13½
Non-series
Nevada
Barr
Vanguard
Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59315-553-0 (1593155530)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59315-553-7 (9781593155537)
Publication Date: September 2009
List Price: $25.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): In 1971, the state of Minnesota was rocked by the
“Butcher Boy” incident, as coverage of a family
brutally
murdered by one of their own swept across newspapers and television
screens nationwide.
Now, in present-day New Orleans, Polly Deschamps finds herself at yet
another lonely crossroads in her life. No stranger to tragedy, Polly
was a runaway at the age of fifteen, escaping a nightmarish Mississippi
childhood.
Lonely, that is, until she encounters architect Marshall Marchand.
Polly is immediately smitten. She finds him attractive, charming, and
intelligent. Marshall, a lifelong bachelor, spends most of his time
with his brother Danny. When Polly’s two young daughters from
her
previous marriage are likewise taken with Marshall, she marries him.
However, as Polly begins to settle into her new life, she becomes
uneasy about her husband’s increasing dark moods, fearing
that
Danny may be influencing Marshall in ways she cannot understand.
But what of the ominous prediction by a New Orleans tarot card reader,
who proclaims that Polly will murder her husband? What, if any, is the
Marchands’ connection to the infamous “Butcher
Boy”
multiple homicide? And could Marshall and his eccentric brother be
keeping a dark secret from Polly, one that will shatter the happiness
she has forever prayed for?
Review:
Nevada
Barr, author of the Anna Pigeon mystery series, pens her first
stand-alone thriller, 13½.
One night in 1971, 11-year-old Dylan Raines is convicted of murdering
his mother, father, and baby sister, and severely injuring his older
brother Richard. Convicted by a Minnesota court, and sentenced to
juvenile detention until his 18th birthday, and the state penitentiary
thereafter, he doesn't profess his innocence, but rather his inability
to remember anything that happened that night. Thirty-six years later,
Polly Farmer Deschamps, a divorced mother of two young girls, meets
Marshall Marchand, an architect helping to rebuild post-Katrina New
Orleans. They are married but shortly afterward Polly notices Marsh
seems troubled ... and when she begins to explore his past, she
concludes she may not know the man she married, and to fear for the
safety of her children.
The best thrillers typically have unexpected twists, or something to
surprise the reader along the way, but there is nothing unexpected or
surprising in 13½.
The
author makes little effort to disguise the fact that the Marchand
brothers in 2007 New Orleans are, in fact, the Raines brothers of
Minnesota in the late 1960s, and that the murders of the Raines family
members described early in the book are not quite what they seem. Nor
is the identity of the mysterious Woman in Red all that mysterious.
Even the title doesn't make a lot of sense: "13½"
is a
prison tattoo that signifies 12 jury members, 1 judge, half a chance;
but there is no judge, jury, or trial here ... nor is there a prison.
Maybe the title has a more subtle meaning, but if so, it's not clear
what it is or how it relates to the story.
The briskly paced and exceptionally well-written narrative overcome
much of the predictability of 13½.
The significant plot holes are a little harder to ignore. Elements of
psychological suspense are introduced in a very convincing way,
however; here's a passage that effectively conveys the confusion of one
of the characters: "Leaning into the psychic wind, he pushed forward
two more staggering steps. Outside the master bedroom the mental storm
reached gale force. Holding onto the door frame, he tried to overcome
the need to go in. Three times this evening he'd made the pilgrimage
through the stairwell's nightmares to this room to see if it had
reappeared. He didn't know whether this time would be a relief or
further proof that he should get to know his wife's razor more
intimately." But too little is subsequently developed or advanced in
this regard, and given the outcome is known in advance, the reader is
left somewhat dissatisfied in the end.
Special thanks to Jane Wesman Public Relations for providing a copy of 13½ for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read 13½? How would you rate it?
Non-series novels by this author …
13½
Vanguard Press (Hardcover), September 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59315-553-0 (1593155530)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59315-553-7 (9781593155537)
Omnimystery
keywords for 13½
...
Location(s) referenced: Rochester, Minnesota,
New
Orleans, Louisiana.
