If the Stepford Wives and The Monsters are Due On Maple Street had a baby, this might be it.

Detroit, 1960s. The ladies of Alder Avenue go about their errands and charity tasks, but everyone is worried - factories are closing, colored men are cutting through the alleys to get to the metal plant at the end of the street. A black woman was found murdered there, and there are rumors that prostitutes stand in the windows of the abandoned building nearby, displaying themselves to the men! Then Elizabeth, a simple-minded young woman who lives with her widowed father, disappears. The men turn out to search, the women prepare food and wait. It's a great portrait of the powerlessness of these women, their need to be pure and not wear a blouse that's too low cut, to bake the right things for the bake sale. A woman is raped and her mother cautions her not to tell her husband because he'll never feel the same about her.

But the story isn't about finding Elizabeth. Every couple on the street has secrets and problems, or will have them by the time this is over. It's quite a collection of unhinged people. Tensions escalate, not only between black and white, but between neighbors, husbands and wives, shop keepers and shoppers. Some of these are resolved by the end.

Yes, I couldn't put it down. Yes, the characters were well done, though cliched. There's a missing cat whose fate is never known. I was so sure she was going to do the easy thing and kitty would be found dead, but at least she spared us that.

HERE BE SPOILERS.

Problems: Elizabeth was killed by her father? That's.... fairly hard to believe. I was very annoyed that Malina apparently killed herself, which seemed completely out of character, and for reasons I didn't understand. A smug Karen like that would never admit she was wrong. Oh and Grace runs down the man who raped her, in front of everyone, and seems to get away with it. Maybe accurate in that era, but still a loose end that annoyed me. ( )

This novel takes place during a week during the summer of 1958 in a Detroit blue-collar neighborhood. When a developmentally challenged young woman disappears, the neighbors band together to find her. During the course of this week, long-buried and recent secrets emerge that forever change marriages and friendships. Racial tensions accelerate as the search for those responsible continues. Lori Roy has done an excellent job of heightening suspense and developing our understanding of the culture of that era, particularly the role of women. ( )

The author does a wonderful job of slowly building up this multi-layered character study. It's a quiet book, not very fast paced, that gradually pulls you into the lives of the people of this community in the 1950's and their fears, desires, lies and secrets. It's packed with the various stories of the hidden lives of each of these neighbors that twist and wind together into a compelling tale. To say too much about the plot would be to give away some of the shocks that this book contains. Suffice it to say that this is a fascinating read as you watch this once respectable neighborhood gradually crumble into chaos around its residents.

It's very suspenseful. I don't care much for "women in distress" type of books where there's a woman in trouble and there's a handsome police officer or detective or neighbor or whatever who you know will eventually save her from the bad guys. This book is so much more than that. The mysteries involved are completely unpredictable in their outcome and will keep you guessing. The book also touches on the racial conflicts in Detroit during that time and how integration affected this community.

This book has so many layers to it and is so masterfully written with genuine, true-to-life believable characters . Recommended. ( )

A real page turner - read the book in one day. ( )

A real page turner - read the book in one day. ( )