A. Exploring Themes. 1. Why did Phoebe ask Michael never think about the past?

1. Why did Phoebe ask Michael never think about the past? (p. 488)

2. Did the author insinuate that Mortimer could be the murderer?

3. What were Michael's dreams about and what way did they come true? (p. p. 160 — 161) (p. 164) (p. 166 — 167)

4. Why was Michael invited to the reading of the will?

5. Remember what was Michael brooding on when he found himself guilty when playing Cluedo with Joan, Graham and Phoebe? (p. p. 302 — 303) How are these thoughts connected with the ending of the novel? (p. 472)

6. Did anything before the ending of the novel make you think that Tabitha was mad?

7. Why did Mortimer accuse Michael of what had taken place? Why did Tabitha characterize Michael's book as a lethal one? (p. 484, p. 476)

8. Why was Phoebe worried about Michael after he had left to board a plane?

9. How is the ending of the novel connected with the legend about Orpheus and the film by Jean Cocto?

10. What proves that all the Winshaws were mad and the murderers?

11. Associations of Phoebe's picture and Michael's death.

B. Judging for Yourself

1. Do you think the verdict of Mortimer was right? Or it was too cruel? Did he have any right to perform it? What does it prove?

2. Why do you think the quotation from the film by Jean Cocto 'Orphee' is given at the very beginning of the last chapter of the novel? (p. 487)

3. How do you think we can explain Michael's life and what took place in the novel as compared with the Greek legend about Orpheus and the film Orphee by Jean Cocto? Why did the author kill Michael?

4. Why do you think Michael and Tabitha's flight is accompanied by the events about the war in Iraq?

C. Making Connections

1. What do you think about the effect literature may have on people and on the society?

2. Do you agree with Tabitha's idea: I know but there's nothing like a good war for pulling a country together?

3. How can you explain the picture on the cover of the book?