Mystery/Thriller -- 3 1/2 stars
Maddie Schwartz is tired of being an appendage to her successful husband. She wants to be free, to be herself, to be successful in her own way; so she leaves her marriage and gets a job at a newspaper. No one takes her seriously when she wants to follow the story of a black woman found in the town fountain, after all, she's supposed to be answering a help column, nothing more. And no one cares--maybe not even the people who knew Cleo Sherwood before she became the lady in the lake. The truth unfolds in chapters that alternate a chronological telling of the story with monologues from the characters in Maddie's and Cleo's story. And every character has an opinion--including the corpse. ----- A not entirely comfortable mix of feminism and racism move this story. At times it's like peeking behind a curtain and not being sure you want to see what it will reveal. Interesting, if not entirely likable characters; and while the monologues make for an original writing style, they sometimes slow the story down. Still worth the time.
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