Current events have inspired novelists since the beginning of time, and Jane Haddam is no exception. This book was written in the near aftermath of two such unhappy events: the bombing in Oklahoma City and the Susan Smith case. (The woman who killed her young sons.) The author patiently develops thread after thread, until the picture formed becomes clear, rather than a muddled mass of colors. Some of these skeins are organized religion; the ultra-conservative, religious far-right; homophobia; lesbianism; Goddess worship; abused wives; the media and its power; plus a wide variety of stereotypes about religion, women, and the South.
One of the things about the books of Jane Haddam that I greatly enjoy is that I always learn more about some things than perhaps I wanted to know, and others that I didn't know I needed to know until after I'd learned them. She does her homework. Dense and multi-layered, they're not at all easy to read, and once you get into one, they're even harder to put down, but OH! They are so very satisfying in the process as well as afterwards, and you'll re-read the book for weeks afterward in your mind.
This one takes Gregor Demarkian--at the behest of his old college friend, David Sandler, America's most well-known atheist--to the ocean shore of North Carolina, when, in the aftermath of a hurricane, a baby's corpse is discovered. Bonaventura is the highest ground in the area, therefore it had been opened by its owner, Zhondra Meyer, as a refuge to the townfolk who had no other place to go. Ginny Marsh had another reason for being there; she did occasional typing work for Zhondra, always taking her infant daughter Tiffany with her. It is Tiffany who becomes the main focus of the story--was she mutilated to serve the devil-worship thought to happen at Bonaventura? Or did her mother or father murder her for other reasons? Or, instead of the devil, was the homage being paid to the Goddess?
Zhondra had already opened the gates of Bonaventura for other reasons--as a camp for gay women. Although, to be sure, it was inhabited more by women who had been abused in their marriages, and who finally found a safe haven behind the iron gates. As a member of the Communist Party, Zhondra felt obliged to use her immense inherited wealth to benefit those who had none of their own. Dissatisfied with her own life, she thought to help others find a better way to manage theirs. It was a good idea, but not a very successful venture.
Not long after the hurricane, one of the 'campers' is found murdered, and before that case has settled down, Zhondra herself is discovered, dead as well. Ginny cannot be responsible for these latter two deaths, she's been in protective custody since shortly after her baby's death.
Gregor talks to the two ministers from town: the Methodist Stephen Harrow and the charismatic Henry Holburn, who has enlarged a small country parish into the multi-thousand member Bellerton Church of Christ Jesus. Three women--Naomi Brent, the town librarian; Maggie Kelleher, owner of the only bookstore, and Rose MacNeill, owner of the religious goods store--as well as the town's police chief Clayton Hall, also play major roles.
You won't soon forget this elegantly written and wonderfully-crafted novel. Nor should you. It contains lessons that would benefit all of us. If only we'd pay attention.