直到發生午後的那場意外，她再也擺脫不了她……
七年前，十一歲的愛麗絲與蘿妮無意間發現一輛無人照管的嬰兒車，裡面有個稚齡女嬰。兩人一時興起帶走嬰兒車，從此鑄下大錯。嬰兒被找回時已經死亡，她們也為此入獄服刑。
如今，十八歲的她們重返家園，人生正要重新開始。然而，不是每個人都願意、也能夠抹除過去的記憶。不久，郡裡又發生一起三歲女童失蹤案，而失蹤小孩的長相，竟與當初死去女嬰的母親再度生下的女孩驚人地相似。這是女孩們的報復，或者一切只是湊巧？當聯繫過去與現在的線索逐漸浮現，她們再度被捲入事件的核心，而那些隱藏在謊言下的怨恨、傷痛與罪惡，也即將被一一揭開……
無法重拾幸福的被害者、自戀又自私的母親、無所不用其極的公設辯護人、背負過去案件陰影的偵辦女警，每個人心中都懷抱著某些祕密，在司法的正義和公平之下，為什麼大家都不敢說出全部的事實，也不敢只說事實？想要擁抱幸福，不需在生活裡擔心害怕，真的那麼困難嗎？
From Publishers Weekly
With this engrossing mystery/suspense stand-alone novel, Lippman, winner of the Edgar, Shamus and Agatha awards for her series featuring likable heroine Tess Monaghan (Baltimore Blues; Charm City; The Last Place) solidifies her position in the upper tier of today's suspense novelists. Two 11-year-old children-good girl Alice Manning and bad girl Ronnie Fuller-wander homeward in Baltimore after being kicked out of a friend's pool party. They discover a baby in an unattended carriage by the front door of a house and steal it away. The reader watches in horror, knowing what will come next. The baby dies, and Alice and Ronnie are imprisoned for seven years. The mystery involves which girl did the killing, and which was the dupe. After release from prison, their blighted lives move inexorably toward further horror and tragedy. Lippman slowly relinquishes the facts of her story, building suspense as she reveals the past. Her well-honed prose is particularly suited to descriptions that impart more than just appearances: "Holly was one of those people who seemed to be put together with higher quality parts than everyone else"; "...there was something menacing in the very fineness of his bones, as if a bigger boy had been boiled down until all that remained was this concentrated bit of rage and bile." With this book, much darker than any in her past series, Lippman shows she is an author willing to take risks in both writing and storytelling. Her deft handling of this disturbing material is sure to increase the breadth of her readership.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.