I must say, this is one of the most interesting and thought provoking mysteries that I have read all year. (and if you haven't noticed yet, I read a lot)
The Church of the Dead Girls is a mystery, but it is also so much more. It is told from a perspective that really stood out and I don't remember reading another like it. The storyteller is the small New York town's biology teacher and he is relating events that led up to the discovery of the bodies of three young girls in the attic of a local residence. It is such a comfortable perspective and it allows such a depth of character development, it was astounding. Even the smallest players in the story had their minute or two in the spotlight. I felt like I was sitting by the fire and an old friend was telling me what had happened.
The story opens with the description of how they found the abducted then murdered girls, tied to their chairs, in an attic, filled with sparkling costume jewelry and candles. It then back tracks to where the biology teacher thinks that the trouble started, the murder of the town floozy a year or so back.
What follows is not only the suspenseful tracking of an abductor and murderer, but a heart breaking and complete break down of a small town. Every one is a suspect, many take their kids out of school or even move them out of town, citizens vilify, harass and even attack any one that doesn't quite fit in in the community. It seems that no one is safe from either accusations or just plain heartache. People are afraid of everyone, innocent people are attack and even murdered, old prejudices and fears tumble to the surface until you worry that there isn't going to be a town left when it is all over. Just about every person has a skeleton or two in their closet and they will all be out in the open.
The local police and even the state troopers are doing their best, but they have little to go on when the girls start disappearing. A group of concerned citizens get together to aid, but as in many cases, they tend to do more harm then good, by jumping to conclusions, impeding the investigation and ramping up the fear factor in every one in town. They even start to patrol the streets around the clock, which leads to more suspects and suspicion, but proves useless against keeping more young girls safe. The group and other smaller splinter groups become more of a victim of the mob mentality than a constructive way to find the girls.
I can't say enough how interesting the angle Stephen Dobyns chose is. It made you feel like you were a citizen by the end of the story, you got to know many of it's citizens so well. The way that the story rolled along, it reminded me of an older style mystery of yore by the likes of Henry James. It had a quiet character development that kept raising your interest and investment in the people yet the suspense never left you. You wanted to know what happens not only to the girls, but the bucolic small town. I will be looking for his work again.
Who abducted Sharon Malloy?
Is she still alive?
How many more young girls are going to be taken before they find the answer?
What secrets are the citizens of Aurelius, New York hiding?
Could this happen to you, in your town?
Would you turn on your neighbors or on anyone that doesn't quite fit in?
The Church of the Dead Girls by Stephen Dobyns
Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (May 15, 2001)
