Having read over twenty works by George Barr McCutcheon I've come to learn that his books are very hit or miss. Pleased to state that this one occupies the hit category. In fact I consider this among his very best novels.

The plot is expertly conceived, successfully mixing emotions of phycology, fear, love, hate, and humour. The opening chapter is especially good. Unlike other works by this author, which began with tedious waffle, this tale has a hook from the offset.

GBM creates an eerie and believable atmosphere of a windy and snowy night, upon which a woman must identify a murder victim believed to be her husband. The wife, Sara, reacts oddly to it all, confusing the others in the scene, while enticing the reader. Sara proves to be one of this author’s best-drawn characters in this and all his books.

Won’t go into further details for fear of creating a spoiler, but in short this novel has an engaging opening, numerous twists and interesting developments as the story moves along, and a convincing ending. The last line is particularly good.

Would’ve rated this story five stars, but deciding against it owing to a few overlong paragraphs mixed in here and there, plus certain character exchanges felt too melodramatic. Overall, though, the character interaction was spot on, just occasionally they fall short.

A very good read. ( )