It was a great psychological mystery. The initial half of the book sets up the background for the death, the mindset of the various characters, why they do what they do, etc. The latter half deals with unveiling of the mystery. It is written in the first person narrative, the narrator being Jeanne, a 42 year old mother of an overweight teenage boy, whose husband is a well known and popular orthopedician. Events start when a new, exotic music teacher, Ali, whose in her late forties arrives at the school where Jeanne works as a secretary and which Jamie (the son) attends. Initially Jeanne is vary of Ali, but later is pulled into a friendship with her. A good book, which I would recommend to all fans of psychological thrillers. Here, things move at a moderate pace, no gore or thrills, but quite a dark, psychological crime story - my forte.

After having this from the library for about three months (I'm a terrible patron), I finally had time to read it this weekend. It's good that I didn't have a lot going on, because once I started I didn't want to stop. I would recommend it for anyone who likes a good twisty/turny story.

I found this book to be a quick read and guessed the abuse part of the story at the beginning but the end twist seemed a bit ridiculous. I think it would have been a better, more believable ending if Gavin had committed the murder. The main character's level of denial was really hard for me to swallow, especially considering the only part of the book I really believed was how she felt about her son. Yet she lets him sit in jail? Her excuse for not telling the truth just seems lame since she could have arranged for her son to not be with his father. It just felt a bit ridiculous that the ending was everyone went to jail! Bit over dramatic for me.

I read this in about a day. It was well written and thoroughly engaging. I can't say it's a favorite but only because of some aspects of the story line. A must read.