in the post-industrial wasteland of Syracuse, New York, while her husband spends weeks on the road perfecting the railway equipment innovation that might be their only chance to escape. She can handle her job as a journalist churning out lightweight features for the local paper. It's the Dean-less nights in their dingy, WASP-castoff-crammed apartment that Maddie can't stomach. Obsession trumps angst when a set of long-buried dog tags link her favorite cousin to the scene of a vicious double homicide. Drawn by the desire to clear her cousin's name, she uncovers a startling web of intrigue and family secrets that could prove even more deadly. "Every page is a pleasure. . . . Read's plot crackles and pops, but her characters steal the show. . . .