Our Little Secret - Hardcover

Ward, Donald

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312059426 ISBN 13: 9780312059422

Publisher: St Martins Press, 1991

Because she knows the secret of a returning World War II soldier, a little girl faces the same danger that had led to the "accidental" death of one friend and imperils another

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From Kirkus Reviews:

Christmas 1947 in Crow River, Canada, finds Kate Taggert busy directing the school pageant; her husband, Jerry, a vet prone to nightmares, policing the town; and their eight-year-old daughter, Tilly, still upset about her chum Ellie's death-plunge down a mine- shaft. Before she died, Ellie told Tilly a secret: Santa promised her a locket for Christmas. When another school pal admits to the same secret, then is almost strangled, Tilly is scared--and ``Santa'' starts to stalk her. Which town worthy is the child- abuser? Possibilities include: the much-trusted doctor; the henpecked mayor; the widowed minister; and--after Tilly watches him snap the neck of their Christmas goose--even father Jerry. Eventually, Santa and Tilly will meet up--during act two of the pageant--with less-than-predictable results. Ward (the bizarre, campy Death Takes the Stage, 1988) tries for a naturalistic horror story, but--despite an effective rendering of a small, isolated community--it all turns heavy-handed when he introduces suspects and possible motives. Still, persuasively chilling. -- Copyright �1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

In this low-key, engrossing suspense novel set in 1947, a child molester and murderer who disguises himself as Santa Claus to deceive his victims is at work in a small Canadian mining community. When eight-year-old Ellie is found dead at the bottom of an abandoned mine shaft, it is accepted as a tragic accident by all but her best friend, precocious Tilly Taggert, who is haunted by nightmares of a shadowy figure and a subconscious awareness of Ellie's secret. As the leisurely narrative moves from early fall to the Christmas season, the murderer visits 13-year-old Margie Allen. Tilly overhears a confrontation between the two and knows she must save Margie, but she's afraid: the man's frightening, persuasive voice resembles that of her father, who is haunted by his war experience. Ward's polished style is marred by a tendency to cuteness, such as his anthropomorphizing of pets, and though the Taggerts are attractive and likable, Tilly and the other children seem overly mature. Still, Crow River's shameful secret is disquietingly similar to many real-life situations.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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