GREAT READS

The Shape of Snakes

Minette Walters.

This is truly a great mystery. More than that, it is a commentary on racism, perseverance and courage of convictions.  It's 1978 and in a rundown West London neighborhood, black Mad Annie is dying in the street.  Despised and rejected by her white neighbors, her death is mourned only by the fragile young wife and mother, Mrs. Ranelagh, who finds her in the street.  Convinced Annie has been murdered, Mrs. Ranelagh spends the next twenty years trying to prove it, at the possible cost of her marriage, friendships and sanity.  This novel is intricately woven together and powerfully written.

Recommended by Mary Ellen Raun