Family

The story Schmidt tells throughout the novel is not only a murder mystery but a family drama. The relationships within the Borden family, including their maid Bridget are compared with the broken family Benjamin comes from to illustrate that family does not have to like each other. There is not one bond between the members of the Borden family that is not fraught with tension, dislike, or quiet hatred. Although Benjamin's family connections are broken, especially with that between him and his father, they are more forthright with both the good and the bad than the Bordens. Despite all of the surface tension that inevitably follows strong personalities forced to interact with one another, Schmidt grounds all of the tension in love.

Schmidt does this grounding particularly well with the relationships between Lizzie and Emma and Benjamin and his mother. Although Emma and Lizzie often argue...