Alicia Berenson, a gifted artist, is arrested for murdering her husband by shooting him in the face while he was tied to a chair. Questions remain, like how did she manage to tie him to the chair before shooting him? But she refuses to answer them or to say anything at all. For years.
Theo Faber is a 42-year-old psychotherapist determined to find answers, if not from Alicia then from others who knew her before the killing. Thus the novel becomes part psychological thriller and part murder mystery.
Theo has personal problems of his own. He discovers that his beautiful wife is secretly meeting with another man. Rather than confronting her, he follows her, as well as the man she is having the affair with. He contemplates murder. Here the otherwise original novel becomes cliche — the psychotherapist may be as crazy as the patient.
Things begin to come into focus when a silent Alicia hands Theo her secret diary, and at last she begins to speak. But Michaelides holds the final surprises for the exciting climax.
This is a nearly first-rate novel that deserves its best-selling status.
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