Starred review from December 4, 2023
In this excellent small-town spine-tingler, Hill (The Secrets We Share) shuffles through multiple perspectives to examine the murder of a restaurant owner. Readers are first introduced to sleepy Monreith, Mass., by psychotherapist Farley Drake, who notes that gossip gleaned from his patients has helped him piece together the details of a local tragedy. Shady restaurant owner Laurel Thibodeau was found by her husband, Simon, suffocated to death and tied to the bed in her home. Rumored to be heavily in debt and to have taken out a lucrative life insurance policy on Laurel, Simon is the obvious suspect in his wife’s death. However, some Monreith residents, including true crime documentarian Damian Stone, have other ideas. Damian believes a serial killer might be responsible and shares his suspicions at financial planner Alice Stone’s birthday party, where attendees include the town’s police chief, a resentful local mechanic, an overworked minister, and others, each of whom divulges their own theories about what happened to Laurel. As soon as readers think they’ve found a safe landing place for their sympathies, Hill detonates one of the series of game-changing twists he’s planted throughout the narrative. Fans of Riley Sager will want to check this out. Agent: Robert Guinsler, Sterling Lord Literistic.
