Little Deaths by Emma Flint

1965 in Queens, New York.  Ruth Malone is trying to make it as a single mother after her divorce. But times are hard.  Ruth is the kind of woman men notice, most men notice.  Men want her and she wants them back.  There's Frank, her ex, who thinks they will get back together.  There's Lou, the local connected businessman who's interested and knows how to treat a woman.  There's Johnny, an ex-cop whose drinking has cost him his job.  And there's the anonymous others, the ones Ruth loves for a night when she's feeling low.

One morning, she goes to the bedroom of her two children, Frankie Jr, five and Cindy, three.  But they aren't there.  It's unbelievable but Ruth knows she went out to walk the dog in the middle of the night.  Did someone get in then?  Did someone come through the window?  Where are her babies?

The case is given to Detective Devlin.  He has his own thoughts about Ruth and he thinks she is a loose woman who couldn't have loved her kids.  Probably resented them.  Maybe wanted to be free of them.  Could have taken the final step and gotten them out of her life.  When Cindy is found dead a few blocks away the same day and Frankie a week later in another location, Devlin is sure he knows the story.  It's a short walk from him making up his mind to making the evidence fit his theory.  Soon Ruth is right in his sights and on trial for the deaths of her children.  Is Detective Devlin right?

Emma Flint, a writer from London, has a longtime fascination with true crime cases.  This novel was a 2017 nominee for the Women's Prize for Fiction.  Flint has managed to capture the essence of New York in the summer and the expectations of women in the time period.  The reader is kept guessing who the culprit is, Ruth or someone else.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.