Eager to Please

Pocket, 2002. Very Good. The atmosphere of Ireland is almost palpable in Parsons's strong but uneven ly plotted thriller (after Mary, Mary and The Courtship Gift). The beauteou s Rachel Beckett shot her husband after a row, and her lover, her husband's adopted brother, Daniel, finished the job. At least that's the story Rache l tells. But no one believes her, and she is sentenced to life in prison. P aroled at the age of 42, she goes home and, while readjusting to life outsi de, secretly hatches a plot against her former lover, ingratiating herself into his family and restarting their affair, putting to use the dubious les sons learned from her fellow prisoners. Rachel's parole officer has his own agenda, a very sick wife and a guilty conscience. While casting her net ov er Daniel, Rachel tries to recontact their teenage daughter, Amy, who wants nothing to do with her. When Rachel finally springs her trap and disappear s, leaving evidence that Daniel has killed her, he uses Amy to try to draw Rachel out and shows his true colors when the plan backfires. It's an engro ssing story, sharply imagined at points; the tender but ambiguous relations hip between the parole officer and his wife and Rachel's anguish over her d aughter are particularly well executed.