The killer's cousin / Nancy Werlin.

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Recently acquitted of murder, 17-year-old David has moved to Massachusetts to complete his senior year of high school. His aunt and uncle have offered him shelter--escape from the media's incessant questions and from the uncertain glances of his neighbors and ex-friends. His attic apartment doesn't feel much like a shelter, though. He sees ghostly shadows at night, his aunt is strangely cold, and his 11-year-old cousin Lily is downright hostile. And as Lily's behavior becomes more and more threatening, David can't help but wonder what ugly secrets lurk within the walls of Lily's home. There's one thing David knows with certainty. The more he learns about his cousin Lily, the harder it is to avoid thinking about his own past.

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I sat down. "I don't remember. You'd better tell me." My father nodded. We looked at each other straight on for possibly the first time, neither of us looking away. He said, "I was at the inquest. It--Kathy's death--was ugly. She ingested a glass of cleaning solvent. Ammonia of some kind. She was taking a bubble bath, and apparently had the glass all ready next to the tub. She drank half of it--more wasn't required. It burned out her throat, and she sank down under the water. The actual cause of death was drowning. There was water in her lungs. "And Lily . . . Well, Kathy had locked the door to the attic but Lily knew where the key was. She had sneaked in before. She liked to hang out here when Kathy wasn't in." Now, that sounded like Lily to me. "So she thought Kathy was out?" I asked. "I think so," said my father. "Her testimony was a little confused. She was only seven. The judge was very gentle with her." "What did she see?" I asked. "At first she didn't realize Kathy was there. The bathroom door was closed. Then she heard a noise . . . probably the glass crashing to the floor." My mother made a sound, a soft involuntary mew, and my father paused for a moment, glancing at her, before continuing. "Lily said she burst into the bathroom--yelling 'Boo!' or something. The bathroom door wasn't locked. You understand that it would all have happened very quickly. Kathy would have been beneath the water already. Lily said she thought Kathy was playing a game, holding her breath under the water. But she didn't come up." "Lily got all wet," said my mother. "She tried to pull Kathy out . . ." The ice cream I'd eaten earlier threatened to push its way back up my throat. "Lily even tried to pick up the glass," my father said. "But of course it had shattered on the tile when Kathy dropped it, so Lily's hands got cut up. And her knees . . . She kept saying it was her fault. Children that age, they often think they're responsible for everything." I had a vivid picture of Lily kneeling on the shards by the tub, pulling desperately at Kathy. "Okay," I said. "That's enough." But then I thought of something else. "This was about Kathy's boyfriend?" I asked. "The one who dumped her?" "Yes," said my mother. "Well," said my father, the stickler for detail, "that's what the inquest concluded. The letter from him was on the kitchen counter." I asked, "Did Kathy write a note or something?" "No," he said, then added, "I wish she had. It would have been . . . not easier, perhaps, but more final." He shrugged. "People usually leave letters, but not always. This could have been a sudden impulse. Probably Kathy didn't really intend to die. Just to get sick. To scare her boyfriend, perhaps. And maybe Vic and Julia, too. They'd been fighting." I found myself staring across the room into the bathroom. Its door was ajar, and I could see the edge of the tub inside. "Why were Vic and Julia fighting with Kathy?" I asked. "They'd been fighting since she dropped out of college," my mother said. "She'd been commuting to U. Mass, Boston. Do you remember?" "Something, yeah," I said. What I suddenly did remember were my mother's comments about it. Julia won't pull her claws out of Kathy. Mark my words: That girl will never get away. "So they were angry at Kathy for dropping out of school?" I asked. "Yes. They'd been letting her live here rent free. But when she dropped out and got a job, Julia said she had to start paying." My mother's tone dripped disapproval. "That doesn't sound unreasonable," I said, and heard my father's grunt of agreement. "She wasn't earning very much money," retorted my mother. "And I think, with a little understanding and support, she would have gone back to school. But Julia's attitude made her dig in harder. Julia always makes you want to do the opposite of what she says." That was true. I moved on. "So they fought about college and about rent money? And Julia and Vic were in agreement?" "Well," my mother said. "My brother . . ." I waited. "At first, Vic didn't take the rent money from Kathy. She'd give him a check and he'd deposit it, but then he'd give her back the cash. Julia didn't know." "Tell him, Eileen," said my father. "I was going to!" my mother said. But then she sighed. "Oh, God. This is embarrassing. David, it was my idea. Vic asked me about charging Kathy rent . . . he wasn't sure . . . so I told him to give Kathy back the money. Secretly." "It was a spectacular piece of meddling," observed my father calmly. "Your mother outdid herself." "I was only thinking of Kathy!" my mother protested. "You were thinking of needling Julia, and you know it." "Oh, and you're so perfect yourself!" Then her voice changed. "I've said I was sorry. I've said it again and