Late One Night

Pulitzer-finalist Martin delivers a taut, satisfying mystery about people "bound by their stupidity and their love." In small, rural Goldengate, Ill., Della Black and three of her children die when their trailer home burns down. Four other children survive. Townspeople gossip about Ronnie, Della's estranged husband, who had been at the double-wide on the afternoon of the fire to confront her about divorce papers she'd served him. After the fire marshal rules arson, everyone assumes Ronnie is guilty. With deft switches in point of view, Martin slowly reveals what happened that fateful winter night. His characters are complex and believable, from Della's elderly, bereaved parents to Angel Black, the eldest of the surviving children. Brandi Tate, Ronnie's pregnant girlfriend, is sure about love, which "pole axed you, clubbed you right between the eyes, and knocked you silly," but little else, including Ronnie's guilt or innocence. The story masterfully explores adult desires and disappointments, the fierce love parents have for their children, and children's yearning for familial bonds. Martin has a keen ear for the language of rural Illinoisans, sprinkling in phrases like "snort and holler," "love on you," and "skinny-Minnie of a thing." This is a compulsively readable novel about the bonds of family and community. (May)