A Photographic Death by Judi Culbertson, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Once an ardent photographer, Delhi Laine's passion was stilled one day when tragedy struck her family. Nearly twenty years ago while in England with her husband Dr. Colin Fitzhugh — Delhi had never taken his name, keeping her own — their two-year-old daughter, Caitlin, twin sister of Hannah, drowned in the Avon. The family was in England for a six week archeology seminar. One day Delhi, the twins and her four-year-old daughter, Jane, went to a park along the river. Delhi was photographing the picturesque beauty with the birds, trees and water. Hannah was asleep on the bench next to Delhi and Jane was playing with Caitlin. Delhi was distracted for a few minutes when she heard someone yell that a baby had fallen into the river. Delhi jumped in the dark murky river but could not find Caitlin. The police searched for the child but she was never found. Colin decided that this heartbreak was never to be discussed in front of the children or, indeed, anyone. Reluctantly Delhi agreed. Hannah grew up never knowing that she had a twin and Jane was young enough that she forgot all about Caitlin and the catastrophe. Now almost twenty years later, Delhi receives a letter from England with one piece of paper in it and words printed in large black letters: YOUR DAUGHTER DID NOT DROWN — in A Photographic Death, the third mystery in this series by Judi Culbertson.

Colin passes the letter off as a sick joke, but Delhi believes it. Or maybe she simply wants to believe it. They cannot read the postmark, so cannot tell what part of England the note came from. Against Colin's wishes, Delhi starts her own search to find the truth about Caitlin. She decides that the only person who may know anything more about what happened is Jane who was four at the time. She agrees to subject herself to hypnosis to try to bring back a memory of that day so long ago. But why is Colin so determined to block her every move? He had always blamed Delhi for the loss, accusing her of sleeping and not watching the girls. What was the truth about what happened that day?

A Photographic Death is a wonderful, poignant novel of a family that has faced devastation and is now searching against all odds that there might be hope to once again see someone presumed dead. The story is, not unexpectedly, far more complicated than just a renewed search for a lost daughter and the complex family dynamics that unfold during the process. A page-turner, to be sure, but also a book that will likely ask the reader to consider all that has happened in the past and, given the rather open-ended conclusion, ponder what might happen in the future.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of A Photographic Death.

Acknowledgment: Witness Impulse provided an eARC of A Photographic Death for this review.

A Photographic Death

A Dehli Laine Mystery by Judi Culbertson