A Brilliant Death
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A 2017 EDGAR® AWARD FINALIST! Amanda Baron died in a boating accident on the Ohio River in 1953. Or, did she? While it was generally accepted that she had died when a coal barge rammed the pleasure boat she was sharing with her lover, her body was never found. Travis Baron was an infant when his mother disappeared. After the accident and the subsequent publicity, Travis’s father scoured the house of all evidence that Amanda Baron had ever lived, and her name was never to be uttered around him. Now in high school, Travis yearns to know more about his mother. With the help of his best friend, Mitch Malone, Travis begins a search for the truth about the mother he never knew. The two boys find an unlikely ally: an alcoholic former detective who served time for falsifying evidence. Although his reputation is in tatters, the information the detective provides about the death of Amanda Baron is indisputable—and dangerous. Nearly two decades after her death, Travis and Mitch piece together a puzzle lost to the dark waters of the Ohio River. They know how Amanda Baron died, and why. Now what do they do with the information?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this engrossing coming-of-age mystery set in the postindustrial town of Brilliant, Ohio, from Yocum (Favorite Sons), journalist Mitch Malone agrees to help his best friend, Travis Baron, find out about Travis's mother. Amanda Baron and a lover apparently died in a boating accident on the Ohio River in 1953 when Travis was a baby, but no bodies were ever found. Travis, who grew up in the same house as his often-absent, widely feared father, Big Frank, knows nothing of his mother, not even what she looked like. Mitch and Travis's quest for answers involves visiting a graveyard at midnight, sorting through old newspaper clippings on microfilm, scouring police reports, and rooting around Big Frank's attic. Most enlightening is their interview with a former detective, who believes Amanda was murdered, possibly by Big Frank. Vivid local color and a satisfying portrait of boyhood friendship more than compensate for a confusing beginning and some head-scratching plot twists.
