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Summary
Summary
When a tragic house fire kills her beautiful sister Greta, Britt Andersen heads for the Vermont town that claimed her sibling's life. But who set the deadly blaze? With as many twists and turns as there are suspects, Suspicious Origin sweeps to a startling conclusion that will keep readers flipping pages until the very end.
Author Notes
Patricia MacDonald's books are popular in America and France. Her novels include Suspicious Origin, Stranger in the House, Not Guilty, and The Unforgiven.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Some clever hiding of clues in plain sight distinguishes Edgar nominee MacDonald's (The Unforgiven) otherwise unremarkable contemporary thriller. Britt Andersen finds herself playing Nancy Drew after Greta, her estranged older sister, perishes in a fire that also almost claims the life of her 11-year-old niece, Zoe. Remorseful at having lost her chance at reconciliation, Britt leaves Boston, where she produces a late-night news talk show, for the rural Vermont community where her sister lived and died. Her intended short stay for the funeral is extended both by unexpected feelings of connection to Zoe and by the alarming news that the fatal blaze was of "suspicious origin," a phrase that develops a personal resonance when she learns that Greta was trying to locate their mother, who'd deserted them when they were little. After her brother-in-law starts behaving oddly, Britt joins forces with a local reporter to build a case against him. Predictably, Britt too becomes the target of arson and attempted murder. While the author plays fair by giving reasonable hints that still allow for a pleasurable surprise twist, her paper-thin characters generate little interest. A successful professional who must have considerable emotional intelligence to do her job, Britt acts as if the most basic human feelings of love and attachment are an unknowable mystery. Her strictly amateur sleuthing succeeds only by accident. Readers for whom romance matters more than crime-solving, however, will like the hopeful, heart-warming ending. (Apr. 8) FYI: MacDonald is a bestselling author in France. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
The arson death of Britt Andersen's long-estranged sister is all in a day's woe in MacDonald's latest round of domestic suspense. Abandoned as a child by her mother, Boston TV producer Britt hadn't spoken to Greta Lynch for 12 years, ever since their father died of cancer while Britt was away at college and Greta's resentment at her own abandonment boiled over. Now Britt arrives in Coleville, Vermont, in the shadow of Mt. Glace, to find that her sister's left a disconcerting legacy. Alec Lynch is so abrupt and unwelcoming that his daughter Zoe's obvious affection and need for her newfound aunt are all the more awkward--especially once police chief Ray Stern rules the fire suspicious and Britt, convinced that Alec set it, trumpets her certainty to both Ray and Alec. Though Alec's neighbor Kevin Carmichael, the high-powered attorney who plucked Zoe from the blaze, takes over his defense, his alibi is laughably weak, and the circumstantial evidence against him dauntingly strong. He's obviously close to Laurie Rossi, the twinkie assistant at his snowmobile dealership; he'd rented a cozy little one-bedroom house even before Greta's death; and the morning Britt arrives, he swiftly takes charge of the registered letter from a detective agency specializing in family surveillance that's come addressed to Greta. The whole setup is all so pat that Britt is obviously misreading her surly brother-in-law as homicidal, leaving the field of suspects wide open (the Carmichaels' spoiled surrogate mother? the ambitious local TV reporter? the self-righteous neighbors?). Yet the characters are too transparently themselves, too forthright in their accusations and defensive maneuvers, to keep their secrets hidden very long or very convincingly, and only the dullest readers will be as dumbfounded as Britt by the alleged surprises. MacDonald, who parlayed everyday fears into spiraling paranoia so effectively in Not Guilty (2002), piles on the menace, suspicion, and deceit this time until the whole exercise shrieks formula. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
After her estranged sister dies in a fire, Britt suspects the charming ex-brother-in-law she has just met. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.