Great book! I love the way that Goodman can so seamlessly weave the stories of Greek and Roman mythology, along with a 100-year old mystery, with a present-day murder mystery. While the "mystery" was easier to figure out than in Goodman's previous books, this one was a nice, easy read nonetheless.

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I read a lot, and out of the forty or so books I've read this year, this is the best! If you love mythology, art, or a great mystery, this book has all three!

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This was the first book of hers that I had read, and i throughly enjoyed it. Goodman does a good job evoking the feel of the earlier time period (late 19th/early 20th century- arts and crafts movement) and making the connections to the modern day. Many twists turns and a boatload of red herrings before the story is done. After this, I immediately sought out another of her books and have raced through that as well!

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Deftly plotted and certainly intriguing...infused with the sinister aura of its setting, a rundown river town wiwth the crenulated towers of an insane asylum rising in the background, the Drowning Tree has its twists and shudders... New York Daily News

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While I really loved Goodman's Seduction of Water, I was only mildly entertained by this one. This one didn't capture my attention.

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This is a story about two longtime friends - Juno McKay and Christine Webb, both artists, reunited at their fifteenth year college reunion. Juno had no plans to attend until she finds that Christine will be lecturing. Life has been less than kind to either woman. Juno's husband is in a mental institution when two years into their marriage he tried to drown her and their baby daughter. Christine spent time in the same institution recovering from issues of her own. But Juno had been instrumental in persuading Christine to lecture her research about a prominent stained glass window gracing the college.

Digging into the Penrose family past, Christine reveals the woman in the window was not the wife of the founder, Augustus Penrose, as popularly believed but her mad sister. Amid questions that follow, Christine appears distant and vanishes the next day. Puzzled, Juno follows her friend's research. Discovering her body in the Hudson River, whether by accident or intent, she intends to find out.

A complex mystery that unravels slowly, Juno finds others who believe that Christine's death was no accident. But, who would want to kill Christine? The college president, whose family founded doesn't wanting family secrets unearthed? Her husband who she discovers is no longer institutionalized? Or, was it an accident after all? The surprise climax answers questions for Juno and readers alike.

Long on my TBR shelf, I found this read well researched novel with a plot that kept me intrigued from start to finish. These are awesome characters. There is a little mythology, details about the women's and the Penrose family art, and wonderful descriptions of the Hudson River valley.

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