Tabula Rasa

A tragic house fire puts arson investigator Billy Nightingale and state trooper Sebastian Bly on the trail of an unusual killer. While investigating the clues at the fire scene – and taking care of the mysterious baby who survived – they discover a dangerous and determined arsonist. But despite her new family’s efforts to protect her, the young survivor must confront her horrifying past in a chilling showdown with a murderous mother determined to finish what she started.

State Trooper Sebastian Bly and his brother-in-law Billy Nightingale are called in to investigate a house fire that killed two young children. Suspicious details at the fire scene – and the discovery of a baby hiding underneath the porch – put them on the trail of a murderous mother and lead to Sebastian and his wife, Annie, raising baby Meredith without revealing her dangerous and frightening past. Meredith grows up to be a promising young ballerina – her ambitions fueled in part by the fictional history that Sebastian, Annie, and Billy have invented for her. But the truth threatens their charmed family circle as Merry’s biological mother returns to finish what she started. Tabula Rasa is not only a gripping and entertaining crime novel but also a sensitive, warm exploration of the deeper issues of what defines a family and an individual.

Shelly Reuben's first novel, Julian Solo, was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for an Edgar Award, and by the Libertarian Futurist Society for a Prometheus Award. Her crime novel, Origin & Cause, was nominated for a Falcon Award by the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan. The ideas for many of her books come from the cases she investigates as a licensed private detective and certified fire investigator. She also writes two newspaper columns and regularly contributes short stories to The Forensic Examiner. She lives in New York City.