‘The Fault Tree’ By Louise Ure
Published by St. Martin’s Minotaur. January 2008ISBN: 978-0-312-37585-0

The title of Louise Ure’s wonderful new book derives from a quote from a NASA publication:  “A Fault Tree analysis is touted as one of the best methods of identifying and graphically displaying the many ways something can go wrong.”  No one knows of the many ways things can go wrong more than Cadence Moran, Ms. Ure’s 31-year-old protagonist, who was blinded eight years prior in a horrendous auto accident that also left her beloved niece dead.  Not one for self-pity, Cadence refuses to use a Seeing Eye dog, and, not wanting “anything that relied upon me for food or water, companionship, or a job,” she uses a plain wooden cane, saying “I don’t like people thinking of me as a blind person before they’ve had a chance to think of me as a person at all.”

Cadence [nicknamed “Cade” by her family and “Stick” by her co-workers] works in Tucson, AZ as an auto mechanic [taking a leaf from the pages of the late Barbara Seranella, who she honors here] when, one summer night while walking home, she hears a woman scream.  She continues on her way when no further sounds are heard, only to find out the next day that a woman has been killed [apparently the cause for the outcry].  Just as she feels she was to blame for the accident that took her sight and her niece’s life, so too does she feel the onus for not having responded to the victim’s scream that preceded her death, and tries to assist the police in their search for the killer.  She has an uncanny ability to interpret sounds [especially on anything motorized] and smells, and the skeptical police ultimately come to value her contributions.

The author has created an unforgettable ‘heroine’ in this absorbing tale; the detectives too are original creations, and the book is an absolutely engrossing and splendid addition to the genre [and beyond].  The author, in one of many memorable lines, states:  “Funny that we take credit, snatching it before it can get away, but we accept blame, holding it close only when no other arms reach for it.”  This novel is highly recommended.
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Gloria Feit