Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion
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Crimson Lake
Group Read - Crimson Lake
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Group Read - Crimson Lake 34% to 66% Spoilers Welcome
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The baby geese are such a sweet responsibility and have a grounding impact for Ted. We learn more bits and pieces of the way his life fell apart after he was arrested. And what a crime that the prosecution in his aborted trial accused Ted of guilt in part due to his owning copies of young adult novels. Ted is a reader, a lover of books and that kinship makes me cringe that his choice of reading material is held against him.
The reporter Fabiana sees Ted remove a large python from his property and badgers him for comment on his case. Ted surreptitiously reads the true crime book about Amanda’s case and contemplates the facts from the exaggerated fiction.
Amanda has located an address for Sam, Jake’s supposed lover (not exactly legal in her methods) so they visit and learn about Jake’s secret life established well before marrying Stella, becoming a famous author and probably developing a gambling habit.
His bookie seems unlikely though capable of killing Jake.
Dr. Valerie Gratteur, the medical examiner warns Ted of Fabiana’s journalistic snooping.
Stella, Jake’s wife makes a play for Ted; flashbacks interrupt any possible involvement and Ted begins to see his wife Kelly in a new light. Jake’s life and papers are studied at depth. Ted discovers his former coworkers are not willing to even talk with him on the phone and as he reads about Amanda’s story begins to doubt that the murder of Lauren happened the way even Amanda tells it.
To further mystify, Amanda has a drunken night out and Ted rescues her and finds Fabiana still stalking him intent on her story.
They investigate Jake’s book fans.
Ted visits Lauren Freeman’s mother and meets her sister. Lauren, Amanda’s murder victim seems to have been remembered as a nicer person than she was. Jake had stalkers and fanatic fans on his author tours.
The local police, Damford and Hrnch pay a visit to Ted and trash his home. The excuse? His mailbox was vandalized, blown to bits and this indicated he might be hiding explosives in his house, fruit for a warrant.
Fabiana is changing sides
Ted is attacked and brutally beaten unconscious in another encounter with Danford and Hench; rescued and patched up by Dr. Gratteur
I'm not sure how I feel about Fabiana appearing while Ted is being treated by Dr Gratteur. You do have appreciate the mix of humor and sadness when Ted realizes he is on the morgue table.
I felt Ted was so mistreated by the police. The author did a great job at making me feel so badly for Ted, who was actually trying to live a low profile life and do his job. Unfortunately, I do think these type of encounters do happen.His trial was a farce, as I remember it. Calling him a pedophile just because he read YA was a stretch! LOL
Geri: Yes, I also felt that Ted's trial was a farce, a railroad job that should never have gone that far; and the prosecution's questions were ridiculous in the attempted sinister inferences from so many mundane and normal things. To have the threat of new evidence over Ted's head must have been crushing, but the real hurt must have been from how his friends and coworkers abandoned him so quickly and thoroughly. For some reason I didn't blame his wife Kelly for her abandoning him after his fellow cops all told her Ted was guilty.
Why Ted's co-workers totally believed he abducted the little girl is one of my biggest questions so far. If Dr Gratteur could see problems with the evidence why couldn't they and why didn't they seem to investigate any further.Like Ann, I was not sure Fabiana showing up while he was being treated was a good thing. Sometimes though I still get a bad feeling about Ted when he flashes back to the trial. Some of his memories seem too real to be just the prosecution's theories.
Sandi: the complete abandonment of Ted by his coworkers was strange to me too. What made them think this horrible thing about him...
I think the police officers who worked with Ted turned their backs on him so easily because of the gravity of the crime he'd been accused of. And they were the ones who dug up the initial evidence so they became invested in proving his guilt.Also, maybe I imagined it, but I thought there were some references to him not making friends easily or having become distant from his friends after he married. And the other cops sounded like "BBQ buddies" and not real friends to begin with.
Russ wrote: "I think the police officers who worked with Ted turned their backs on him so easily because of the gravity of the crime he'd been accused of. And they were the ones who dug up the initial evidence ..."Good point, plus I suppose with police work the simplest explanation is usually true and with the timing of the abduction there did not seem to be much point looking further.
Like Geri, I still get a chuckle that his reading habits were used against him.
Russ: Both are good points, as well as the peer pressure to go along with assumption of guilt. No one would want to defend a person guilty of the attack, so going along would be easier. They seemed to be very angry with him for betraying them when he approached them for help. Yes, I can see that if they were more superficial friends would also explain their willingness to believe he could do such a thing. Russ wrote: "I think the police officers who worked with Ted turned their backs on him so easily because of the gravity of the crime he'd been accused of. And they were the ones who dug up the initial evidence ..."
Well, I must say I never knew that crocodiles were mentioned in the Bible so I actually learned something from this book! When I saw the word "Mistoffelees" I started singing "Magical Mr Mistoffelees" even before I read Amanda saying it was a song from CATS! LOL! i am auditioning for that show in August! Also I got a real chuckle over Amanda naming her cats by number! She is something else! I am rooting for her and I hope they find out she was not the murderer. I hope the same for Ted with his case. OK, enough with my personal giggles. I have been thinking a lot about why friends have deserted Ted so thoroughly and don't believe his side of things. True, appearances can be deceiving but also just because there were several people who saw him at the bus stop, it doesn't mean he was the abductor/attacker. Didn't they do any DNA testing? I think that would have been enough to prove that he did or did not commit the crime. But gee, I thought the Brotherhood would have stood by him better. Also those local cops that are stalking Ted and looking for any excuse to rough him up. Ted was never convicted because there wasn't enough evidence to prove he committed the crime so these guys think they know better than the courts To me, they act like the vigilante cops you see in American movies and TV shows. It is var uncomfortable to read those scenes and it is almost like overkill on the author's part, although I understand it adds much more drama. I hope they get to meet Karma in the end!
Fabrianna is a puzzle to me and I am not sure I trust the change of heart but we will see. Ted needs all the help he can get so if she turns out to be a sympathetic character, I would be OK whit that.
Ceelee: wow, good luck with the audition! I love picturing you singing as you read. 😊It still bothers me that all of Ted's co-workers and friends could think he was guilty. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time with witnesses seems so shaky as evidence. And the local cops are unbelievable.
Ceelee wrote: "Well, I must say I never knew that crocodiles were mentioned in the Bible so I actually learned something from this book! When I saw the word "Mistoffelees" I started singing "Magical Mr Mistoffelees..
I have been thinking a lot about why friends have deserted Ted so thoroughly and don't believe his side of things. True, appearances can be deceiving but also just because there were several people who saw him at the bus stop, it doesn't mean he was the abductor/attacker.
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Late to this thread, but I too was haunted by Ted's abandonment by his police officer buddies. I tried to imagine what I would do if a friend or co-worker were accused of such a horrible crime, with enough evidence to make you believe it. It would be a horrible position to be in on either side, and it would take a very loyal and strong person to stand by Ted in the face of all that condemnation. Even his wife gave in to the pressure.
Carol: if it had been a “regular” office then believing the circumstantial evidence could almost be excused. But cops? And your own wife? Stone Cold; it seemed to be too easy for them to abandon him. Of course we didn’t really get to hear their side of it.
It's true, Ann. It seems to go against the brotherhood mentality we understand cops to have. I wonder if there is more there than meets the eye (as in somebody there knows more about the crime than they are saying and is whipping things up to misdirect attention to Ted). Guess we'll have to wait for the sequel!
If the first to post, please briefly summarize to guide the discussion. Spoilers welcome on this thread.