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Overview
To Alberg, the death of Benjamin Strachan was baffling. Had his ultimely demise been precipitated by a drunken fall down his estranged sister's besement stairs? Or something far more sinister?Alberg's search for the truth takes him to British Columbia's Sunshine Coast—and into the secluded home of Zoe Strachan, a woman of seductive beauty and shattering secrets. At the same time, Alberg investigates the sudden disappearance of an elderly widow from a village nursing home... a disappearance he doesn't connect with the Strachan case until it is almost too late—-and the two seemingly unrelated events converge in a chilling act of violence and evil that will challenge Alberg's utmost powers of perception as a detective—and as a man.
In a small village on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast, Zoe Strachan has carefully tucked away a secret past and is living a secluded, private, and happy life. But when her brother arrives on the scene with incriminating childhood diaries--and a blackmail demand--Zoe's fate falls into the hands of Royal Mounted Police Staff Sergeant Karl Allberg, who must use all his wits to unravel the mystery.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Sechelt, a village on the British Columbia Sunshine Coast, is the locale of the successor to Wright's Edgar-winning The Suspect . Among the memorable characters from the first novel--RCMP Sgt. Karl Alberg and friends--is beautiful, aloof Zoe Strahan, a new resident. Alberg and the members of the community are, however, more concerned about elderly Ramona Orlitzki, who has disappeared from the nursing home. During the search, Zoe's brother arrives at her house with blackmail in mind and she kills him. As the reader knows, Zoe has been getting away with murder for years and seems about to persuade Alberg that her brother died in a fall down her cellar steps. But Ramona is hiding in a guest house on Zoe's land, where the killer's young nephew finds a refuge with the failing but tough-minded old woman. While Zoe uses her wiles on the sergeant, she plans a feral attack on the defenseless pair. The story is rich in humorous and poignant aspects as well as fierce suspense. (Mar.)Book Details
Published
November 9, 1992
Publisher
Macmillan Library Reference
Pages
378
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9781560540632