Ein spannender Krimi über Mordfälle, die wie Illustrationen in einem Märchen inszeniert werden: Madeline Dare ist Journalistin bei der Lokalzeitung in der Kleinstadt Syracuse und vermisst ihre Heimat New York. Als sie zufällig von einem 20 Jahre zurückliegenden Mord an zwei Mädchen erfährt, wittert sie ihre Chance, eine gute Story daraus zu machen. Bei ihren Nachforschungen deuten ausgerechnet alle Indizien auf ihren Lieblingscousin hin. Als kurz darauf noch ein Mord geschieht, ist klar, dass der Mörder sich an Märchen orientiert...
Madeline Dare trades New York's gritty streets for the tree-lined avenues of Boulder, Colorado when her husband Dean lands a promising job. Madeline, now a full-time homemaker and mother to beautiful toddler twin girls, has achieved everything she thought she always wanted, but with her husband constantly on the road, she's fighting a losing battle against the Betty Friedan riptide of suburban/maternal exhaustion, angst, and sheer loneliness. A new freelance newspaper gig helps her get her mojo back, but Boulder isn't nearly as tranquil as it seems: there's a serial arsonist at large in the city. As Madeline closes in on the culprit, the fires turn deadly-and the stakes tragically personal. She'll need every ounce of strength and courage she has to keep the flames from reaching her own doorstep, threatening all she holds most dear.
Madeline Dare has traded in the drudgery of living in backwoods Syracuse, New York, to work as a teacher at Santangelo Academy, a boarding school for emotionally disturbed teenagers in the Berkshires. Behind the ornate gates of the academy, she finds a disturbing realm where students and teachers must follow the dean's bizarre therapies.
"Another bitterly amusing mystery from the author of A Field of Darkness (2006)....Read borrows elements from different genres to craft a strange, compelling narrative, one that frequently approaches-but never quite descends to-the excesses of melodrama....In her shadowed complexity and stubborn-but fragile-integrity, Madeline resembles many of the genre's most enduring protagonists. She's a great character, and her creator is a great storyteller....Caustic, gripping and distinctive-intelligent entertainment."-Kirkus Reviews
Madeline Dare, a tough-talking, shotgun-toting ex-debutante, is not your average detective. Then again, not much about her life is what she expected. Born of old money into high society, she married into a Syracuse farming family and a bottom-of-the-food-chain job writing puff pieces for the local newspaper. Her emotional barometer these days ranges from dry irony to whining exasperation.
Then Madeline discovers mysterious circumstances linking her favorite cousin to a twenty-year-old murder case, and suddenly her roots are a serious matter again—deadly serious. Unwilling to turn her evidence over to the authorities before figuring some things out herself, she will embark on an ill-prepared and harrowing investigation into the real dark side of her world.
Produced by Hillary Huber with Patrick Fraley, recorded at Buzzy's recording in Los Angeles, with music composed and performed by Martin Lund.
"Huber portrays the main character's 'attitude' perfectly, reading with a wry wit and self-deprecating humor. Her voices match each individual's background, from Dare's husband's farm family to her own family's upper-crust snobbishness. Older teens and adults with a taste for a combination of mystery and humor will find both in this well-narrated novel." —Kliatt
