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So who did it?

Created: 07/26/15

Replies: 23

Posted Jul. 26, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
cameronr

Join Date: 06/02/15

Posts: 12

So who did it?

I don't typically consider myself 'poor' reader but, at the end of this book, I was unsure of who actually committed the rape. Was it the repairman guy? What was the deal with the guy who operated the 'green' camp and how did the animals end up at the zoo?
Maybe it's since I read this book while on vacation and my head wasn't totally in it but I had some uncertainties afterwards.


Posted Jul. 26, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
robinn

Join Date: 12/06/14

Posts: 28

RE: So who did it?

There are many characters that could have done it. I believe the most culpable are Ralph and Stanley. I believe that it was Stanley.


Posted Jul. 27, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
janeh

Join Date: 06/15/11

Posts: 222

RE: So who did it?

I agree and hope one of my bookclubs selects this book as I would love to have a discussion about who did it.
I lean towards thinking the son did it .... sort of as a psychopath in training. But I was not at all sure about who did it at the end of the book.


Posted Jul. 27, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
julianna

Join Date: 10/10/13

Posts: 41

RE: So who did it?

I too thought I missed something but then realized it was the author's intent to leave the perpetrator unknown. If I had to choose, I'd pick Ralph's son. Ralph's deathbed revelation was to protect him from Marc.


Posted Jul. 27, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
wendyf

Join Date: 05/11/11

Posts: 76

RE: So who did it?

I think either Ralph or Stanley with Ralph being the most likely.


Posted Jul. 27, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joanp

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 102

RE: So who did it?

I thought I knew a couple of times but only Julia knows. My book club is still reeling from "The Dinner"so I won't recommend this for a while.


Posted Jul. 27, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
cameronr

Join Date: 06/02/15

Posts: 12

RE: So who did it?

So no one thinks it was the repairman guy??
If it was Stanley then poor Julia because she ends up hanging out with him in America. Is a modeling contract worth that??


Posted Jul. 27, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joyces

Join Date: 06/16/11

Posts: 410

RE: So who did it?

I am fairly convinced that it was Ralph and I think his mother-in-law also thought that. There were an awful lot of people in this book that seem to have little in the way of morals but for this I think Ralph the most likely. I doubt it was Stanley because I think Julia would have protested most vigorously to any further association with him.


Posted Jul. 28, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joanp

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 102

RE: So who did it?

The mother-in-law, Vera, is interesting. Is she just an observer? Why does she seem to like Marc? She must have a purpose in the story but I'm puzzled.


Posted Jul. 30, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
elizabethabby

Join Date: 07/30/15

Posts: 22

RE: So who did it?

I think Alex did it. I have a hard time believing he could have pulled off that whole charade of going along with her to the bar --- where was he when this thing allegedly was done to her by the repairman (Ralph's story) - ?! For goodness sake! So he went with her essentially to protect her and then he either stood and watched her be raped, or he lost track of her and it happened? Ridiculous. Ralph was shown to be a self centered person and I don't think he did it because of his leg injury & the timeline, but I think he covered for his son.


Posted Jul. 31, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
gdlenehan

Join Date: 06/22/11

Posts: 41

RE: So who did it?

By the end of the book I was tired of all the characters and did not really care who actually committed the rape. I did not really like any of the characters! All of the characters were capable of the bad behavior.


Posted Aug. 03, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jeant

Join Date: 06/16/11

Posts: 17

RE: So who did it?

I'm in the camp that I'm really not sure who did it. I agree that Stanley seems unlikely given that Julia was able to interact with him following that weekend and be around him during their American adventure. Ralph is a distinct possibility but uncertain given his limp and physical limitation with the timeline. Mixed indications as to whether Julia really would have set up a meeting with the repairman that could have led to the rape. And Alex -- definitely possible.

I also have questions about Vera's role and the guy who ran the "green camp" and his animals that ended up at the zoo...?


Posted Aug. 04, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
judithj

Join Date: 04/15/15

Posts: 45

RE: So who did it?

The handyman did it! If it had been Ralph or Stanley who attacked Julia, she would have been more reactive to their presence after the incident.


