A disturbing insight into family pathology and psychological interdependencies. Gruesome and at times more than a little confronting with murder, self-mutilation, a relatively bleak picture of young southern USA girls and hopefully a fictional view of how they mature(?) over the generations. Not a surprising plot but a couple of twists that I think more could have been made of. The ending seemed rushed but then I suspect the author was more interested in the personalities on show than developing a classic murder mystery. She is a great writer and evokes truly evil characterizations. Was read as an audio book and the attempted adolescent southern voices were a bit annoying at times – strange though as the men were presented in a warmer light. Enjoy!

From Goodreads:
Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows, a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.