Landscaping

The waterway behind the house
is the color of putrid blood.
Dead leaves float in the brown,
stagnant water like debris
from an explosion.
Green and brown coconuts
bob like decapitated heads.

– Patricia Cornwell, "Predator"

Neighbors

In case you haven't figured it out,
this isn't a neighborhood, anyhow.
It's where people come
to be private and left alone.
-- Patricia Cornwell, "Trace"

Suspense

"It's personal what people do with each other."
She won't look at her.
-- Patricia Cornwell, "Trace"