The Abortionist's Daughter

by Elisabeth Hyde

Two weeks before Christmas, Diana Duprey, an outspoken abortion doctor, is found dead in her swimming pool. A national figure, Diana inspired passion and ignited tempers, but never more so than the day of her death. Her husband Frank, a longtime attorney in the DA’s office; her daughter Megan, a freshman in college; the Reverend Stephen O’Connell, founder of the town’s pro-life coalition: all of them quarreled with Diana that day and each one has something to lose in revealing the truth. Meanwhile the detective on the case struggles for the answers — and finds himself more intimately involved than he ever could have imagined.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Audiobook, Book Club, Thriller, Adult Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published June 20, 2006

About the author

Elisabeth Hyde is the author, most recently, of GO ASK FANNIE, winner of the 2019 Colorado Book Award in General Fiction. She has also written five other critically acclaimed novels, including IN THE HEART OF THE CANYON, a NY Times Editor’s Choice and a People Magazine Great Read. Her fourth novel, THE ABORTIONIST'S DAUGHTER, became a best seller in Great Britain after being selected as a Summer Read by The Richard and Judy Show (Britain’s Oprah, at the time). Trained as a lawyer, she tried cases for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., for several years, a day-job that still gives her stomachaches just to think about it. Realizing that she preferred written conflict over face-to-face argument, she eventually left the law to write fiction, and never looked back. She lives in Boulder with her husband and the best dog in the whole world.

She generally lists only books she has loved.

Reviews

[Miriam · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cheap, flimsy book masquerading as a thoughtful thriller. Hyde seems to draw her insights on human nature from blockbuster movies: the spunky, headstrong teen; the high-powered lawyer; the obsessive boyfriend; the hardened but still vulnerable cop ... When the daughter inexplicably (but spunkily! and sexily!) decides to sleep over at the cop's house, I almost yelled, "Oh, come ON!" The characters are unconvincing in the extreme, the "mystery" is no mystery at all, and Hyde's solemn attempt at moral complexity is just embarrassing.

[Tineke · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a dumb book. If I'm going to name everything that was dumb, this post would be full of spoilers. But to name only one, of the many: detective takes in victim's daughter (who is still a suspect). Everyone thinks he is sleeping with her. Very jealous ex boyfriend of daughter finds out. Then he gets called into his bosses office, where very jealous ex-boyfriend is too. He wonders what that ex-boyfriend is doing there. Boss says: you tell me. And then this dumb 26-year old detective (yeah, right) proceeds to not know and be flabbergasted. Jesus, fuck, if I had a suspect over, who is also sleeping on my couch and you damn well know that that is wrong. Very jealous ex-boyfriend finds out when he talks to you, in your home, while victim's daughter is also there. And that guy is the lowest of lifeforms. And then you get called into your bosses office where suprprise, surprise, ex-boyfriend is too, then all alarmbells should be ringing, but no, this dumb fuck still doesn't know. And then when he has to give up his badge, he decides that, what the heck, if everyone thinks I'm sleeping with this 19-year old girl, then why not do it already? And he sleeps with her. The more I think about all the dumbness in this book, the more I'd like to put it on fire. So I'm going to give it one star, just out of petty revenge. (I wanted to give it 2 stars, because at least it was written in a way, that made reading it easy, but the dumbness was just building up and up and up.) Also, I cannot for the life of me imagine why any self-respecting detective would want to be associated with this piece of drivel (in the acknowledgements.) Also Elisabeth's Hyde husband who, according to acknowledgements, vetoed all alternative careers, should be force-fed good fiction where readers aren't treated like dumbasses who believe everything you tell them. Okay, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to burn this out of my memory.

[Kelsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel uses the abortion debate as the background for a tepid narrative. What frustrated me most is that the author seems to feel like she needs to pretend to present both sides, and yet she is so graphic in her descriptions of abortion, and so clearly doesn't really think it's right. She never gives any narrative space to why people might need abortions, doesn't give us any characters who choose abortion and in fact kills the one female doctor who provides abortion (and even this doctor feels wrong about providing abortions once she herself is pregnant!) Like I said, I think the whole abortion theme is really just a convenient cover for crappy writing. There are multiple opinions about abortion? Really? Shocking! I didn't know! Thanks for opening my eyes! The characters are boring and obvious and the novel is just tiresome overall. Read this book only if someone hands you a copy and you are bored and don't have anything else to read. Or if you're on a flight and it's sitting in the pocket of the seat. It's sufficiently entertaining that I read it in a day, but that's about it.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe I'm getting curmudgeonly in my old age. I probably would have liked this book when I was 15 and I thought that anything with the word "abortionist" in the title must be socially hip. At 15 I didn't really care about things like character development or a plausible plot. I mean, of course cops always risk their careers for the nubile nineteen-year-old girls (yes, I said girl) they are also investigating. Of course, smart, level-headed children get involved in unstable relationships and pornography and smoke pot with their straight-laced parents. I mean, not all parents were as square as mine, right?

