Hanno's Doll — Evelyn Piper

A larger-than-life actor is caught in a web of murderous lies in this twisting thriller by a master of “realistic domestic terror” (The New York Times).

 Hanno Dietrich awakes in a hospital bed, certain the crisis has passed. His hulking body is as weak as a beached whale, but the greatest actor of his generation feels his strength returning. So why won't they let him leave? A man comes to see him and, rather embarrassedly, tells the star that a body has been found in his bomb shelter -- a young boy with a broken neck. Dietrich chuckles, good-natured as always, and begins to tell his story.
 
The boy showed up at Dietrich's house a few nights before, drunk and angry. He insulted the actor, disparaged his wife, and then lunged to attack him. Dietrich did what anyone else would do: He shoved the boy, who fell and broke his neck. As far as Dietrich's concerned, it was self-defense -- hardly worth discussing. But he will soon find the real story is just starting to unfold.