I can't even come close to relating to Lois Duncan's pain. Losing a child is the worst thing that can happen. But losing a child and not knowing what actually happened is particularly terrible.
Duncan and her husband, Don Arquette, were told their daughter, Kaitlyn, was killed in a drive-by shooting. But too many things didn't add up, so they feel they actually have no idea what happened to the 18-year-old, the youngest of their five children.
One for the Wolves is the second book Duncan has written about the murder. The first book, Who Killed my Daughter? brought more evidence and more questions to the family.
It's a complicated story. Kaitlyn had moved in with her boyfriend and apparently discovered his involvement with an insurance fraud scheme. Unfortunately, many of Kaitlyn's possessions that were taken by the police as evidence disappeared. In addition, she worked at an import store and there was evidence of the possible importing of drugs.
Issues within the Albuquerque Police Department continued to complicate the case as well. The Arquettes hired private investigators, talked to the FBI and even consulted psychics to try to get to the bottom of their daughter's death.
Duncan, known for her young adult fiction, writes in a manner both informative and intimate. She details the complicated and frustrating efforts she and Don and many others went through. All the while, the reader senses the pain and anger. Finding the truth won't bring Kait back, but it would bring a type of closure.
Although most of us will never know the trauma Lois and Don suffer, we can all relate to a sense of not knowing. Duncan brings in related cases and several others in which parents are convinced they were never told the entire truth by the authorities. The feeling that the police not only less than forthcoming, but possibly culpable is frightening. It's not something most people would want to think about, but it could happen. And we should thank Lois Duncan for reminding us we can't always trust those we are most likely to trust.
It is a difficult read, but an important book on many levels.
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