Thankfully, I've gotten past all that and I'm tired of reading stuff like this.

[Fiona MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyable little known thriller. The topic of abortion, whilst is not particularly prominent in the story, also manages to hover in the background as a constant reminder in quite a sinister way. Easy and fluid writing.

[Anne Schroeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author starts with a premise: two people with strong convictions make a 180-degree flip when their personal lives are involved. And when they do, what are the consequences?

Written in the omniscient POV so the reader gets to watch characters dance all around the book. The abortionist gets to tell her story in a strange way. Two things popped out at me--one, the novelist's rule that the two protagonists need to be introduced in the first page or two made for a rather convoluted beginning, but she handled it adroitly. I wasn't crazy about the tell-not-show elements that sometimes seemed like a long, fireside chat and often took me out of the immediancy.

As a pro-lifer, I thought the author handled the abortion argument with a great deal of integrity, even if I had to strain to accept her premise. But what is fiction for if not to explore the boundaries of human nature?

I'm not normally a mystery reader--I have a prejudice that mystery writers get credit for being clever when they plot their books, when actually, writers of every genre have to be just as clever, just not as flashy. Anyway, I digress. Elizabeth Hyde worked so hard at creating dimensional characters interwoven with blemishes and halos that I forgive her. The mystery took backseat to the character development for which I am grateful. Her writing is so fluid, expecially the dialogue. I felt like I was on the dance floor with a pro.

I read it in a day. What can I say--you should, too. I'm going to keep this book around for when I want to write an omniscient POV book. I could learn a lot from her.

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Without doubt the worst attempt at a murder-mystery I've ever encountered... I read it right after Richard and Judy's book club sang it's praises years ago and it haunts me how bad it is to this day. It is very hard to enjoy a story when the majority of the characters are unlikable, even harder still when you can somehow tell that it was the writer's intention for you to actually like these people. The plot twist (a.k.a. the murderer's reveal) can hardly be called such, seeing as you know which character it is the second they appear. In fact the character seems so obviously the killer, that you expect something clever to ultimately happen... but no such luck. The fact people give this book positive reviews is the most annoying thing.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book actually impressed me. Usually when I buy books without checking them out on Goodreads, they're terrible. This was probably the most predictable thriller I've ever read but then again nine times out of ten, I do guess the killer pretty early on in other books.

This book had a really nice cover and it had a very intriguing title so I picked it up. The plot sounded so interesting but it wasn't actually as interesting as it sounded. It's very clichéd and the characters are all very one-dimensional but I actually enjoyed this book. The writing was kind of messy and all over the place but I wouldn't say it was bad. It would have been better with more structure. The story itself could have been so much better. It had a lot of potential and it had room for lots of twists but there were none. There was also a lot of irrelevant information just to fill pages.

I did like it but I wouldn't really recommend it and I'm not sure if I'd read anything else by Elisabeth Hyde, I probably would if it sounded interesting.

[Bryn Greenwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really enjoying this book when it seemed like a police procedural. There were a lot of interesting layers to possible suspects, and some very well developed characters. Sadly, at about the halfway mark, the book got sidetracked. Abruptly, the main police character, Huck, stopped acting like a cop trying to solve a homicide and started going all googly about his relationship with his girlfriend and his *feelings* about the annoying and self-absorbed daughter of the murder victim. This felt almost entirely shoe-horned into place, as though the author felt the murder wasn't interesting enough. After that, the book devolved into more relationship-y nonsense and a convenient confession from the killer, who turned out to be one of the few underdeveloped characters in the book. *sigh* From compelling, read-past-bedtime-able to absolute drudgery by the end.

[Darlene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect when I began reading 'The Abortionist's Daughter' by Elisabeth Hyde. Clearly, the topic of abortion is always controversial. In this novel, however,the fact that one of the characters, Diane Duprey, was a doctor who performed abortions and founded her very own Center for Reproductive Choice, was a sort of secondary theme to the story that unfolded.

