The dead hour : a novel
(Book)

"Reading group guide"--Page 1-7 (2nd group).

The domestic dispute in a wealthy suburb seems like nothing unusual. The elegant blonde bleeding in the shadows doesn't want help; and the well-dressed, ingratiating man at the front door tells investigative journalist Paddy Meehan everything's fine. Then he asks her to make sure nothing appears in the paper, slipping cash into her hand. The next morning Paddy sees on TV: the blond woman had been tortured, beaten, and left to die. The untraceable man was neither her boyfriend nor her husband. Soon Paddy begins to make connections, and after a suicide is pulled from the river, she finds links between the two deaths. It's the story she's dreamed of, but she'll lose all credibility if word gets out about the bribe, and her boss at the newspaper is impatient with her hunches. Only Paddy cares enough to pursue a brutal truth that could make her career--or kill her.--From publisher description.