Debut Mystery Will Leave You Guessing

Sun., March 21, 1999

Linda Duval Colorado Springs Gazette

“Blood & Water” by Lori Fairweather (William Morrow & Co., 320 pages, $24)

Author Lori Fairweather must have been one of those frustrating children who answered every question with an enigmatic shrug. She’s good at withholding information.

But what probably drove her mother crazy is the very skill that makes her a promising mystery writer.

In her debut murder mystery, “Blood & Water,” set in the Pacific Northwest, the reader eventually suspects everyone, including the narrator, of doing the dirty deed.

It begins when Fran Estes and her twin sister meet for a drink at a bar, get drunk and have a fight that includes bloody noses and bruises. The twins have never been really close, and when her sister’s car is found at the bottom of a cliff the next morning, Fran is suspect No. 1. The local police department botched a similar case not long ago and so they’re going for the easy suspect, which Fran is. In fact, having blacked out and then found blood on her clothes the next morning, Fran isn’t too sure at first that she didn’t have some role in her sister’s untimely end.

Fran’s husband, her childhood friend (the investigating cop), her sister’s ex-boyfriend, the bartender at the bar and even Fran’s estranged father all have possible motives and opportunities.

There’s the missing (later found) body, an insurance policy that further incriminates Fran, a corrupt police detective and more complications than you can shake your puzzled head at.

Bit by bit, Fairweather reveals one shred of a clue at a time, but it isn’t until the terrifying denouement that you’ll really know who the killer is. Every suspect in the book will run through your head until you turn the page and find out ….

But we won’t give it away.

The ending isn’t as tidy as some; even at the end, the author leaves a lot for the reader to think about. Lots of questions unanswered.

It’s going to drive her mother crazy.

The rest of us should understand that not all mysteries are ever solved.

Local journalism is essential.

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