again . . . to Vic, to Julia. I couldn't be sorrier." "Julia found out?" I asked, even though I already knew. It explained so much. "Naturally," said my father. "Shut up, Stuart," said my mother. "Yes, David, she found out. Kathy told her--yelled it at her--in the middle of a fight." I could picture it. Perhaps they had had that fight right here, in this living room. Perhaps Julia had said, Your father and I . . . and Kathy had flung back, Dad doesn't agree with you! He agrees with me! Do you know what he does? Do you know . . . It was odd. I could almost hear her. Almost see her as she screamed at Julia, her shoulders stiff like Lily's so often were. Kathy? I thought. Kathy, are you there? Are you here? I heard it then, plainly. Clearly. The humming. "David?" said my mother. I looked up. "Yes?" "Julia has never forgiven me," my mother said. "But I am most sincerely sorry. I've told her. I told her then, and after Kathy . . . and I've written . . ." Her voice trailed off. "I understand," I said. "I thought I meant well. But your father is right, too. Julia and I . . . I'd gotten into the habit of, well, I was always trying to score points . . . It went too far. I went too far. I know that." I said, "It's okay," and I heard her sigh. I listened as my mother told the rest of the story. After the incident over the rent, Kathy had begun paying for real. Julia collected the checks, and kept a sharp eye on the checking account to ensure that Vic gave Kathy no extra money. My mother believed that this, and not Kathy's death, was the true beginning of Vic and Julia's estrangement. And then Kathy's new boyfriend had entered the scene. "He wasn't a nice Catholic boy," said my mother. "Or even a nice Jewish boy. But I don't know a lot about it. My brother . . . wasn't talking very much to me right then. He had long hair. The boy, I mean." Her eyes skittered away from my own hair, longer than it had ever been. "An earring too. Of course no job. And of course they were . . ." She gave me a quick look, swallowed, and finished bravely. ". . . having sex." It was an odd moment to realize I loved her, my sturdily Catholic--despite the conversion--mother; I grinned at her. For a second, as our eyes held, I thought we might both laugh. Then she ducked her head. "Well. It was all perfectly ordinary, really. Julia overreacted. Anyway, it only lasted three months. But by the end, nobody was talking, even to argue." Nobody talking. Typical Shaughnessy. Typical Yaf- I said quickly, "And then Kathy died." "Yes," said my mother. "Yes." That was all. After a while, my parents went to bed, and I flung myself onto the sofa. Then I got up, and prowled into the bathroom; looked at the tub. It needed a good scrubbing. I had never bothered. If I closed my eyes I could almost see Kathy there. See the shadow; hear the humming. All at once I couldn't bear being in the house. I put on my running clothes and headed out, fast. The Shaughnessy apartment was dark. The only indication that Vic and Julia were there was the fact that their bedroom door was closed. Lily's door was also shut. For some reason I paused outside it for a few seconds. It wasn't all Lily's fault that she was so odd. Terrible things had happened in her short life. I was halfway down the stairs when I realized that I hadn't asked my parents about Lily. What had been going on with her while Kathy quit school, got a job and a boyfriend, and fought with her parents? Very likely my mother and father would not have known. What was there to know about a seven-year-old? That she had been in second grade? That she had liked to sneak into the attic where her big sister lived, to play at being grown-up? I should live here, Lily had said of the attic, on the day I moved in. It's all wrong. And then I wondered: Why would she want to live in the place where she'd seen her sister die? From the Paperback edition. Excerpted from The Killer's Cousin by Nancy Werlin All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Many secrets bubble just beneath the surface of this skillful thriller narrated by a high-school senior who has been accused‘and acquitted‘of murdering his girlfriend. David Yaffe moves from Baltimore to Cambridge to avoid publicity, but instead of finding refuge with Uncle Vic, Aunt Julia and cousin Lily, he is shown to their attic apartment and expected to fend for himself. His relatives appear to be conducting a cold war. Still blaming each other for their daughter Kathy's suicide four years ago, Julia and Vic have stopped speaking to each other. The one who suffers the most from their silence is 11-year-old Lily, who shows signs of being emotionally disturbed. Suspense rises to a feverish pitch as pieces of a complex puzzle fall into place, involving Kathy's death and Julia and Vic's estrangement from each other and from David's parents. Even Kathy's ghost seems to make an appearance, imploring David to "help Lily." Meanwhile, Lily is doing everything she can to turn her parents against him. David's attempts to pull the family together fail miserably until, in the aftermath of a chilling climax, he confronts his own demons as he attempts to help Lily dispel hers. The novel's gothic flavor, compelling minor characters (David's skinhead friend, Frank, and Raina, a college student and artist) and subtle exploration of guilt and complicity add texture to this tense psychological drama. Werlin (Are You Alone on Purpose?) leaves enough unanswered questions to make readers want to keep lights burning a little longer than usual. Ages 14-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

