Little Black Lies

Starred review from March 9, 2015
In this nail-biter set in the Falkland Islands from Mary Higgins Clark Award–finalist Bolton (Blood Harvest), Catrin Quinn’s young sons, Kit and Ned, are killed in a car accident caused by her best friend since childhood, Rachel Grimwood. The only thing that keeps the bereft Catrin functioning is her hatred of Rachel and her vow to kill Rachel to avenge the deaths of her sons. Rachel falls into a deep depression resulting from her overwhelming guilt and the loss of Catrin’s friendship. And Callum Murray, who witnessed the accident and failed in his attempt to rescue Kit and Ned, experiences the PTSD that he suffered after fighting for the British in the Falkland Islands war. When a small boy disappears from Stanley—the third boy missing in three years—the townspeople become vigilantes determined to find and punish the abductor. This brilliantly plotted thriller, filled with lies and betrayals, builds to an unexpected, mesmerizing ending. Agent: Anne-Marie Doulton, Ampersand Agency (U.K.).