Book Review: Killing Neptune's Daughter

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Killing Neptune's Daughter     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Randall Peffer
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Intrigue, July 2004, $24.95, 256 pp.

After all the bad things she did and the things that were done to her, Tina left Woods Hole on Cape Cod when she finished eleventh grade. She totally remade herself into another woman named Noelle and married a famous rock star who was a heavy drug user and wife cheater. Their names were household words and their exploits were featured in the media at every opportunity. One night she leaves her village apartment and goes to her favorite spot, the St. Lukes-in-the-Fields, where a man rapes her and then kills her with a marlinspike.

Also living in the village is sports reporter Billy Bagswell and even though he only met her once in New York City, he returns home for her funeral. When Tina was living in Woods Hole, she was a slut, having sex with who she chose and reveling in the power it gave her. Billy and his friend who really cared for her think the killer is living in Woods Hole and has nothing to do with her New York lifestyle. They reminisce about the bad old days and begin to piece together the various puzzle parts of Tina’s life, trying to find the perpetrator.

KILLING NEPTUNE’S DAUGHTER is not a pretty book but it accurately reflects the darker goings that go on between high school students. One can’t help but feel sorry for the victim because circumstances forced her to behave the way she did and each of her “friends” have their own guilt to bear. Randall Peffer is a talented writer who gives new meaning to the words vigilante justice.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner