What happens when a righteous man of faith wakes up one morning to discover his perfect wife and their children missing? He calls on Private Investigator Tess Monaghan to find them. Problem is this erstwhile intelligent successful businessman insists that there is absolutely no reason why his wife would leave him. In fact to hear him tell it their marriage was perfect -- well in this case perfect is in the eye of the beholder. Mark Rubin is adamant that this breach in his marriage is temporary and once located, his wife will undoubtedly come to her senses and return. However, Tess isn't as certain. In fact as she investigates, a rather complex scheme unfolds along with a trail of insights into what points to a tragic tangle of lies. Tess is as off-the-cuff as Mark is straight-laced and they make an interesting, entertaining team when they join forces to find his family.

As often as you want to shake him to get him to recognize the truth being uncovered you are heartfelt to sympathize with the impending tragedy that seems inevitable. And throughout the book he never compromises his devotion to the tenets of his faith. The cast of characters form an intriguing web that impacts the destiny of them all.

There are no short cuts taken in BY A SPIDER'S THREAD. Not by Tess the investigator, not by Lippman the author and certainly not by the reader. As the case unravels you are privy to a step by step discovery of facts along with the characters. There is no way to guess the outcome of the book as you are always surprised with the next piece uncovered. Lippman writes a wonderful puzzle of a detective story and you just can't wait to get the next piece to see what picture is developing. Some books let you in on the secret at the very start and some rather transparently give you the solution along the way. The solution to this puzzle depends on the very last piece which isn't turned over until the last few pages. Be patient the end is worth the wait. BY A SPIDER'S THREAD is sure to make you a fan of Laura Lippman.