By Elizabeth J. Morris
Dysfunctional families are not all that unusual but in the case of the Carpenters, ignoring a son, grandson and nephew’s “oddness” eventually leads to mayhem the family could not and would never have predicted. Choosing to ignore what appears to be minor degrees of strangeness leads to what can never be fixed.
An older local newspaper writer is asked to interview first one, then two, and finally three of the aged victims of what appears to be burglaries, all of which include relatively minor violence. Meanwhile, the perpetrator becomes increasingly disturbed leading to a fourth victim who is violently murdered.
The first three victims are all older women, as is their interviewer. They each live alone in fairly close proximity to one another which leads to growing widespread fear in what has always been a safe, upscale community.
When the perpetrator’s uncle finally begins to see that his nephew’s “strangeness” has gone beyond “strange,” it is much too late to save anyone, including the nephew himself and his woefully protective and self-centered mother.