Ghost Towns

By Betsy Thornton

Book Overview

Victim Advocate or Victim Witness? Chloe Newcomb defines her job in the County Attorney's office as "helping victims of violent crimes through the criminal justice system in any way I can." Actually, there's much more to that than meets the eye. The description of "victim" stretches to include not only the muggee or even the murderee. In Chloe's past experience the people she is assigned to help in "whatever way that she can" includes those affected by a disaster, even an innocent bystander who has witnessed the event. And since she moved to the small desert town of Dudley, Arizona, she learned very well that disasters aren't limited to the cities. Chloe's current assignment is to notify the family of a local judge, who has disappeared, and whose body is subsequently found at the ruins of a deserted hotel in a ghost town near Dudley. She finds the family to be a living illustration of the description "dysfunctional." The widow seems to have been on the verge of collapse before her husband disappeared, her live-in mother is an evil-tongued shrew, losing no opportunity to worsen the atmosphere. The couple's daughter, away at college, has cut off all communication with her family (something Chloe can hardly blame her for), and the pre-teen son is a bewildered, angry child. A victim advocate doesn't seem to be what this bereaved family needs. However, Chloe feels she can stretch the definition somewhat and see what she can do to solve the mystery of the judge's murder --not only who killed him and why, but why in such strange circumstances? She has her own reasons as well - her friend Nate, a young journalist has disappeared from Dudley after telling Chloe that he had uncovered some information about the judge that would "blow this town apart." Now she fears for his life. Meanwhile, she is beginning to feel that she needs a victim advocate herself, because not only Nate, but her lover Craig has vanished. The county police are investigating the judge's death; it's Chloe's job to be her own victim's advocate, seek out the late judge's estranged daughter, and more important, locate lover Craig and friend Nate, both of whom, she learns have secrets of their own. Thornton has been lauded for the quality of her writing, the reality of the atmosphere in her tales of the Arizona desert, the subtlety and solidity of her characters and the excitement of the action. Ghost Towns takes all of these one step higher.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312280416
• ISBN13: 9780312280413
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 1.0" x 5.6"

Customer Reviews

Ghost Towns: An off beat mystery

General Outline: Chloe is a victim witness who gets caught up in the dark secrets that lie beneath the surface in small towns. A local judge is murdered and the rumors flying around suggest that his life wasn't as nice as it looked and that the judge was trying to "start his life over". Also Chloe's reporter friend has found out somthing about the judge that he does not want to tell her. As Chloe becomes involved in the investigation in her role as a victim witness she finds out that the judges family is hiding a dark past... ---- This was a pretty good mystery read, its not from a main stream author so it does read a little differntly than somthing you would find on the top ten best sellers list at your local book store. The story kept me guessing until the end and when it did end it wasn't what I was suspecting. If your looking for a "differnt" mystery writer give this author a try and you proably won't be disappointed. m.a.c

best Betsy Thornton yet

This book has gotten rave reviews, and deserves them. Shows maturing of artist. No more just a literature major.

engaging amateur sleuth tale

Cochise County, Arizona Victim Advocate Chloe Newcombe knows that in spite of the relatively small population and the isolation of the mountains she has plenty of clients assigned to her. Local Deputy Sheriff Hector Estrada turns to Chloe to inform Lee Thomas that someone killed her husband, State Supreme Court Judge Cal Thomas, in the nearby ghost town Windy City. Chloe is shocked to observe Lee as an antisocial shell of the once civic-minded individual she had been and her family totally ripped asunder. As Chloe tries to help Lee, reporter Nate Pendergast, who was working on a story about Judge Thomas, has disappeared. Chloe's lover Craig Williams another person linked to Thomas also vanishes. Rationalizing what she is doing as part of her job to help victims, Chloe investigates the late Judge and his links to the missing people starting with the Thomas family. Chloe is unaware of the danger she places herself in by stretching her job beyond the limits. Once the audience accepts Chloe's definition of her job to include "police" investigation, the story line is an engaging amateur sleuth tale. However, by going down that path, readers lose an opportunity to see what a victim advocate must fully deal with, as that role serves as a secondary plot to Chloe's inquiries. Elizabeth Thornton provides an entertaining mystery, but needs to place Chloe on the fringe of the case because her official work should serve as the lead theme of the plot. In other words, leave the crime busting to the pros, but make that a subplot. Amateur sleuth fans will delight in Chloe's antics, but feel a bit gypped.Harriet Klausner