In the winter of 2022, the Songyuan Subdistrict Police Station took a case in which a mother accused her daughter of murder. Huang Yilun was dead. His wife, Zhang Mei, named their daughter, Xia Xiaoya, as the killer, while Xia Xiaoya was convinced her stepfather had brainwashed her mother.
Self-media creator Zhu You began secretly investigating the case in pursuit of clicks.
It turned out that Zhu You had originally been looking for Huang Meng, a con man. Huang Meng was Huang Yilun’s son and a key suspect in the case. Xia Xiaoya and Huang Meng were half-siblings, sharing neither parent. Two years earlier, when her stepbrother Huang Meng moved in, Xia Xiaoya left home for a hotel dormitory. Financial troubles later strained her relationship with her mother. Li Yingzhu had once been Xia Xiaoya’s coworker and later became a caregiver at Nanshan Residential Community. She had a complicated connection to Xia Xiaoya, and her husband’s death bore similarities to Huang Yilun’s.
As Zhu You investigated, she uncovered one secret after another. Xia Xiaoya’s boyfriend, Pei Yang, had been harassed by Huang Meng, and Zhang Mei had deliberately sabotaged Xia Xiaoya’s marriage. Xia Xiaoya suspected her mother was involved in Huang Meng’s disappearance. She followed her and discovered that her mother was sheltering him. As the investigation deepened, Huang Yilun’s ex-wife, Lin Yaxin, came to light. She was connected both to the death of Li Yingzhu’s husband and to Huang Yilun’s death...
I really like this book and the author!