I knew I would be publishing Who Killed My Sister, My Friend one day, because of a dream…

…I am walking under a canopy of branches and heading down some stone steps that are cool to the touch, until I arrive upon a breathtaking beach. On this sweltering summer day I seem to have found my perfectly secluded spot.

Stepping onto the hot sand, I am mesmerized by the ocean’s waves licking the shore. My tongue detects salt in the air. The magical pan flute of Zamfir tickles the hair in my ears. I hum along.

Looking far to my right, I see someone already soaking up my perfect day. She is reading a book while lying on a fuzzy purple beach towel large enough for two people.

She is alone.

There is something familiar about her and curiosity draws me closer.

It does not come as a surprise that it is my dead sister, Cindy. She looks radiant. She is so engrossed in a fascinating book that she does not take notice of me until I am right beside her. She calmly lays the book down, turns her eyes to me, and smiles an approving smile. As soon as I glance at the book I know immediately what I will do one day. The book she is reading is called My Sister, My Friend – and I, Melanie Hack, am its author.

She wants this story, this incredible mystery that was her life, shared.

And she wants me to write it. Realizing all stories without an end never go away, I understand the message veiled in her eyes. It relates to how she wrote on June 2, 1988, almost exactly one year prior to her body being found, “I feel a strong need for justice that I have to accept will never occur.”

Melanie Hack
author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
The unsolved mystery of the death of Cindy James