Irreparable Damages is an intriguing novel and I highly recommend it.

Michael Stanford is a well-liked, prosperous member of the community. He buys depressed properties and renovates them for a very lucrative profit. At the age of forty-eight Michael believes he has met his soul-mate.

Sarah Oliver is thirty-two years old and the mother of two young children. Right after Michael proposes to her he discovers she has been unfaithful in their relationship and kicks her out of his home.

Charlie Whitman and his partner, Sophie Jordan, are the detectives investigating the murder of Michael Stanford. Michael had been shot in his office and the crime scene had been set up to look like the work of a disgruntled employee. This is going to be a tough case for Charlie because Michael was a close high school friend of his, and even though many years had passed and they had drifted apart, Charlie finds his mind returning to the memories of his past.

The details of Michael's will cause irreparable damage. He caused a lot of damage indirectly by his untimely death. One year later, Michael's murder is still unsolved when another dead body turns up. This in the Mayberry-type small town of Hillcrest, which rarely sees crime of of any kind, let alone murder. It is believed the second murder is somehow tied into Michael's murder.

A small town which has a murder once a decade now has two unsolved murder cases in one year's time. Charlie is determined to solve them both.

Something big is going down - something that will shake the small town of Hillcrest to its core.