Posted Aug. 04, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
rosemaryk

Join Date: 08/29/11

Posts: 61

RE: So who did it?

I DON'T KNOW WHO DID IT--and that is my only complaint about this book.

I don't think the author even knows who did it.


Posted Aug. 04, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Sharlene

Join Date: 04/10/13

Posts: 78

RE: So who did it?

I can see everyone is just as puzzled as I. I agree that Ralph and Stanley are the most likely; however, I'm leaning towards Ralph.


Posted Aug. 07, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
laurieh

Join Date: 04/04/12

Posts: 17

RE: So who did it?

I don't have any idea. It is too convenient to have had the repairman do it because Ralph said so


Posted Aug. 07, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
cameronr

Join Date: 06/02/15

Posts: 12

RE: So who did it?

I still go back to the repairman.
I doubt Ralph could have done it due to the timeline and his injury. Stanley, I doubt because Julia and her family maintained contact with him once he went back to LA. And Alex, I just don't think had it in him.
The repairman had those scratches on his face and - what timing that Marc met him coming into the bathroom while looking for Julia.
My vote is with the repairman ... although I'd love to know for sure :)


Posted Aug. 08, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
amberb

Join Date: 07/28/11

Posts: 96

RE: So who did it?

My vote is the repairman, too. Julia had made plans to meet him later, and Marc saw him washing blood off his arm in the timeframe of the rape. And Ralph's deathbed confession didn't seem so farfetched to me.

Though it wouldn't have surprised me to learn that Stanley was the culprit, either - he had the time, and he had photographed Julia in the shower. (Seriously? How could they go visit them in LA?)


Posted Aug. 08, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jodig

Join Date: 06/07/15

Posts: 30

RE: So who did it?

My vote is the repairman as well. But I really found all the male characters despicable so he was just one part of the "bad" of the story.


Posted Aug. 13, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
bookbutterfly

Join Date: 04/16/14

Posts: 9

RE: So who did it?

Too coincidental that the repairman was there......had scratches on his face.....Marc saw him.....Alex named him??? Circumstantial? I believed that it was him until I read some of the posts here...now I am not sure.


Posted Aug. 17, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
juliep

Join Date: 04/07/12

Posts: 250

RE: So who did it?

I guess I thought the repairman did it, but now I'm rethinking it.


Posted Aug. 17, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
N*Starr

Join Date: 03/13/14

Posts: 51

RE: So who did it?

I agree the repairman is my guess. It makes the whole book even more sinister because he killed someone and he killed the wrong someone.


Posted Aug. 29, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
roberts

Join Date: 08/20/13

Posts: 31

RE: So who did it?

While reading the book I accepted without question Ralph's death bed statement that the repairman raped Julia. Thinking about his and his girlfriend's unattractive appearance and his mundane job we can assume that the repairman suffered from low self esteem making him suseptible to advances, whether real or imagined, from an attractive bikini-clad pubescent girl. And with a little alcohol in him, Julia's familiarity from the beach house and the party atmosphere on the beach on a summer night the ingredients were in place for a tryst in the sand that went terribly wrong. Moreover, Marc observed scratches on the repairman's body. Bottom line - I found Ralph's assertion to be very believable.

But the preceding responses have been most illuminating to me. I now wonder whether Ralph, knowing that Marc would be responsible for his death, lied to Marc as his ultimate act of retribution. I still believe that it is more likely than not that the repairman, as opposed to Ralph himself, Stanley or Alex, was the culprit. But I'm not sure.

Just another dimension to a very good book.


Posted Sep. 28, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
shirleyf

Join Date: 04/25/11

Posts: 63

RE: So who did it?

This is why I love these discussions! I really thought that Ralph covered up for Alex - but the posts suggest other perps... Maybe Ralph covered up for Alex - I think that he had some involvement based on his behavior and appearance when Marc met up with him. I also think he was angry with Julia at the dance hall and wanted to assert his dominance. I agree that Ralph could not have managed the beach path in his physical condition...however, the repairman...I think it's a little far fetched


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