The Kingston police lean toward blaming the Kingston Rapist, whomever he might be. The rapist killed before and got away. Chief Inspector William Femur fights to gather all facts before settling for that theory. Possibly, weird Blair Collons' fanatic rant about conspiracy offers a key bit of evidence. Highly unlikely, but for the inspector as much as Trish, the few facts of the case only lead to more questions.
Cooper demonstrates that each pebble thrown into the pond causes ripples.
Just as every action, benign or malicious, causes consequences. The author successfully leaves readers with the sense of loss over a beautiful life cut short. And she leaves the characters with regrets, recriminations and guilt for not saving their friend. But Cooper's smooth flowing prose cannot offset the rather one-dimensional characters who live only for this mystery investigation. The author weakly hints at other entanglements, but does not succeed at fleshing out these stick figures.