The author has a notable gift for tight plotting.

Toni Credella has a past and she's trying to make a future. Five years ago, she killed her abusive husband to the outrage of his fellow cops, his family, and hers. Determined to move on, Toni buys a dilapidated house in Baltimore, makes friends with the neighbors, and pursues her career as a decorator. Toni's house is burglarized. When she has the chance to showcase her work at this year's Decorator's House, it's vandalized, too, and that's the least of it. A series of misfortunes strike in rapid succession.

Toni becomes entangled in the havoc caused by greed, cruelty, and intersecting motives. Is Toni the target of the drive-by shooting? Or is it Cedric, a neighbor boy whose character may not be as good as his intentions? Or perhaps it's Alice Mae, who has terrible memories packed into that little head of hers.  Which one of those secrets proves to be lethal?
 
Burned in Baltimore's memorable characters linger in my mind. Willy, an elderly burglar, is proud that he's self-supporting. Cedric sullen prickles mask a firm affection for his aunt and poor Alice Mae. Toni herself is a complex, guilt-ridden character whose tenacity brings her to self-discovery and the mystery's solution in a stomach-twisting climax.

Ms. Titchener has a notable gift for tight plotting, pace, character, and human interest. The reader takes a breath to recover from one incident and another, apparently unrelated, crops up in its wake. I've never before followed the trail of a water faucet with quite such intense interest...

Jeanette Cottrell, author of At Risk of Being a Fool