Gr 8 Up-David Yaffe, 18, having recently been acquitted of murdering his girlfriend, is sent to live in Cambridge, MA, with his aunt Julia, uncle Vic, and cousin Lily to repeat his senior year of high school. Lily, 11, is resentful of his presence; she feels that her dead sister Kathy's room is rightfully hers, and that he should not be staying in it. Lily taunts and torments David until he begins to doubt his own sanity. His emotional fragility is compellingly revealed as he works through the loss of his girlfriend and the complicity he feels over her death. Readers see Lily through David's eyes; she is alternately depicted as the troubled child of dysfunctional parents, a spoiled brat, and a truly evil character. She plays on his fears and pushes David to the edge until he realizes what he has always known: that she, too, is a killer. This psychological thriller will keep readers involved and should appeal to fans of Lois Duncan and Joan Lowery Nixon.-Michele Snyder, Chappaqua Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Gr. 7^-12. In this utterly terrifying psychodrama, a teenager already laboring under a crushing load of guilt finds himself cleverly, relentlessly stalked by his 11-year-old cousin. David killed his lover. The fact that it was accidental and that he's been acquitted of her murder, matters to him not at all. To finish high school and perhaps find a way to live with himself, he moves away from home to stay with Massachusetts relatives, where, in an attic apartment that may be haunted, he lives above a family driven seriously dysfunctional by a daughter's apparent suicide four years before. His hosts' remaining daughter, Lily, greets him coldly and starts a campaign of surreptitious harassment designed to enrage him beyond control. Why? Powerless to stop her and unable to make her parents believe that she needs help, David hangs on grimly, meanwhile trying to fit in at a new school and finding there an unexpected friend. Positioning her characters in an intricate, shadowy web of secrets, deception, bad choices, family feuds, and ghostly warnings, Werlin winds the tension to an excruciating point, then releases it in a fiery climax: realizing in the nick of time that he's not the only killer in the family, David races into a burning house to save Lily from suicide, then promises her that she won't be alone with her anguish any longer. With this tautly plotted thriller, rich in complex, finely drawn characters, Werlin more than fulfills the promise of her first novel, Are You Alone on Purpose? (1994). --John Peters

Horn Book Review

Read by Nick Podehl. (High School)Werlin's psychological thriller, with its brilliantly ambiguous title, is a killer on audio. Despite some dated cultural references, it's still almost unbearably suspenseful, as seventeen-year-old David Jaffe, in an attempt to escape his notorious past (he has recently been acquitted in the murder of his girlfriend), moves in with his aunt and uncle (themselves still grieving over the supposed suicide of their older daughter) and becomes drawn into an even more disturbing situation. Podehl's reading is quiet and sensitive, letting the tension build through Werlin's expert pacing rather than imposed dramatics. But he imbues David with just the right amount of guilt, self-doubt, and guarded hope, and his rendition of David's troubled eleven-year-old cousin Lily is chilling. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.