Total Eclipse - Softcover

Liz Rigbey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0752803166 ISBN 13: 9780752803166

Publisher: Orion, 1998

Synopsis

Julia told Lomax they had been the perfect family, and Lomax believed her. But Sheriff Murph McLean is convinced she has committed the perfect murder. The circumstantial evidence against Julia is so damning that her attorney advises her to plead guilty to killing her husband and stepdaughter. But Julia says she is innocent. Lomax knows she is - so he sets out to prove it. But as Lomax peels back the layers of deceit he uncovers a picture that is very far from perfect. It is a picture of a broken family, driven by guilt, incest and obsessive jealousy, ready to explode into violence at any moment. And then Lomax stumbles across the darkest secret of all...

About this title

About the Author

Liz Rigbey lives in Hampshire. Her debut novel, TOTAL ECLIPSE, was published to widespread acclaim and was shortlisted for WH Smith's Thumping Good Read.

From Publishers Weekly

When beautiful Julia Fox is accused of murdering her husband and stepdaughter, her lover, an astronomer named Lomax, assists the defense team investigating the crime. But to his dismay, Lomax uncovers evidence that helps the prosecution more than the defense: a history of antagonism between Julia and her step-daughter, Gail; hints of incest between Gail and her lawyer father; a huge withdrawal from Julia's trust fund that may have been a blackmail payment. Complicating matters are the dead man's membership in a club that caters to peculiar sexual tastes, and Lomax's obsessive jealousy of Julia. Set in and around an unnamed California observatory, which serves as the source of a subplot about celestial distortions that neatly ties into the main story line, Rigbey's first novel boasts gripping courtroom sequences, a driving style and believable characters?but only up to a point. The trouble is that the plot climaxes in what is clearly meant to be a stunning surprise?but it's one that many readers will have guessed long before. And once the secret is out so are the author's manipulations, which now appear obvious, as does the lack of discernment in otherwise intelligent characters. Still, excepting this major flaw, this is a well-written and engrossing debut, tailored for a hot summer day's read. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Orion
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0752803166
• ISBN 13: 9780752803166
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 656