When firefighters arrive at a blaze at a Christmas tree farm in Oregon they find the burnt bodies of two twin boys and a headless women. They also find the bodies of 17 older men, long since buried, around the grounds.
It is unclear whether the headless body is that of farm owner Claire Logan, who is suspected of killing the men. He boyfriend Marcus Wheaton is sent to prison for 20 years for starting the fire. The story is told through the eyes of Helen, Claire's daughter, who was 13 at the time of the fire. Twenty years on, she is a CSI (Crime Scene Investigator), married with a daughter. Marcus Wheaton is dying and about to finish his 20 year prison sentence. Helen and the original FBI agent who investigated the case, Jack Bauer, visit Wheaton in prison to try and find out if Claire is alive and where she might be.
Author Gregg Olsen usually writes true crime stories. This is his first novel. The crime details are excellent. Olsen also shows how people touched by notorious crimes have to keep living with them. Helen has started a new life, her daughter and her work colleagues don't know she's the daughter of Claire Logan, yet journalists are always trying to track her down.
It's a great story, well told. It doesn't have lots of plot twists, you just slowly find out what happened and why; I was a little disappointed with the ending. That said, Olsen has written two more 'chiller thriller' books and I'm looking forward to reading them.
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