September 2, 2024
Cerra (Such Pretty Flowers) conjures up an unsatisfying brew of witchcraft, teen angst, and marital anxiety in her predictable latest. Liv Edwards, 26, is living in Boston with her fiancé and planning to enroll in law school when she receives an alarming message from her estranged high school best friend, Sam Mendez: “I need help and I don’t know who else to turn to.” A quick internet search reveals that Sam has gone missing, so Liv rushes home to Guilford, Mass., to find her. When Liv arrives, her mother and sister are more interested in signing her up for a consultation at Beloved, a cultish bridal boutique owned by two of Liv’s former classmates, than helping her find Sam. Soon, Liv learns that Sam was working at Beloved before she disappeared, and Cerra starts shifting back and forth in time, fleshing out both the dramatic end of Liv and Sam’s friendship in high school and the witchy, potentially sinister goings-on at Beloved. Despite the dual timeline’s attempts to build tension, Cerra telegraphs her big reveals, and most of her characters are thinly sketched. Even readers who prefer their mysteries with a dash of the supernatural are likely to be disappointed. Agent: Chelsey Emmelhainz, Copps Literary.