MEET happy yuppie couple Brendan and Sherilyn Gutteridge. They are close - very close. In fact, when Sherilyn gives birth to baby Samantha, the couple discover that three's a crowd. So they lock her in a cage and let her starve to death.

It is remarkable how Topolski, a practising psychotherapist, presents such sensational material sensitively in her debut novel. She approaches the homicide first from afar, writing from various perspectives like that of the Gutteridges' nosy neighbour.

Telling their stories of what happened before, with the knowledge of what is to come hanging over the narrative, they grimly prepare the reader for the voices from ground zero: The policeman who finds the child's corpse, the young jury member at the subsequent trial and, of course, Brendan and Sherilyn themselves.

In a bold move that the author pulls off almost flawlessly, most of these perspectives are written in first person, with conversational tics conveying various personalities. Only a couple of chapters are written in the third person, a sudden distancing which is slightly disappointing.

Even more disturbing than the descriptions of abuse are the thought processes of the couple, who enjoy referring to themselves as Brendalyn - a nod to the press' penchant for fusing celebrity couples into a single entity.

What fascinates readers about exploring such darkness is the knowledge that it can, and does, exist in each of us. Thus, when Brendalyn's preternaturally intimate bond starts to exhibit ESP-like qualities, the story turns rather cheesy.

But that aside, the novel is a layered and stunningly polished work, a harrowing dive into the destructive power of obsessive love.

If you like this, read: Death Of A Murderer by Rupert Thomson (2007, $30.95 without GST, major bookstores). A police constable reflects on his life when he has to spend the night with the corpse of a child murderer.

Monster Love
By Carol Topolski
Fig Tree/Hardcover/
228 pages/$46.95 (without GST)/
Major bookstores/****