The Language of Secrets by Dianne Dixon

The Language of Secrets is Dianne Dixon's debut novel.  It's a gripping, suspenseful, heartbreaking mystery that reveals a heinous, selfish crime that's been buried for decades by lies and by secrets. The saddest (and perhaps most frustrating) part is that the reader is privy to the complete story due to a narrative that alternates between the present in which the protagonist does his best to dig up the answers to resolve the puzzle that is his past and the events as they occur in the past.

Justin moves back to California for a job and, urged by his wife, returns to his childhood home to reconnect with his parents from whom he's been estranged for years.  But he's too late because his mother and father have died and when Justin tracks down their graves, he is shocked to discover a third next to theirs that bears his own name and the date of his death years before.

This bewildering and shocking discovery sets Justin on a journey into his past guided by his disjointed and spotty memories.  Slowly more memories emerge from his childhood.  From these memories he is able to slowly put the pieces together about what happened to him all those years ago.  And the picture that emerges is an ugly one darkly colored by adultery and revenge.

I recommend you check out this book the next time you visit the library!

--reviewed by Ms. Angie