What Dies in Summer

Starred review from April 16, 2012
A fatherless boy who has “a touch of the Sight” teams up with his only cousin to find a killer in Wright’s seductively suspenseful coming-of-age novel. Teenager James Beaudry lives in Texas with his sage Gram, who has raised him with a stern hand and warm heart. All is bucolic until cousin Lee Ann (“L.A.”) arrives, shaken by some domestic trauma. Just as L.A. warms to life at Gram’s, James has a vision of a dead girl, a vision eerily confirmed when he and L.A. discover the brutalized body of a local girl. Soon James and L.A. discover that someone has been snooping in their house, and that the dead girl they found was just one of a string of murders. Their sleuthing is aided by James’s continued visions of dead girls who impart a cryptic message that could place L.A. in harm’s way. Wright, a practicing psychologist, expertly weaves together a literary tapestry of self-discovery, brutal sadistic violence, custodial battles, and tender, burgeoning sexuality, leaving readers spellbound by a story that delivers on several levels. The author’s impressive, multitiered storytelling talents are on brilliant display in this entrancing, impressive debut. Agent: Victoria Hobbs, A.M. Heath, U.K.