In Her Bones

July 16, 2018
Having a mother who’s a serial killer isn’t easy for Edie Beckett, the narrator of this captivating novel set in 2016 Philadelphia from bestseller Moretti (The Blackbird Season). Edie’s life has been spiraling out of control ever since her mother, Lilith Wade, was convicted in 2001 of killing six women. An alcoholic who isolates herself from others, Edie is obsessed with the surviving family members of Lilith’s victims and uses her spare time to Facebook stalk them and gather their personal information. She’s particularly interested in Peter Lipsky, whose wife was fatally stabbed. She contrives to meet Peter, with whom she has sex. Soon after their encounter, he’s found murdered in his apartment, and she becomes the prime suspect as the last person to see him alive. Edie goes undercover determined to find Peter’s killer. To do so, she must elude Gil Brandt, a homicide detective who worked on Lilith’s case and later befriended Edie to the point of getting her off a DUI charge. Fans of twisty psychological thrillers will find plenty to like. Agent: Mark Gottlieb, Trident Media.

August 1, 2018
As children, Edie Beckett and her brother were shuttled between their troubled parents' homes until their mother was arrested for and convicted of several murders; years later, Edie is obsessed with the victims' families, meticulously documenting their lives and daily movements in a vain attempt to come to terms with it all. She inevitably gets too close, and when there's a new murder, she's accused and goes on the run while working to find the real killer. Moretti (The Vanishing Year?, 2016) has created a sympathetic and believable character in Edie, a woman beaten down by life but who won't take no for an answer. The story and dialogue ring true as well, depicting a cast of characters struggling to escape the carnage of the past and perhaps find some love along the way. This will work with readers who enjoyed Paullina Simons' The Girl in Times Square? (2017), which also features a sad but determined heroine; in addition, the unusual vantage point on the killer makes the book an apt read-alike for Malin Persson Giolito's Quicksand? (2017).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)