Rewind back to a day in 1959, where in Sunnylakes, California, the skies are blue and it’s another scorcher. At some point during that day, Joyce Haney, disappears from her home, leaving a bloodstain on her kitchen floor.
It’s up to Detective Mick Blanke to try and fit the pieces of this puzzle together. And it’s proving very hard to do, as in white middle class surburbia no one seems to know anything. Apart from the Haney’s ‘help’ Ruby who becomes determined to help the only employer who treat her like a human being.
A beautiful, evocative book which simmers with tension and unease. The author does a wonderful job of accurately portraying the 50s, I could almost see the Formica and the sun splashed walls. Some excellent characters (I loved Mick and his wonderfully radical approach, of the time, to both females and people of colour, he was a real trailblazer) and a gripping plot made this a standout debut novel for me.
It’s up to Detective Mick Blanke to try and fit the pieces of this puzzle together. And it’s proving very hard to do, as in white middle class surburbia no one seems to know anything. Apart from the Haney’s ‘help’ Ruby who becomes determined to help the only employer who treat her like a human being.
A beautiful, evocative book which simmers with tension and unease. The author does a wonderful job of accurately portraying the 50s, I could almost see the Formica and the sun splashed walls. Some excellent characters (I loved Mick and his wonderfully radical approach, of the time, to both females and people of colour, he was a real trailblazer) and a gripping plot made this a standout debut novel for me.