Maladies of the Mind

A new novel by ​Betty Boudreau Vaughan

A journey into the lives of the mentally ill.


​Foreword Clarion Review    

​Zoé didn’t set out to hurt anyone.
​
​It just happened.

When she replaces Cheska Murphy, the deceased Office Administrator at St. Cecilia’s church, she finds herself drawn into the eccentric lives of the mentally-damaged characters that she befriends. She’s quickly sidetracked into the past life of a very troubled Cheska. Suspicions
lead to clues, and clues land Zoé straight into the shoes of the dead woman.
     Cheska died under mysterious circumstances, and Zoé becomes fixated on investigating the death of a woman who seems never to have known love. She forges a special bond with the blind priest, Father Grace, but
when he won’t talk about Cheska, she embarks on an obsessive quest for the truth.
     Zoé probes deeper into the seedy underbelly of the parish. Too late to turn back, she engages in reckless pursuits, and in the process, betrays and hurts people along the way.