Helpful Score: 3
When Naomi Roth pulls the body of a stabbed infant girl from the Sabbathday River, she precipitates an investigation that devastates the small New Hampshire town she hoped to save. Smart and engrossing, this thriller addresses the complex morality behind its characters' behavior with gravity and deep humanity. Idealistic Vista volunteer and New York Jewish liberal in search of a cause, Naomi turns local crafts into a booming catalogue business by the mid-'80s but never quite fits into the tightly knit New England community whose secrets unravel as townsfolk point fingers?mostly at Heather Pratt, the proud and lonely girl who delicately embroiders traditional samplers and unapologetically bears the illegitimate child of a married man.
Helpful Score: 2
This is a wonderfully plotted novel about a story of a murder investigation and the resulting trial in a small New England town. A gripping and rewarding reading.
Helpful Score: 2
I really, really loved this one and stayed up 'til the wee hours to finish. Kept me guessing until the last pages.
Helpful Score: 1
A remarkable novel that focuses on the people and life in a New England town. The characters come into more focus as a murder affects the town
Helpful Score: 1
This was a good, keep you guessing story but it was a little slow.