I wish I could give half stars, because it's really more of a 4.5. The writing's great, nicely paced, the characters easy to relate to (even if not always easy to like), and it continually turns in unexpected ways. My only complaint is the somewhat far-fetched premise in which so many people in a small-ish inner circle are so quickly inclined to murder as a solution to their problems or grievances. The rest of the book was good enough for me to overlook that bit, though.