The Perfect Girl

Starred review from July 18, 2016
Piano prodigy Zoe Maisey, the 17-year-old heroine of this cunningly plotted psychological thriller from Thriller Award–finalist Macmillan (What She Knew), and her devoted mother, Maria, have against all odds started a promising second act in Bristol, England, after a night in Devon three years earlier that shattered Zoe’s life—and snuffed out those of a trio of other teens. Maria has married wealthy entrepreneur Chris Kennedy, and Zoe now has a baby half sister, Grace. All is well until a piano recital brings the past roaring back with devastating consequences. Unfortunately, Zoe and Maria aren’t the only ones with secrets, and what they don’t know about Chris and his brooding teenage son, Lucas, just might prove their undoing. As the suspenseful, serpentine tale unreels from the alternating perspectives of several key players, readers will be rooting for the resilient, resourceful Zoe all the way to the perfectly executed final twists. Agent: Nelle Andrew, Peters, Fraser and Dunlop (U.K.).

April 1, 2016

A skeleton found bound in concrete at a recently decommissioned nuclear power plant solves a 40-year-old missing persons case while opening up a murder investigation--and another, as someone linked to the case is shot dead after speaking to Joe Gunther, head of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation. Then a young police officer is kidnapped, and you've got to wonder just how bad the bad guys here really are. New York mafiosi, maybe? From the New York Times best-selling author of The Company She Kept; with a New England tour.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2016
Musical prodigy Zoe Maisey's attempts to build a new life come crashing down at her concert, and the next morning her mum, Maria, is dead. Three years earlier, 14-year-old Zoe drove away from a party, not knowing her Coke had been spiked, and had an accident that killed her three teenage passengers, leading to her conviction. Her parents' marriage fell apart, and Maria and Zoe moved from Devon to Bristol, where Maria met and married widowed Chris Kennedy, and she and Zoe started their second-chance life. But the concert incident reveals Zoe's past, which Maria had kept secret from Chris as they raised Zoe; Chris' son, Lucas; and their baby daughter, Grace. After Maria's death, Zoe reaches out to Sam Locke, the lawyer who defended her after the accident, a tricky call because of Sam's current medical issues; his affair with Maria's older sister, Tessa; and Zoe's innocence in Maria's death. Macmillan (What She Knew, 2016) uses multiple characters' voices to tell the stories of Lucas, a skilled pianist and aspiring filmmaker, and Zoe, whose life lessons serve her well in distinguishing between truth and justice. Masterfully drawn characters and intricate plotting make this a stunning piece of crime fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)