Where They Found Her

February 9, 2015
Edgar-finalist McCreight (Reconstructing Amelia) smoothly juggles multiple voices in her strong second novel. Four of them belong to freelance journalist Molly Sanderson: Molly’s own contemporary voice, her recorded psychiatric sessions, her therapy-era journal, and her published articles for the local paper in Ridgedale, N.J., a Princeton-like community where she lives with her professor husband, Justin, and their five-year-old daughter, Ella. Molly is assigned the story of a newborn discovered dead in a creek on university property—a dicey subject given Molly’s loss of her own baby two years earlier and her subsequent depression. Other perspectives include that of Sandy, a bright high school dropout; Sandy’s reckless mother, Jenna, who abruptly vanishes; and Barbara, the “perfect mom” of a kindergarten classmate of Ella’s, Cole, who starts exhibiting troubling behavior. Molly’s reporting uncovers a slew of dark secrets, some too close to home. While McCreight’s plot contains some far-fetched coincidences, her deft writing makes for a thoroughly riveting tale. Agent: Marly Rusoff, Marly Rusoff and Associates.