Sara Paretsky

Carmin Ross is found stabbed to death in her Lawrence, KS home. This case captured novelist Sara Paretsky's attention because of how investigators methodically unraveled the suspect's carefully crafted story. On a brisk November afternoon in Lawrence, Kansas, sheriff's deputies are dispatched to the home of 40-year-old Carmin Ross. It's been over a day since her family and friends have been able to reach her, and everyone is worried. At the scene, the deputies discover the lifeless body of Carmin Ross. It appears she's been beaten and stabbed repeatedly. Detectives question Carmin's fiance by phone in California. They learn that Carmin and her ex-husband have been recently involved in a heated custody battle over their 4-year-old daughter. Detectives decide to meet with the ex-husband, an esteemed university professor who lives one hundred miles away. Despite his odd behavior, he gives investigators little to go on. It will take months of frustration before detectives finally get the break they need. A suspect's computer takes investigators inside the mind of Carmin's killer.