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THE SINGING STONES by Phyllis A. Whitney Kirkus Star

THE SINGING STONES

By

Pub Date: March 19th, 1989
Publisher: Doubleday

Again, the setting is the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, and there's a smidgen of psychic/paranormal shudders and speculation as in Rainbow in the Mist--along with, as always, Whitney's cast of bothered characters, most shaded by a pall of suspicion as dark deeds ensue, and a brisk surprise when evil is unmasked. Lynn McLeod, child psychiatrist dealing with ill children, married architect Stephen Asche when she was 19, but Stephen became bewitched by Oriana, an exotic dancer, and Lynn divorced him and left Virginia. Now comes a letter from Julian, related vaguely to Stephen, begging Lynn to heal ten-year-old Jill, daughter of Stephen and the ever-absent Oriana: Jill is cowering in a shell of fear. Will Lynn come to her old home where crippled Stephen is grimly holed up, his career and spirit gone? Sure, she will. Among those awaiting axe: Julian's wife Vivian, who, like him, is a New Age buff; nasty Carla, Jill's dance tutor, gloweringly ever-present; Stephen's brother Everett and wife, who seem to have enveloped Stephen's former enterprises; and Stephen's nasty nurse. There will be murders (past and present) uncovered and attempted, as well as sinister vandalism, before the mystery of Stephen's injury at what was a cliffside murder site can be solved--and before Jill's secret can be unlocked. As for the Singing Stones (a strange rock formation), well, ""There's some sort of. . .of power there."" There's also an express ""regression"" into Lynn's past life by Julian for New Age titillation. More rock-solid, reliable Whitney, so just sing along.