'The Abortionist's Daughter' is a mystery... a classic whodunit. The story begins with the murder of Dr. Duprey in a swimming pool at her home which she shared with her husband, District Attorney Frank Thompson and their college-aged daughter Megan. The pool of suspects is potentially rather large when Dr. Duprey's occupation is figured in ; but we soon discover that there are several people who had serious arguments with her on the day of her death and the story quickly focuses solely on those suspects.

As we learn about the suspects, we also learn about Dr. Duprey... as a doctor, a mother, a wife.... and like most people, she had secrets. We learn that she and her husband , Frank, argued violently on the day of her death and the argument was about their daughter Megan. And it becomes clear that violent arguments between the spouses is not at all unusual. We also discover a heated argument between Dr. Duprey and her daughter Megan... who appears self-centered and spoiled and without much self-discipline. Dr. Duprey was also seen with Reverend Stephen O'Connell, the founder of the town's anti-abortion coalition; and the entire town knew of the many conflicts between the two.

The story plods on with a number of sub-plots being revealed, which may or may not have anything to do with Dr. Duprey's murder.... an ill conceived romantic relationship between the lead detective investigating the murder, Huck Berlin and Megan Thompson, daughter of the victim and potential suspect; an investigation of internet child pornography by Frank Thompson; and a creepy 'stalking' of Megan Thompson by her ex-boyfriend, Bill Branson.

Ultimately, when the murderer is revealed , it feels like an anti-climactic moment. Clues to the murderer's identity were dropped along the way and I had figured it out. But honestly, by that point in the story, I really did not care much. These characters were, for the most part, very unlikable and although my enjoyment and appreciation of a story is not dependent on character likability, I DO need to develop some sort of understanding of them and their actions. I was unable to connect with these characters and I didn't care much about what happened to them.

I'm not really sure what happened with this story... perhaps there were too many subplots; perhaps the author really didn't want to delve too deeply into the inflammatory nature of the topic of abortion... regardless, the story fell flat for me and I'm disappointed that I cannot find a reason to recommend this book.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

So lately I've noticed that these hype books fall into three categories: those I read and hated (and felt justified hating because I hate the hype), those I read and surprsingly liked (and sometimes resented myself a bit for liking because, again, I hate the hype) and those that I will never read. (Yes, I can be a book snob. I am dealing with it.) The Abortionists Daughter falls into the first group, although now that I'm done I wish I'd had the sense to put it in the third group.

It was recommended by daytime television hosts and everyone read it and now, that category of everyone also includes me. But this book sucks. It's boring. The characters are silly. A woman dies at the beginning but I knew who did it - the end is hardly a reveal. There is no twist. There is little point. The daughter had naked photos of her put on the internet but she's an idiot and I didn't care. (The bits about abortion were actually really interesting, though.)

But, having had a little whine about it, I must add that this is not a terrible book. It doesn't make me want to tear it up and burn the pages or write reams of slander on the internet about it. It's just painfully mediocre. I just wanted to say that it sucks and now I think I'm ready to move on with my life.

(A side note: For a minute in the library when I was debating whether or not to borrow it I thought I'd read it before but that was something else: - The Memory Keeper's Daughter. That's not actually all that great either, but it's a lot better. Read that one instead.)

[Dem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow

[Kerstin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though this Would be labeled as a mystery, I think it is a novel with a murder who is solved.
The mother and daughter do not get along.
I think both the mother and daughter are rather spoiled, My sympathies is with the husband/dad.

[Naomi Grout · Rating 3 out of 5]

this one was ok..enough to make me stick with it but not enough to make me want to keep reaching for it. something missing for me so only 3 stars.

[Greg B · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's something really special about listening to a good thriller on audiobook. The taut language and frequent plot twists just go really well with long drives. Sometimes, when I time it right, I can get one plot twist per 45-minute work commute, and it's awesome. Unfortunately, The Abortionist's Daughter is NOT a good thriller - it's a horrid, hackneyed, faux-progressive bore.

