Dream Of Darkness

Haunted by her mother's death thirteen years ago in Africa, where her father served as a British diplomat, Sairey Ellis, now eighteen, learns the truth about her father and the circumstances of her mother's death

Ruell is actually noted mystery writer Reginald Hill. In London 18-year-old Sairey Ellis suffers from a recurring, debilitating nightmare that shows the young Sairey viewing the open coffin of her mother in Uganda years ago. That did not happen, say her retired British security officer father, Nigel, and his sister, who raised Sairey after her mother's death. Sairey's analysis-prompted returning memory of the brief time with her mother in Uganda holds the key to her nightmare and seems to threaten family and friends--as does Nigel, who is writing his African memoirs. Plot and characters are clearly developed through a narrative that focuses on Sairey but is interspersed with varying first-person accounts "excerpted" from letters, diaries, and Nigel's memoirs. A suspenseful work done well--a Hill title by any other name still reads as sweetly. Mystery Guild featured alternate.
- V. Louise Saylor, Eastern Wash ington Univ. Lib., Cheney
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.