A Rip in Heaven

Cummins begins in 1991, as her family drives from their home in Gaithersburg, Maryland, near Washington, DC, then the murder capital of the United States, to Missouri for spring break. Cummins, her brother Tom, and her sister Kathy thought they were tough, but they had no idea of the brutality that would occur to them in Missouri.

Cummins’s nickname is Tink, and that is the way she is referred to in the story. Julie and Robin Kerry are her cousins. Cummins describes the book as “both a true crime and a memoir” because the violent crime at the center of the book happened to her own family (2). The book is based on her review of “the facts, the evidence, the transcripts, the court documents, the media coverage and the testimony” of the case (2). She notes that while her portrayal is fair, it is not unbiased.

Tink, Kathy, and Tom Cummins share the kids table with their cousins Julie, Robin, and Jamie Kerry. The next day the Cummins family is set to drive back home to Gaithersburg. Julie is a 20-year-old poet and soccer star, and both Tink and Tom adore her. Kathy idolizes Robin for being a vegetarian.