Wealthy New York society matron and patron of the arts Frances Griffin commissions Faith Crowell, a 39-year-old trompe l'oeil artist, to paint the interior of her ballroom, built 20 years earlier for the debutante cotillion of her now-deceased daughter, Cassandra. During this assignment,

Faith learns that Cassandra's murder remains unsolved, and Mrs. Griffin seems to know more about it than she is telling. Intrigued with the mystery and possible cover-up, Faith digs beneath the surface and uncovers the extraordinary, evil truth dividing appearance from reality. First novelist Hitchcock's material borders on the melodramatic, and her plot borders on the unlikely, but her writing commands attention. Recommended for lovers of suspense and Gothic novels.