The 1970s were called the “Me Decade” because of its tendency for hyper-individuality. Families and communities became untethered by a personal need for self-fulfillment. At least that was the popular view. In Sadie When She Died, we meet a casualty of that culture.
At first the homicide of Sarah Fletcher appears to be the result of a burglary gone wrong. The trail from broken window to bloody corpse is straightforward enough; there’s even a junkie’s confession in Chapter 3. But for lead detective Steve Carella, it’s all too neat.
The more he investigates, the more he learns about Sarah, about a restless life lived on the edge, about a marriage that had fallen apart, about lovers meetings in strange bars. He realizes much more is at play than a simple silverware job.