Shadow plots

the long version

"Shadow plots is the tale of Sylvia, a disturbed young woman who lived in Portland's shantytown, dubbed Hooverville in 1936. She is desperately searching for acceptance, love and her fantasy mother. It is also the story of 40-year-old Lizabet McNearney, a veteran investigative journalist who returns home to Portland from her post in Rome. While Liz investigates the alleged suicide of her brother, a Catholic priest, she is forced to relive in her mind a childhood bereft of love, filled with horror and shame. Liz's investigation soon crosses paths with Sylvia's desperate plot as both are drawn into the shadows of a diabolic killer known only as "Death.""--Publisher's description.