Staff Reviews

Helen's life is great.  Amazing, even.  She has a shared apartment in New York, she teaches troubled youths, she's getting a new couch.  Then things go off the rails when her uncle calls her to tell her that her adopted brother has committed suicide.  Helen travels home to Milwaukee to launch her own investigation, knowing she is the only one who can get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding her brother's death despite the disruption it brings to the lives of her estranged parents.  This novel is a deeply hilarious dark comedy featuring astounding prose that creeps its way into the most tender parts of your heart.  Cottrell presents a masterclass on the unreliable narrator, examining death, identity, and the constant mystery of being in this picture perfect debut.