"Fascinating character study within a mystery"
In 1978 England, schoolteacher, M Raneleigh finds her
neighbor Ann Butts dying in the street. M believes someone
murdered 'Mad Annie', the only black person in the
neighborhood. The police insist this was a hit and run in
which the driver never knew they hit Mad Annie due to the
nasty weather. Though Annie once called her a honky and
was often seen talking to herself, M still feels something
isn't Kosher about Annie's death. In her efforts to find
out the truth, M becomes agoraphobic, anorexic, and a rift
with her husband Sam occurs. Not long afterward, the Raneleighs reconcile and head
overseas for the next two decades. When Sam suffers a
heart attack, the Raneleighs, accompanied by their two
teenage sons, return home. When M meets Annie's former
doctor, Sheila Arnold, her interest resurfaces because she
still believes that a homicide occurred. Sheila informs
her that Ann was a nice person suffering from Tourette's
Syndrome but kept a neat home with many valuable items
inside. This goes against what the police report say about
Annie living in squalor-like conditions. The doctor was in
America when Ann died. M tries to rekindle interest in a
closed case with no one else wanting it open. THE SHAPE OF SNAKES is a superb mystery that centers on
the characters who feel very genuine in 1978 and two
decades later. The ignorance towards Tourette's Syndrome
and the bias towards blacks are cleverly included in
M's 'investigation.' which is why Annie's disease and race
make it easier to whitewash the case. Minette Walters keeps
the audience guessing as to whether it was murder or an
accident and that is the reason this literary mystery is a
one sitting read. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted July 13, 2001
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