Douglas Schofield’s Time of Departure is the fictional equivalent of a carefully crafted set of Chinese boxes, with a gripping police procedural nested within an engaging character study, enveloped by an overarching narrative that grapples with this world’s essential questions. The investigation undertaken by driven state’s attorney Claire Talbot takes readers to chilling, uncharted territory and reminds us that “whodunit” is seldom as compelling a matter as why certain tragedies occur in the first place.

Les Standiford—author of Bone Key and Water to the Angels