"An absolutely crackling, unputdownable mystery told by a narrator with one big, booming voice. I loved it." -Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Gone Girl
One of The Boston Globe's Best Books of the Year
In her riveting debut, journalist Julia Dahl-a finalist for the Edgar and Mary Higgins Clark Awards-introduces a compelling new character in search of the truth about a murder and an understanding of her own heritage
Just months after Rebekah Roberts was born, her mother, an Hasidic Jew from Brooklyn, abandoned her Christian boyfriend and newborn baby to return to her religion. Neither Rebekah nor her father have heard from her since. Now a recent college graduate, Rebekah has moved to New York City to follow her dream of becoming a big-city reporter. But she's also drawn to the idea of being closer to her mother, who might still be living in the Hasidic community in Brooklyn.
Then Rebekah is called to cover the story of a murdered Hasidic woman. Rebekah's shocked to learn that, because of the NYPD's habit of kowtowing to the powerful ultra-Orthodox community, not only will the woman be buried without an autopsy, her killer may get away with murder. Rebekah can't let the story end there. But getting to the truth won't be easy-even as she immerses herself in the cloistered world where her mother grew up, it's clear that she's not welcome, and everyone she meets has a secret to keep from an outsider.
"Fast-paced, suspenseful... rises above the crime-novel genre in its unusual psychological, spiritual and sociological dimensions, entering a world unfamiliar to most people." - The Washington Post