"High quality thriller"

In 1989 Nina Madden attends the College of St. Ansel in Stone River, Maryland, the same school where her dad teaches English Literature. She is elated to be moving out of her home to a sorority house as she does not get on well with her stepmother Olivia. However, her euphoria dies when the police handcuff her dad, who is suspected of being the murdering Stone River rapist.

In 2005 Nina works in New York, but is going home for the first time in years to attend Olivia's funeral. Father Whelan gives Nina a box from her father who died in prison. When she gets home she sees a letter her dad wrote to Olivia in which he apologizes for cheating on her with his students and driving her to take the actions she did. He will take the fall for what she did. Nina wonders if her father's crime was adultery while Olivia was the real killer. She turns to a suspense writer friend for advice and begins looking into the Stone River Rapist case not realizing that her actions will lead her to cop Wes Powell and someone else; both whom want her to drop her inquires.

The truth about Mariah Stewart is she is an incredible writer as affirmed by her latest high quality thriller. The story line focuses on Nina who has not fully moved on from when her father was arrested and convicted. The note stirs her sense of justice though her dad had accepted all responsibility. Fans will enjoy this deep amateur sleuth tale as readers will wonder how Olivia could be the killer as implied by the note when the victims were also raped. Another one sitting tale from Ms. Stewart.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 5, 2005

Summary

WILL THE TRUTH SET HER FREE—OR SET A TRAP?

Murder didn't end Nina Madden's life—it destroyed it. When her father was charged with the serial killings of several college students, Nina and her mother became pariahs in their small Maryland town. Though Nina never believed the hideous accusations, evidence led to her father's conviction and guaranteed the death penalty. After the execution, Nina left Stone River to escape the hatred and persecution . . . but she couldn't shake the lingering doubts.

More than twenty years later, those doubts are stirred to grim life. A new series of murders is plaguing Stone River: a killing spree that bears a striking resemblance to the one that sent Nina's father to the death chamber. And Nina isn't the only one disturbed enough by the gruesome events to take notice. Wes Powell, the cop who pursued the original case, can't ignore the eerie similarities between the crimes . . . nor their harrowing implications. Drawn back into a mystery that refuses to die, Nina and Wes will cross paths on their dangerous quest—and find themselves in the crosshairs of a bloodthirsty predator.

In matters of crime, there are many versions of the truth.