The cover of this book shows a woman and man in bed, she is looking away from him with her eyes open. It might suggest a secret she is hiding and doesn't want to give it away by looking at him. But it also might be that he just told her something that she suspected but now knows for sure. The look on her face that might be a "dawning" of things to come isn't terror or horror but rather a consideration of what is known with what is not known.
The impression I get from the 20 opening pages of the book could be any of these scenarios as the characters are beginning to be developed from different perspectives: the attorney friend is called by a friend from jail, the wife of the person who called the attorney, and a friend of the wife. The attorney is avoiding her own husband for reasons yet unknown, the caller is an old college acquaintance who uses that slim tie to get her to visit him in jail, and the wife of the caller is showing signs of depression from her recent cross-country move demanded by her husband who is the caller. A court transcript insertion added the element of dalliance by at least one if not many more of the marriage partners of the caller's wife and her friend that may be the motive for murder.
The impression I get from the 20 opening pages of the book could be any of these scenarios as the characters are beginning to be developed from different perspectives: the attorney friend is called by a friend from jail, the wife of the person who called the attorney, and a friend of the wife. The attorney is avoiding her own husband for reasons yet unknown, the caller is an old college acquaintance who uses that slim tie to get her to visit him in jail, and the wife of the caller is showing signs of depression from her recent cross-country move demanded by her husband who is the caller. A court transcript insertion added the element of dalliance by at least one if not many more of the marriage partners of the caller's wife and her friend that may be the motive for murder.