Monica Rodden

This is a tale of two festerings that eventually collide with grim, then healing results. Catherine is in a world full of numb pain and horror after a brutal sexual assault she can only remember bits and pieces of. Henry is still hurting because of her rejection after their being childhood friends and maybe more. It takes the murder of a thirteen year old girl who Catherine cared for over several summers, the guilt of Andrew who shows up with the coat and wallet she lost during the assault and some pretty scary detective work in order to solve the murder and help Catherine get on a path to recovery. Well played clues make this a true page flipper.… (mer)

I almost quit reading this book very shortly after I began it. I was afraid that I would be spending a book caught in the traumatized memory of the main character. And she was traumatized! Catherine Ellers was raped after drinking too much and attending a party. She doesn't remember much about the experience. She sees the bruises and knows she washed away blood. She can't remember and both does and doesn't want to remember. Since it is just before Christmas Break, she comes home where her parents don't know how to help her.

Catherine reconnects with her childhood friend Henry Brisbois and his dog Molly. They had lost contact with each other at the end of Elementary School for reasons that make Catherine feel guilty. But now his presence is something of a comfort to her because he doesn't look at her strangely and know about what happened at college.

When twelve-year-old Amy Porter is found strangled to death. Catherine is pulled out of her introspection and needs to find out who killed her. Catherine had been Amy's babysitter/nanny for three summers and feels very connected to her. Catherine recruits Henry to help her with her investigation.

Then a boy named Andrew Worthington comes to town with Catherine's coat and drivers license and debit card and knowing more about what happened the night Catherine was raped than Catherine does. His need to assuage his own guilt makes him add himself to the investigative team.

The three teens find out all sorts of buried secrets as they investigate including secrets about what happened to Catherine. The story was filled with tension that kept building and building. I enjoyed the story and thought it was a well-plotted mystery with a surprising twist.… (mer)