‘Black-Eyed Susans’ a tale of doubt and intrigue
Eighteen years ago, Tessa Cartwright became known as the only surviving victim of a serial killer. The Texas teen awoke in a field of black-eyed Susans “with a strangled college student and a stack of human bones” but no memory of how she got there or who put her there.
Fast-forward to the present, and Tessa is an artist, living in Fort Worth, with her teenage daughter. The man she once helped identify as the killer is about to be executed on death row. But a string of new evidence, a determined defense attorney, Tessa’s own doubts about her memory and the disturbing appearance of freshly planted black-eyed Susans outside her bedroom window have Tessa wondering: Did she make a mistake and ID the wrong guy?
If so, she has two pressing problems: Can she help set the wrongfully accused man free? And if the real killer isn’t behind bars, could he be setting his sights on her and her daughter, Charlie?
In her brilliant new novel of suspense, “Black-Eyed Susans,” Julia Heaberlin keeps Tessa in constant, page-turning peril while also leading the reader down paths of thoughtful exploration into the worlds of child psychiatry, death-penalty law and forensic DNA.
The book is a delicious mix of well-researched facts, creative plot twists and a likable main character who walks the line between someone you can relate to as she helps her daughter search through dirty laundry for a team jersey and someone whose mind is a mystery even to herself.
This is Heaberlin’s third novel — her first in hardcover — and her best. A former editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Detroit News, Heaberlin brings her remarkable skills as a reporter and editor to this work, digging deep into fascinating, topical issues and pulling out only the most interesting facts and details for her readers.
But it’s her emerging talent as a masterful storyteller that sets this book apart. As the plot twists along, racing back and forth between past and present, revealing pieces of the truth through the haze of her protagonist’s battered memory, Heaberlin keeps a tight grip on the narrative, maintaining delightful, nail-biting suspense by weaving facts and details into plot-forwarding action, compelling characters and believable dialogue. But this isn’t a perfect book. I found some inconsistencies with the narrative’s timeline that had me puzzled and scribbling my own timeline on the inside cover.
I also would be remiss if I didn’t disclose that I worked in the author’s features department during her time at the StarTelegram, where she made me a better editor and writer, often returning my work with a note on the top to the effect of “mbmf,” her shorthand for “make better, make funnier.”
While I am sure my opinion of the book cannot help but be affected by this relationship, I also feel confident that if I didn’t like her book, she would want me to say so, (or would at least want me to keep quiet) because as relatively thick-skinned journalists, the desire for truth rules.
“Black-Eyed Susans” is a breakout book that I think puts Heaberlin solidly into the category of great contemporary thriller writers. Catherine Mallette wrote this review for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.