A Reunion of Ghosts / Judith Claire Mitchell 382 pp.

I am enthusiastic about 90% of this book.  Lady, Vee, and Delph Alter, three sisters descended from the Nobel-prize winning chemist responsible for the development of chlorine gas used during WWI, are burdened by the weight of their family history.  The chlorine gas was bad enough; what's worse is that their ancestor's innovation was later used in the creation of Zyklon B.  On the last day of the 20th century, they decide to bring their family history to a permanent close in their claustrophobic Manhattan apartment.  What follows is their suicide letter, the long, tragic and hilarious story of the Alter family.

This is great dark comedy, told with beautifully developed characters and fresh voices.  It's great, that is, until the author decides to conclude with an event that, in life as in fiction, demonstrates the ultimate failure of the imagination.