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Innocent Bystanders
The cold-blooded murder of a young mother by a psychopathic woman precipitates an avalanche of devastating events among her friends, family, and the investigators of her mysterious case
- GenresMystery
359 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1983
11 people want to read
About the author
Sandra Scoppettone
54 books77 followersAlso wrote as Jack Early.
Sandra Scoppettone first emerged as one of the best hard-boiled mystery writers using the name Jack Early for her first three novels that included A Creative Kind of Killer (1984) that won the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America for best first novel. She had started writing seriously since the age of 18 when she moved to New York from South Orange, New Jersey. Scoppettone in the 1960s collaborated with Louise Fitzhuh and in the 1970s wrote important young adult novels. The Late Great Me depicting teenage alcoholism won an Emmy Award in 1976. Her real name was revealed in the 1990s with the start of a series featuring PI Lauren Laurano. Scoppettone shares her life with writer Linda Crawford.
Sandra Scoppettone first emerged as one of the best hard-boiled mystery writers using the name Jack Early for her first three novels that included A Creative Kind of Killer (1984) that won the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America for best first novel. She had started writing seriously since the age of 18 when she moved to New York from South Orange, New Jersey. Scoppettone in the 1960s collaborated with Louise Fitzhuh and in the 1970s wrote important young adult novels. The Late Great Me depicting teenage alcoholism won an Emmy Award in 1976. Her real name was revealed in the 1990s with the start of a series featuring PI Lauren Laurano. Scoppettone shares her life with writer Linda Crawford.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 18, 2021
1955: Danielle Swann is the chic, wealthy, young mother of two children. She's married to a successful psychiatrist and a daughter of the aristocratic Dudevant family, emblematic of a certain kind of old-school NYC wealth. Her marriage is what would have then been euphemistically called "troubled;" in fact, she's trapped in a loveless marriage with an abusive mediocrity. While considering leaving her husband, she's brutally murdered in broad daylight by one of her husband's patients.
That is the kicking-off point for this intriguing, and apparently under-read, novel by Sandra Scoppetttone, who I discovered via her horror classic, "Such Nice People." This book was written a few years later, in between more straightforward detective novels. It's easy to see why this book may be forgotten now, as it was written before the so-called "literary thriller" became fashionable. By "literary thriller" I am referring to works like Donna Tartt's "The Little Friend" or "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" by Michael Chabon--books by established authors from the "literary fiction" side of the bookstore which purport to be engaging with, and producing, works of genre fiction. Often these books are unsatisfying; there always seems to be a degree of condescension at play. Usually the lack of genuine mystery or suspense is retconned as "deconstructing the tropes." Once in a great while these books succeed, but usually they can't help but come across as half-baked curiosities.
Scoppetone comes at the problem the other way round; she's an accomplished writer of mysteries and thrillers who apparently decided to write something less concerned with whodunits (there are literally no mysteries here as we know from the very beginning who did it and why) and classical forms of suspense. Instead, the book is rigorously interested in the long-lasting ramifications of a single, inexplicable, violent act. To be sure, the book piles on absurd plot twists. Like "Such Nice People" the goings-on (if listed out) could fill three or four Lifetime movies. I admit that, on paper, some of it seems overwrought and ridiculous. But the characters and their world feels genuine. Even if there is a touch of proto-"hysterical realism" at times, we never stop believing that the book takes place in the real world.
I really enjoyed the 25 year journey and found this novel to be an engrossing (if sometimes depressing) read. If people picked this up in the early 80s expecting just another airport thriller I can see why they might have been disappointed. But I think this one is worth seeking out.
That is the kicking-off point for this intriguing, and apparently under-read, novel by Sandra Scoppetttone, who I discovered via her horror classic, "Such Nice People." This book was written a few years later, in between more straightforward detective novels. It's easy to see why this book may be forgotten now, as it was written before the so-called "literary thriller" became fashionable. By "literary thriller" I am referring to works like Donna Tartt's "The Little Friend" or "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" by Michael Chabon--books by established authors from the "literary fiction" side of the bookstore which purport to be engaging with, and producing, works of genre fiction. Often these books are unsatisfying; there always seems to be a degree of condescension at play. Usually the lack of genuine mystery or suspense is retconned as "deconstructing the tropes." Once in a great while these books succeed, but usually they can't help but come across as half-baked curiosities.
Scoppetone comes at the problem the other way round; she's an accomplished writer of mysteries and thrillers who apparently decided to write something less concerned with whodunits (there are literally no mysteries here as we know from the very beginning who did it and why) and classical forms of suspense. Instead, the book is rigorously interested in the long-lasting ramifications of a single, inexplicable, violent act. To be sure, the book piles on absurd plot twists. Like "Such Nice People" the goings-on (if listed out) could fill three or four Lifetime movies. I admit that, on paper, some of it seems overwrought and ridiculous. But the characters and their world feels genuine. Even if there is a touch of proto-"hysterical realism" at times, we never stop believing that the book takes place in the real world.
I really enjoyed the 25 year journey and found this novel to be an engrossing (if sometimes depressing) read. If people picked this up in the early 80s expecting just another airport thriller I can see why they might have been disappointed. But I think this one is worth seeking out.
Displaying 1 of 1 review