First Gray, Then White, Then Blue

This is a crime story, but it's not a murder mystery. The crimes do include the murder of an enigmatic woman, but the other crimes are betrayal of friends, possessiveness, stealing the physical presence and love of a husband and father, and many more. The story is told from the multiple and constantly shifting perspectives of the major characters. This is one of the appeals of the book, although the central figure, Magda, is interesting enough in her own right. Especially tantalizing is her disappearance for two years. Although her husband cannot bear to ask her why she left, the reader learns enough of her life to form several possible answers. The question you are left with is why she came back. I feel the book rather lets you down here, but the journey is fascinating enough. The narrative style itself helps you slow your reading enough to explore the possible answers to why.