Rumor of Evil
A Novel
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A 16-year-old exchange student accused of witchcraft—dark circumstances and sick rumors lead to her brutal death, a cover-up, and more murders two decades later
Detectives Kirk Lucian and Mandy Wing are charged with investigating a reported suicide of a Cambridge woman in her backyard. The death came as a shock—the woman was considered a pillar of her community and was well-liked by everyone. After further investigation, the hanging appears staged. Once Kirk and Mandy's suspicions are confirmed, they make a list of suspects.
Clues begin to connect the recent murder to the decades-old mysterious death of a beautiful 16-year-old Romany exchange student who perished when a treehouse she was sleeping in caught fire. The girl, Vadima Lupescu, had done "odd" things among her American peers that stirred up prejudices and suspicions, leading to her brutal death—and cover-up.
As Kirk and Mandy investigate the bizarre rumors—that Vadima had "gypsy powers" and put curses on those around her—they discover a cauldron of dark secrets. Will they uncover the true cause of this tangled web of deaths and horrors before it spirals out of control?
Perfect for fans of Stephen King and Tess Gerritsen
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Braver (Choose Me) skillfully alternates timelines in this unpredictable whodunit set in Cambridge, Mass. When 36-year-old Sylvie Thornton's landscaper finds her hanging from a tree in her backyard on the third anniversary of her son Devon's death, detectives Kirk Lucian and Mandy Wing are called to the scene. Shortly after Devon's death from cancer, Sylvia divorced her husband, and her surviving son went to live with his father. Kirk, who lost his own child in an unsolved hit-and-run, at first suspects that Sylvie took her own life, but an autopsy reveals foul play. The plot thickens when Kirk and Mandy learn that Sylvie attempted to blackmail her ex-husband a year earlier. Flashbacks set 19 years before the main action, concerning the death of a Slovakian exchange student who was classmates with Sylvie, tease potential connections to Sylvie's murder. When Kirk and Mandy learn of that long-ago death, they unravel some dark truths about contemporary Cambridge. Braver interweaves a convincing police procedural and a character-driven high school drama, bringing both threads to a surprising and satisfying resolution. Here's hoping Kirk and Mandy are on the case again soon.
