Riotous and riveting, this is the story of a charming college
professor who most definitely did not--but maybe did--kill his ex-wife.
Or someone else. Or no one. Irby plays with the thriller trope in
unimaginably clever ways.
Edwin Stith, a failed novelist and college writing instructor in upstate
New York, is returning home for the weekend to Richmond, Virginia, to
celebrate his mother's wedding--to a much younger man. Edwin has a
peculiar relationship with the truth. He is a liar who is brutally
honest. He may or may not be sleeping with his students, he may or may
not be getting fired, and he may or may not have killed his ex-wife, a
lover, and his brand-new stepsister.
Stith's dysfunctional homecoming leads him deep into a morass of
long-gestating secrets and dangers, of old-flames still burning strong
and new passions ready to consume everything he holds dear. But family
dysfunction is only eclipsed by Edwin's own, leading to profound
suspense and utter hilarity. Lee Irby has crafted a sizzling modern
classic of dark urges, lies, and secrets that harks back to the
unsettling obsessions of Edgar Allan Poe--with a masterful ending that
will have you thinking for days.
