In a riveting and unputdownable thriller from the Queen of Suspense, a young woman is ensnared into returning to a place she had wanted to leave behind forever—her childhood home.At the age of ten, Liza Barton shot her mother, trying desperately to protect her from her estranged stepfather, Ted Cartwright. Despite his claim that the shooting was a deliberate act, the Juvenile Court ruled the death an accident. Many people, however, agreed with Cartwright, and the tabloids compared the child to the infamous murderess Lizzie Borden, pointing even to the similarity of their names.
To erase her past, her adoptive parents change her name to Celia. At age twenty-eight, a successful interior designer in Manhattan, she marries a childless sixty-year-old widower, Laurence Foster, and they have a son. Before their marriage, she reveals to him her true identity. Two years later, on his deathbed, he makes her swear never to tell anyone so that their son, Jack, will not carry the stigma of her past.
Two years later, Celia is happily remarried. Her peace of mind is shattered when her new husband surprises her with a gift—the house where she killed her mother. And it soon becomes clear that there is someone in the community knows Celia.
More and more, there are signs that someone in the community knows Celia’s true identity. When the real estate agent who sold them the house is brutally murdered and Celia is the first on the crime scene, she becomes a suspect. As she fights to prove her innocence, she has no idea that she and her son, Jack, are now the targets of a killer.
At the age of ten, Liza Barton shot her mother in their New Jersey home while trying to protect her from her violent stepfather. Despite her stepfather's claim that the shooting was a deliberate act, the Juvenile Court ruled the death an accident.
Trying to erase every trace of Liza's past, her adoptive parents changed Liza's name to Celia. At the age of twenty-eight, she married a sixty-year-old widower, and they had a son. Before their marriage, Celia confided the secret of her earlier life. On his deathbed, her husband made her swear never to reveal her past to anyone, so that their son would not carry the burden of this family tragedy.
Happily remarried, Celia is shocked when her second husband presents her with a gift-the New Jersey house where she killed her mother. On the day they move in, the words BEWARE -- LITTLE LIZZIE'S PLACE have been painted on the lawn.
Determined to prove that she was the victim of her stepfather's psychotic behavior, Celia sets out to gather the evidence. When the real estate agent who sold the house is brutally murdered she is once again branded a killer. As Celia fights to prove her innocence, she is not aware that her life and the life of her son are in jeopardy.
