Summertime

Her carefully constructed life falling to pieces upon the murder of her father, Lucy Schaffer is forced to delve into her painful past, which has been overshadowed by her mother's insanity, her brother's drowning, and the loss of her own son.

Her carefully constructed life falling to pieces upon the murder of her father, Lucy Schaffer is forced to delve into her painful past, which has been overshadowed by her mother's insanity, her brother's drowning, and the loss of her own son.

Just published in England, Summertime is racking up stunning reviews. "Beautifully written and wholly absorbing, with a shock denouement," hailed The Sunday Telegraph. "Very gripping (and) taut with menace," wrote the Sunday Mirror. With rights sold throughout Europe, readers on both sides of the Atlantic have a treat in store, especially those who recall Rigbey's arresting debut, Total Eclipse, which the Cleveland Plain Dealer called "a tour de force . . . sensuous, engrossing, and compelling."

In Summertime, Lucy Schaffer's sane, safe life-an existence she has built to escape a painful past-suddenly falls apart when she learns of the death of her father. Authorities in Northern California say her beloved father was probably murdered, his body dumped in the sea. In this rude, unsettling homecoming, she must dive into the deep waters of her past to make sense of this recent horror and solve her father's murder. But what she remembers is foggy, incomplete, and contradictory. As she uncovers the deceptions surrounding her family's legacy of madness and murder, Lucy is forced to face the most chilling memories of her childhood: her mother's insanity, her baby brother's drowning, and the loss of her own son.

Summertime is a hypnotic suspense of a high order and marks the return of one of most daring and creative new novelists of suspense.

In Summertime, Lucy Schaffer's safe life in New York - an existence she has built to escape a painful past - suddenly falls apart when she learns of the passing of her beloved father. Authorities in northern California say he could have been murdered, his body dumped into the sea. With this rude homecoming, she must dive into the deep waters of her past to make any sense of this tragedy. But what she remembers is foggy, incomplete, and contradictory. As she uncovers the deceptions surrounding her family's legacy of madness and murder, Lucy is forced to face the most chilling memories of her childhood.