Alison Clement Twenty Questions

Twenty Questions

Alison Clement

Atria, Jul 2006, $23.00

ISBN: 0743272668

When she saw the newspaper, Oregon elementary school cafeteria cook June Duvall knew instantly how fortunate she was. Yesterday her car broke down and Ronald Pruett offered her a ride; she considered accepting it as she hates saying no, but declined anyway. Pruett has been arrested for the strangulation murder of Vernay Hanks, a waitress at Darnay's Hamburgers, who obviously said yes to his ride offer.

Though not sure why she cannot stay out of this tragedy, June, rationalizing it as survivor's guilt, befriends the victim's daughter, ten years old student Cindy, and her newly named guardian, her crotchety Uncle Harlan. Though she loves her spouse Bill as she always thinks of the Nyro-Fifth dimension tune, she finds herself spending more time with the grieving duo. This leads her to wonder what is lacking with her relationship with Bill, but soon a bigger puzzle surfaces when Cindy wears a bracelet that belongs to June's mother-in-law; other evidence surfaces linking Bill with Vernay as June, applying the kids' game TWENTY QUESTIONS, inadvertently begins to disentangle the circumstances that led to the woman's homicide.

Though the anti-war stance seems out of place, this fine drama makes strong cases that justice is myopic when it comes to the unfair treatment of the disenfranchised poor and on a personal scale to be honest with yourself and others in relationships. June is a terrific protagonist struggling with deep feelings of guilt that ignite inside her when she realizes Cindy attends her school. She knows her lies to gain access is wrong though her intentions are honorable. The amateur sleuth elements augment a deep character study of personal and often overlooked societal responsibilities to one another.

Harriet Klausner