Blue Moon

Susan Thomas is a middle-school guidance counselor, teacher, and social
worker in Milton, Ontario.

Weaving fact and fiction together, Blue Moon tells the story of Evelyn
Dick, who was convicted of killing her husband and her infant son.

Throughout his account of the investigation, the trials, Dick’s time
in jail, and her life after she was paroled in 1958 (a period in which
she struggles with her past and seeks redemption), the author draws the
reader into the dark corners of Dick’s psyche. At the same time, we
are left wondering whether King is trying too hard to bring complexity
to a story that is actually quite simple. Did Dick kill her husband and
her baby, or didn’t she? And if she did, why? Another problem is the
lack of information about how much of the tale is fact and how much is
fiction; an author’s note outlining theories of Dick’s
guilt/innocence would have been a useful addition. Still, the book will
probably appeal to those who are intrigued by semi-fictional accounts of
real-life stories.