Don't Cry, Little Sister — Jennette Letton

"You can't go home again," wise men tell adults who yearn for scenes and conditions of their childhood. But what draws Abbie Adams to her old home town in the bleak month of January is a tragic mystery of only a year ago that will not allow her to live in peace until it is resolved. One snowy night, Brock Herrick, her brother, drove his car into his garage and sat there with the door closed and the motor running until he was dead...Brock, a big hero of a man loved by everybody, a successful playwright whose beautiful wife, Celia, adored him from childhood. What madness brought about that senseless end?

Because Brock had been the idol of the old, affectionate brother-sister foursome that included Celia's younger brother, Paul, of course Brock's death would diminish them all, but Abbie senses a sinister undercurrent of fear. Why has Celia shut her dearest friend, her husband's sister, out of her life completely, cutting off all correspondence since his death?

Driving to Ravenna on an impulse, Abbie finds Celia and Paul unwilling to discuss the problems with their old friend, seemingly torn between affection for her and a strong distaste for being reminded of Brock's death. And why has Celia destroyed the manuscript of Brock's first novel, perhaps the most important work of his life. What secret can it be that Thelma, the housekeeper, knows but dares not to divulge to the dead man's sister? From what mutual horror are Paul and Celia shielding each other?

Brock is dead; a whole generation has passed since he was master in their childhood game of fox and geese, undisputed master of their snow house; yet his spirit lives on with a daemonic persistence, driving them close to madness. If his ghost cannot be laid, three lives will be destroyed or will destiny each other. And the trail to the solution leads back to scenes long buried in their collective memories.