When rebellious Utah socialite Kirsten Young is found murdered in Provo Canyon with strange markings carved into her flesh and a note written in a 19th Century code, questions arise about the old laws of the Mormon Church. Journalist Selonnah Zee is assigned the story, which quickly takes on a life of its own. Even before the first murder is solved, several more victims appear, each one more mysterious than the last. Meanwhile, Sedonnah is distracted by her mother's onset of Alzheimer's and her sudden attraction to the mysterious Salt Lake City police chief who is investigating the murder.
Adding to a slew of other distractions, Selonnah's cousin, Roger, has recently converted and is now a public spokesperson for the Mormon faith. But paradoxically, Roger's wife, Eliza, is struggling to hold onto the Mormon beliefs of her childhood. If something is really from God, she wonders, why does it need to be constantly revised? Could the murderer be asking the same questions? And most importantly, will they be able to stop him before he commits his biggest crime, taking out a Mormon landmark and dozens of sightseers?
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LATAYNE C. SCOTT was a faithful and happy Mormon for ten years, attending Brigham Young University on a writing scholarship and working as a staff member for two of BYU's weekly magazines. She is the author of 13 published books, including Latter-Day Cipher, The Mormon Mirage, Why We Left Mormonism and After Mormonism, What? She has also published articles, reviews and poems in secular magazines and in major Christian magazines. She is the recipient of Pepperdine University's Distinguished Christian Service Award for "creative Christian writing." She is a representational thinker and a full-time writer, living in New Mexico with her husband of 35 years, and has two married children. For more information, visit www.latayne.com and www.representationalresearch.com.
Product Details
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Moody Publishers; New Edition edition (April 1, 2009)
I'm my literary agent's quandry, because I write in just about every genre there is -- book length fiction and nonfiction, children's books, magazine articles, poetry, blogs, radio plays, song lyrics, a dissertation, you name it. And I've published in all those genres!
My first book, The Mormon Mirage, has stayed in print almost continuously for over 30 years. I have over a dozen other published books.
My kids say I'm not funny, but I hold up the check I won for a national humor writing contest. Somebody thinks I'm funny. At least in print.
Except for a book I'm working on right now (about the discovery of the ancient Biblical city of Sodom), I'm concentrating mostly on fiction.
Here are some of my recent projects:
A novel about the woman who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews in the Bible.
A modern version of Hamlet -- in an Amish village.
A Civil War historical series about religious pacifists.
I blog at Latayne.com and with the super-talented ladies at NovelMatters.com.
As a former Mormon who's family is deeply rooted in Mormonism and steeped with both the myth and the mystical of that church, I'm always appreciative of anything written about Mormonism that is well-researched and informative for the general public. This book is just that! And to have it in the form of a compelling mystery story makes it even more valuable for those of us who would like to have a more authentic story told about Mormon history. Latayne has created a very layered and nuanced murder mystery which is full of multi-dimensional characters - and by doing so, has been able to present interesting and lesser-known history about the church in a way that is anything but offensive. Due to my heavily immersed background as a Mormon, I am a seeker of truth, and Latayne knows her facts. I've researched many of them myself - and I commend her for finding a way to present that story without coming across as a "church-basher". Great story, and good history! S. Emmett
Gripping and smart; this murder mystery draws the reader into the little known world of Mormon subcultures, and exposes fascinating details about their well-guarded secrets. This book cleverly informs and inspires the reader, while providing fine entertainment. I would especially recommend it for these audiences: ex-Mormons, doubting Mormons, devout Mormons, people who care about them, people who are curious about them...or anyone else who wants to read a carefully-crafted police drama.
Aside from CS Lewis' fictional works, I've had a hard time finding "Christian" fiction that is readable. Often it's so cleaned up and "G-rated" it comes across tamer than any Laura Ingalls Wilder story (and far less interesting). In many cases the entire novel is nothing more than one long evangelistic tract, with the conversion of the protagonist as the punchline. Not so with Latayne Scott. This author knows how to weave together a compelling, suspenseful story and alien-sounding Mormon doctrines without the latter detracting from the former. While there are definitely evangelical and evangelistic elements to the story, they flow naturally with the narrative.
The only part that made no sense to me was why the evangelical character, a young widowed mother of a baby, was taken along on the cross-country flight for the big conclusion (can't say anything more specific about that). One of the character's new found perspective on God, meant to represent classic Trinitarianism, sounded more like modalism to me. Then again, that would be a definite step up from tritheism.
This is a captivating read with mixing elements of CSI and DaVinci Code within the genre of Christian fiction. You don't have to be a Christian to read and enjoy this book.