You can't fault the premise: one December afternoon, noted abortion doctor Diana Dupree is murdered in her absurdly nice Colorado home, and the investigation gets complicated when it's revealed she quarreled with everyone from her daughter to her estranged husband to the leader of a pro-life organization on the day of her death. Unfortunately Hyde seems completely uninterested in the murder mystery, quickly culling the list of potential suspects down so that by Disc two of this seven-disc audiobook, you'll know who did it. Instead, we get treated to an extended rhapsody on the life of Megan, the titular daughter. You see, Megan is a Dirty Girl™ who drops ecstacy, takes naked pictures of herself (the airtime of the plotline involving the naked pictures outweighs the actual murder mystery by a wide margin) and sleeps with everyone from her college advisor to the cop investigating her Mother's death, all while being told by every character how bright and special she is. Megan is one of those protagonists: a Mary Sue who when viewed objectively looks more like a manipulative sociopath.

I want to talk about how fake the 'progressive' stance this book takes on women and abortion is. Hyde claims to be showing both sides of the issue, but between the hilariously bad plot involving a pregnant teenager (where the pro-life preacher turns out to be Not That Bad After All™) and the frequently unrealistic portrayals of abortion itself, it's pretty clear where her own views lie. The novel's climax (and oh man I have to talk about that) culminating in a 1984-esque two minutes of hate where nearly every major character tells Diana what a monster she is in her professional and personal life doesn't help matters.

And oh my god, the end of the novel: look, this is a seven-disc audiobook, and disc six ends with the murderer confessing. What could possibly happen in Disc Seven, I wondered? Does someone get taken hostage, is there a car chase, does anything interesting happen? No - instead, the entire seventh disc is a long, nauseatingly detailed narrative of Diana's final day, from Diana's POV. This doesn't sound that bad, but at this point the listener knows all of the beats of the story - we've covered that Diana had a fight with her daughter, that she had a patient go to the hospital, that she blew up at her husband, etc etc. The only thing we don't know are the actual details of the murder, which turn out to also be something we knew already. There's no reason to spend the last 1/7th of the book in an extended anticlimax, a big wet self-indulgent literary fart, but by this point it's clear that Hyde is going to go there - she doesn't know how to stop herself. This is the last time I grab an audiobook from the library without checking it out first.

Audiobook specific chat: the novel is competently read by Beth McDonald, who does a pretty good job. Sometimes she gets a little bit louder then she should whenever a character is supposed to be yelling and you have to turn it down. She has a really good assortment of female voices and managed to make the large cast pretty distinct; however she really only has two male voices: gruff old man and pervy creep. This actually fits most of the characters, though it is a bit jarring to hear a cop character in his mid 30's sound like he should be grumbling about how many months it is to retirement.

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had really looked forward to reading this book. It had been hyped up and recommended as being original and different. From the first page I found the author's style of writing cheap and trashy with many gramatical errors. The only character who was remotely human and interesting was killed instantly leaving us only with cliched, stereotypical and uninteresting characters who did not develop as the story unfolded. I also found this story entirely predictable. The romance was again cliché and distasteful. It is a shame as the hype and the title suggested this would be a good read but personally I wouldn't waste the 2 days it took me to read.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit meh, not the best book I’ve read, but not the worst. The story line is rather farfetched, I found myself rolling my eyes at times at the characters actions and obvious traits the author had given them.
Wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone. It was more of I started it, so I’ll finish it book, as opposed to I can’t wait to pick it up again and read it book.

[Sophie Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super late to this one for book club! I thought this was very average to be honest, it started off okay & I liked the vibe, more of a thriller than I expected. But tbh felt like it went downhill, the plot got a bit random, I felt like Huck and Megan getting together was so sudden and odd? I think there were some interesting parts that made me think a bit about like wider social issues but on the whole it was a bit of a struggle to finish, didn’t overly enjoy but didn’t dislike it either!

[Leanna Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A short, gripping easy-read to get you out of a reading slump!

[beti_czyta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Po książkę sięgnęłam dzięki @gusiolec i jej akcji #gusiolecmaratonkolorów na Instagramie.

Dwa tygodnie przed świętami zostaje znaleziona martwa kobieta .Prowadzi ona klinikę w której przeprowadza aborcje .
Kto tak naprawdę jest sprawcą ,i czy pani doktor była bezwzględną suką która usuwała ciążę każdej kobiecie która się do niej zgłosiła ??

Brakło mi tu zakończenia jednego wątku ,a co do podejrzanego to od razu podejrzewałam kto ,ale nie byłam pewna.Jednak moje podejrzenia okazały się słuszne .
Mimo że miałam obawy że książka może być słaba a tytuł mylący to jednak warto było przeczytać .

