A Crime in the Neighborhood

In the long hot summer of 1972, three events shattered the serenity et ten-year-old Marsha's life: her father ran away with her mother's sister Ada; Boyd Ellison, a young boy, was molested and murdered; and Watergate made the headlines. Living in a world no longer safe or familiar, Marsha turns increasingly to 'the book of evidence' in which she records the doings of the neighbors, especially of shy Mr Green next door. But as Marsha's confusion and the murder hunt both accelerate, her 'facts' spread the damage cruelly and catastrophically throughout the neighborhood. 'It is impossible not to be Completely swept along ... Berne's vision is gently humorous, Ironic, quirky ... and she writes with such piercing sensitivity ... a compelling début novel' The Times 'This ambitions account of a sudden coming of age reminded me strongly of To Kill a Mockingbird - and is every bit as moving and satisfying' Daily Telegraph 'Much of the pleasure comes from Berne's clear, plain and intensely evocative prose. She has distilled seventies suburbia to a range of sounds ... that resonate long after you've put the book down. This is her first novel. I loved it' Observer