Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen

Just finished reading Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen. So one book down on my list of books to read, but plenty more to go.

Like I have mentioned before, I picked this paperback book up at a thrift store for a $1.50. I love deals. And from the very first sentence I was hooked, “I never heard exactly who it was that found Sara Heinemann’s dead body over at the Lagoon. But it was Willie O’Hara who told us that she was lying neatly on the grass between those rotting red rowboats you could rent for a dollar if you wanted to do a little fishing.”

Set in Milwaukee in 1959, ten-year-old Sally O’Malley made a promise to her daddy on his deathbed—take care of her sister Troo. Keep her safe. But that summer makes keeping a simple promise quite difficult to do. First off, their mother becomes ill enough to be hospitalized leaving their no-good, drunk of a stepfather and older sister Nell to keep watch over them. Unfortunately, neither do a very good job of that—too busy with their own lives to care much about two little girls.

But there’s even a bigger problem, the fact there is a murder and molester in the neighborhood. Two girls have already ended up dead, and Sally is pretty sure who the murderer is, but getting people to believe her is a whole different matter. To make matters worse, she’s pretty certain his next victim will be her.

I enjoyed it completely. It’s an easy read with wonderful details and suspense enough to keep guessing to the very end.  As bits of the truth unfold, it keeps you turning the pages, which is a sure sign of a great writer.

I look forward to reading more works by Lesley Kagen.

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