Little Comfort

Starred review from July 2, 2018
Harvard librarian Hester Thursby, the heroine of Hill’s well-crafted, extremely promising debut and series launch, runs a side business locating lost people. She’s hired by Lila Blaine to find her brother, Sam, who ran away from their home in New Hampshire 12 years earlier, when he was 14, with his friend Gabe DiPursio. Lila says she wants to sell a piece of lakefront property called Little Comfort and split the proceeds with Sam. Hester soon discovers that Sam is now living in Boston under an alias and has insinuated himself into the life of wealthy socialite Wendy Richards, while Gabe is supporting them both as a freelance programmer. When someone at a party recognizes Sam, Sam decides it’s time to tie up loose ends and move on. Meanwhile, Hester has befriended lonely Gabe, who has built a homey domestic fantasy around her, but Sam views Hester as an obstacle and expects Gabe to help get her out of the way. An increasingly tense plot and striking characters—in particular, compassionate, conflicted, loving Hester—make this a standout. Agent: Robert Guinsler, Sterling Lord Literistic.

Narrator Karen White keeps the action moving in this contemporary thriller set in Boston. Hester Thursby, Harvard librarian and amateur sleuth, is hired to locate Sam Blaine, who has been missing for 12 years. He is easily found using an assumed name and mingling with a wealthy Beacon Hill crowd. Despite--or perhaps because of--not using a Boston accent, White excels at dialogue. Her skill ensures that the snarky low-life Lila contrasts nicely with the stressed-out Felicia and her upper-class millennial friends, Wendy and Twig. As Hester, White maintains a throaty calmness even while the sleuth takes care of her delightfully loud 3-year-old niece. Sam and his friend Gabe speak in nondescript low voices befitting serial killers hiding in plain sight. When bodies start to turn up, Hester find herself in over her head. J.E.S. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine