OBITUARY

A mystery examines the lasting impact of a cold case on one family.

Sawyer’s novel starts with an obituary for a key character: Abigail Melinda Joss, who died in Toronto on Feb. 1, 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Abigail gained notoriety for being acquitted of the murder of her husband, Montgomery, in 2000. The obit ties together the narratives told from the perspectives of three people affected by Monty’s killing: his daughter, Katelynn; his mistress, Rosalind Wallen; and his son, Robitaille. As the only child of Abigail’s who can be located, Katelynn is called back from her home in France to write the obit for her estranged mother. She is supervised by her aunts Agnes and Yolande, Abigail’s sisters, who are extremely worried about upholding the reputation of the “prominent Raddefords of Des Moines, Iowa.” It takes four months of arguments among Katelynn and her aunts to finish the obit. The piece is seen by Rosalind, Monty’s true love. Young Monty and Roz had planned to be wed until Abigail tricked him into proposing. Roz is also the only living person who knows the truth about Monty’s murder. Rob, who changed his name after leaving home, becomes a homicide detective and is handed the cold case of Monty’s murder by his police chief. Rob searches for clues to the killer’s identity. In this book, Sawyer effectively reveals how a violent act can affect many people. The author shows how Abigail’s history of brutality was covered up by her relatives, who were more concerned with the family’s prestige. As a result, Abigail was viewed as eccentric, not dangerous, despite her past actions. Other characters appear amiable but they once got battered by Abigail’s wake. Sawyer’s decision to tell the story from three distinct viewpoints is quite productive. Each narrator has pieces of the puzzle, which gets assembled over the course of the well-crafted tale to illustrate how destructive the self-absorbed Abigail was. The story, which traces her actions over decades, uncovers how her narcissism helped shape the decisions made by other characters. She drives the events in this intriguing work.

A heinous crime gets viewed through several lenses in this scintillating whodunit.