Undercurrents

Fans of Laura Lippman and A. S. A. Harrison will love this haunting psychological thriller.

For twenty years, Henry Evans has been haunted by the memory of Francesca, the one that got away. When he travels to England to reconnect with his long-lost love, what he finds is a horrific shock: Francesca has been imprisoned for murdering her five-year-old son.

But Henry refuses to believe Francesca is guilty, even if she did confess—in chilling detail—to drowning her own child. In his search for the truth, Henry will find that the darkest of evils are hidden deep beneath the surface …

From Publishers WeeklyBuilding suspense bit by exquisite bit, Fyfield (Staring at the Light) turns out another masterwork, this one about a man's search for a lost lover. American pharmacist Henry Evans has been obsessed for 20 years by the memory of Francesca Chisholm, a young beauty he met while backpacking during his youth in India. He finally travels to the English coastal town of Warbling, a strange little place where Chisholm had told him she was going to live. It's cold and very wet and Warbling's populace is decidedly unwelcoming, with the exception of two homosexual men who rent Evans a room in their peculiar lodging house. When he begins asking around about the whereabouts of Chisholm, Evans can't get a straight answer. A lawyer finally tells him to regard her as dead. A year earlier, it turns out, Chisholm was sentenced to life in prison. Her crime: murdering her five-year-old son, who suffered from a form of cerebral palsy, by drowning him in the ocean. Despite her unequivocal confession, Evans can't believe his former lover would do such a thing. He looks into the matter, but is stymied at every turn by Chisholm's friends and family. Ultimately, Evans discovers that the truth is far more tragic than the lie. Dark humor occasionally flashes through the narrative, but Fyfield's latest is primarily a grim, tense story about regret, loneliness and leaving well enough alone. In Warbling, she's created a memorable setting. It's a harsh, foreboding town, populated by people disappointed, judgmental, distrustful who deserve such a place. (Apr.) Forecast: While this book moves a bit more slowly than some of Fyfield's previous psychological thrillers, readers will recognize and appreciate her deft touch. An eight-city author tour will afford the London-based writer extra U.S. exposure. This could be Fyfield's biggest yet. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library JournalBritish author and criminal lawyer Fyfield has set aside her popular Helen West series for this fine standalone suspense novel (her second after Staring at the Light), with its wonderfully human characters. Twenty years ago, Henry Evans left the English girl he fell in love with on a backpacking trip in India, and he has regretted it ever since. So he leaves Boston to find Francesca Chisholm, only to learn that she is in prison for killing her son Harry, a five-year-old with cerebral palsy, a year earlier. But the facts of the murder don't add up for Henry, a man of science, who seeks the truth from those closest to Francesca: her cousin Maggie, who defended her in court; her best friend Angela, mother of the tantalizing young Tanya; Angela's ex-husband Neil, who once hit Harry; and Tim and Peter, gay proprietors of a shabbily genteel rooming house, who are visited by Harry's spirit. In the end the truth is revealed, and a final twist rounds things out. A particular pleasure for Fyfield's fans and for readers of Ruth Rendell and Minette Walters, this is recommended for all fiction collections. Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., VA Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.