The Melody Lingers On (U)

A Beloved Aunt's Agreement To Help Her Niece With College Essays Reawakens Past Secrets About The Night A Grandparent Was Murdered, An Event That Compels The Woman To Investigate A Treasured Music Box To Uncover The Truth. Parker Bennett Has Been Missing For Two Years. He Dropped Out Of Sight-- On A Sailboat In The Caribbean-- Just Before It Was Discovered That The $5 Billion Dollars In The Fund He Had Been Managing Had Vanished. Lane Harmon, Assistant To An Upscale Interior Designer, Is Working On His Wife's Townhouse. Gradually, Lane Finds Herself Drawn To Eric, The Bennetts' Son, Who Is Determined To Prove That His Father Is Not Guilty. Lane Doesn't Know That The Closer She Gets To The Bennetts, The More She Puts Her Life-- And Her Daughter's Life-- In Jeopardy. When A Beloved Aunt Agrees To Help Her Teenaged Niece With Her College Essays, She Never Imagines She'll Open Doors To Her Own Past. The Niece Writes A Highly Autobiographical Piece About The Night Her Grandmother Was Murdered -- A Grisly Crime Long Believed To Be A Burglary Gone Awry. The Girl, Who Was A Young Child At The Time, Was Sleeping In The Nursery And Writes That She Saw Her Step-grandfather In The Hallway. Her Aunt Is Shocked. At The Time, The Man In Question -- Her Stepfather -- Had Been Dead For Several Years. Among The Missing Belongings From Her Mother's Home Was A Precious Music Box, On Which Was Engraved The Number Of A Swiss Bank Account Containing Millions. Convinced Her Stepfather Faked His Own Death And Returned To Murder His Wife And Grab The Money, The Aunt Is Determined To Uncover The Truth And Bring Him To Justice. Mary Higgins Clark