Twenty years after a shooting death deemed accidental, a respected pediatrician is charged with murdering a man who had been his friend. In those intervening years, the pediatrician, Dr. Benjamin Weber, has married his friend's widow and adopted their two children. And during those years, he has proven himself to be a devoted father and spouse as well as a trusted physician. Dr. Weber pleads innocent, and his wifebelieves him. His grown daughters Laura and Lin believe him. Or do they? As the novel evolves, the mystery at itscenter deepens into an exploration ofdivided loyalties and precarious family relationships, of children's need to believe in conflict with their desire for truth. This suspenseful novel combines elements of the conventional murder mystery and courtroom drama, but goes beyond these into that greater drama of the human heart in conflict with itself. Inspired by an actual case, Dead Centeris really an ancient story in contemporary guise, one wherein betrayal blurs with love, evil with good, hatred with forgiveness, and guilt with innocence. It is also the story of a family that has been wrenched apart by loss for a second time but not, finally, destroyed.