No Prize for Guessing

their children are murdered, collapse in public displays of grief. Ruth doesn’t fit this mould. She’s divorced, beautiful in an overtly sexual way, drinks too much, chain-smokes, takes lovers, is a slovenly housekeeper and won’t break down in public. About the only things she’s good at are clinically expert love-making and applying makeup.

Ruth winds up being prosecuted for her lifestyle as much as the murders. This is the most interesting aspect of the book. What happens in the courtroom is less