[Karen Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably more a 3.5

[Daisy Wells · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring and worst of all, extemely predictable

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

SPOILERS... AGAIN... SORRY, NOT SORRY...

Oh, sweet mother of god, what an awful book. I don't even know where to begin:

Allowing two people who are suspects in a murder investigation to sleep at the murder scene, and no one not even the chief of police has an issue with this.

A month to complete an autopsy on a high profile case.

Having sex with a murder suspect who is 7 years younger than you.

19-year-olds who are treated like knowledgeable adults but act like children. And not just immature, but literally dialogue of a child.

I could go on, but I won't because, at one point, I wished Megan would've been killed instead of her mother, who by the way, was the only interesting character. None of the characters felt real. They were characachers pulled out of a bad movie. Megan the headstrong college student who acted like a child and a 26-year-old cop who was sexually attracted to her felt gross, in a pedophilic way. Ernie had it right when he called Huck a dump f@ck. Since we are on the cops, and in this case, the keystone cops. I just couldn't... the level of incompetence was outstanding. Not following through with leads, not questioning the husband until a month later, not interviewing the protestors...

I'm a writer, and I don't like to bash other writers because writing isn't an easy craft, but I think Hyde could have done a better job. The characters were flat and unbelievable, there was little no evidence provided to the reader, and the end reveal fell flat on its face.

Save yourself the trouble and don't read this book.

[MaryAlice]

I can not decide if I should rater The Abortionist's Daughter by Elisabeth Hyde a 5 for "It was amazing" or a 2 for "It was okay."

Readers are given more information then detectives, because people, like the abortionist's daughter, Megan, withhold information that might have helped them solve the crime as quickly as astute readers can. That is, I knew early on who the murderer was, while the detectives stayed clueless for most of the book.

What I liked was the range of topics covered without being preachy or judgmental. Hyde shows both sides of the pro-choice, anti-abortion issue. Teenage romance, drug and alcohol use, sexuality, love, stalking, porn, adult affairs are also a part of the story.

At the onset it seemed all the players were having issues, a parent has a stroke, a child has a 104 degree fever, and so on ~ humanizing people ~ such as police detectives, who need to go to work, despite any personal at-home issues.

Even after the detectives stumble upon knowledge of who committed the murder, readers are left with questions, which are answered in the remaining chapters by telling the story of the murder victim's last day. Or the novel was not a straight forward murder mystery, but rather flips back and forth detailing character's histories.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abortion. Pornography. Malfeasance in the justice system. Illegal/legal drug abuse. Stalkers. It’s all in The Abortionist’s Daughter. Title notwithstanding, this crime novel has no primary protagonist. From chapter to chapter, the spotlight focuses upon different characters, throwing light upon their personal points of view with respect to the murder, and with respect to their relationships with the others who are enmeshed in the case. As in real life, each has his/her own virtues and faults, and some are likable while others are not. Author Hyde has an intelligent writing style, a layman’s understanding of psychology, and a talent for infusing her characters with authenticity. While it becomes evident early on who the culprit is, motive, opportunity, and method do not. The Abortionist’s Daughter has the makings of a made-for-TV movie, with lots of drama and juicy plum roles.

[Tiff Miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the most predictable, boring, "who-done-it?" books I have ever read in the history of ever. The writing isn't bad, but the characters are more like caricatures, unbelievable and very convenient. The title is misleading, as well. It's not about the abortionist's daughter at all. The only character worth paying attention to is the murdered abortionist. She had some intrigue and some interesting depths that were only explored at the end of the book, when we get to see the day she was murdered from her perspective.

The book promises to draw out some thought-provoking concepts, but it doesn't. It just plays it safe along party lines, and never really addresses anything of substance, though it could have.

***Spoiler***
The stalker boyfriend does it. But...you'll find that out as soon as you meet him. Creep.

[Redfox5 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I really enjoyed this book and it had that quailty that made it hard to put down. It was all very over the top and had very bizzare and unrealistic events.

It was hard to really care for the characters and Bill didn't even feel like a real person, just some over the top pantomime villian.

This is worth a read for the entertainment factor but it doesn't really get deep enough for many of the issues in the book.

[Bookread2day · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in a charity shop as I was taking in some of my old books that I have finished reading. I am very glad that I took the chance and bought this wonderful book because I could not put it down.

[Sierra Starr · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know how so much can happen in a novel yet it all be so boring. Plus the characters were so unbelievable I had a hard time reading this. Not a good read

[Brian Hogan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it