Fractured by Catherine McKenzie

Fractured, by Catherine McKenzie, is her finest book yet. Told in two timelines, it follows a year in Julie Apple's life after she moves to Cincinnati to escape a stalker, and a 12-hour day at then end of that year where a grand jury trial is taking place because someone has been killed. Who that person is and how it came to pass is a mystery which slowly unfurls throughout the novel, but it's not a slow read, and you'll find yourself racing through to the next chapter to try and pick up more clues as to what eventually happened and why.

A big theme in this book is the nasty way we can treat each other even as adults. Julie moved her family across the country because someone had it out for her, only to land in a new neighborhood where mean and petty behavior ran rife. With all of the current focus on grade school bullies, we often forget that adults can be bullied (and bully) as well. You'll identify with Julie if you feel like you're trapped in a high-school-like circle of friends, and want to smack some sense into the mean-girl neighbors of hers. Is that what Julie did? Or were they the ones to gang up on her? You'll have to read to the end to find out!

On a side note, the character of Julie Apple is an author who had a bestselling book called The Murder Game, which is part of what drew the attention of her stalker to her. That book is also being released in a couple of weeks in a fun book within a book way.

Echoes of Family by Barbara Claypole White

Echoes of Family by Barbara Claypole White follows Marianne Stokes, who suffers from bipolar disorder, as she struggles to reconcile her past and deal with her disease. She had been stable for years and doing well, running a recording studio and a charity for homeless girls, until she was in a car accident that resulted in the loss of the other driver's unborn child dragged up unhappy memories of a decades old crash that did the same thing to her. Marianne blames herself for both accidents, and the losses are too much a burden for her to bear. She flees to her native England to try and find some answers, meeting up with her former best-friend-now-pastor Gabriel, but ends up hospitalized due to a manic episode.

Just this description alone might seem like a total downer, but it's not! This book runs the gamut from devastatingly sad to laugh out loud funny, and while it shows the devastating effects of mental illness on both the individuals that have the disease and the people that love them, it also shows how worthy they are of love and that they can live a happy and healthy life (with the right meds of course). Marianne's search for redemption and self-acceptance can apply to anyone, not just those with a mood disorder. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to better understand mental illnesses, whether you are personally affected by it or not.

The Things We Wish Were True by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

The Things We Wish Were True by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen takes place in a small neighborhood in North Carolina where every knows everyone else and is all up in each other's business. Bring out your notepad to keep track of the FIVE different perspectives that this story is told from, and also all the secrets that every character seems to be hiding. Ok, it might not be that complicated, but you definitely need to pay some attention during the first third of the book to keep everyone straight and get in the groove so that the rest of it continues to make sense.

The story revolves around the summer pool season (at least there is one focal point), and the return of Jencey, the popular girl in high school who fled the town after her unknown stalker beat up her boyfriend, Everett. Jencey is trying to hide the fact that her husband is in prison, and Everett is now married to her former best-friend Bryte, who is hiding why she doesn't want to have a second child. Then there is nosy Zell, who might have had something to do with her neighbor Debra's "disappearance," and Debra's husband Lance, who is struggling to keep everything together with Debra gone. There's Cailey, a tween left mostly on her on and in charge of her young brother, a creepy guy who lives across the street, a missing teenager, the list goes on... I think in the end all the pieces do come together, and the point that we all have things to hide comes across, but I prefer the treatment of this idea in Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies, where the narrative circles around one event and is easier to follow even with the same large number of characters.

The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe

The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe is a great pick for fans of "Nordic Noir" or thrillers in general. It starts with police investigating a gruesome beheading that reminds them of a similar case from 10 years ago. They don't know who the dead woman is, only that she is found in the house of a high-profile CEO, Jesper Orre, and that he himself is missing as well. Then we rewind two months and meet a young woman named Emma, who works in one of Jesper's clothing stores and is having a secret affair with him. As the police work on unraveling the case and finding the killer in real time, we watch Emma and Jesper's relationship unravel in the past.

At first this seems like a slow plod to an inevitable conclusion (it's always the boyfriend, right?), particularly when you throw in the third voice of Hanne, a consultant brought in on the case who assisted with the previous investigation a decade ago. Her storyline slows down the pace a bit; she's been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, is having martial difficulties, and can't quite trust her memory, or lack of, anymore. This serves as a metaphor for the entire book though, as the other characters' memories cannot be trusted either. All to say that there's definitely an unreliable narrator, and while the "twist" becomes somewhat evident about halfway through, it's still an interesting one and worth reading to its conclusion. You might not say "I never saw that coming..." but it is clever and will leave you feeling thoroughly creeped out.

Faultlines by Barbara Taylor Sissel

Faultlines by Barbara Taylor Sissel follows the lives of a family devastated by a car wreck. College-aged cousins Travis and Jordan were out partying one night when they wrecked, leaving both boys in critical condition and their friend in the backseat in a coma. Travis's mom Jenna is quick to blame her nephew, and even her sister Sandy, when it looks like Travis won't survive. The rest of family rallies around Jenna, and Sandy and Jordan are left out in the cold with their own grief and guilt. The situation is heartbreaking on so many levels, and you really feel for everyone involved in the story.

That's not all there is to Faultlines though, as there are many layers involved in this plot. As Jordan tries to clear his name, he has to battle the local law enforcement officer who seems to have it out for him, while also forging a relationship with a newcomer to town who has a special connection to him (don't want to give too much away here). Let just say that the story line is intricate and well-thought out, and it'll leave you guessing to the very end.

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

The Couple Next Door, by Shari Lapena, begins with Marco and Anne returning home from a dinner party next door to find their baby girl missing. They left her there asleep and took the baby monitor with them, and even checked on her every half an hour, but somewhere between the checking, wine drinking, and Marco's naughty flirting with their neighbor, Cynthia, little Cora goes missing. Suspicion immediately falls on the parents. Did Anne kill her as a result of her postpartum depression? Did Marco have her abducted in order to swindle his wealthy in-laws out of a hefty ransom? The detectives investigating this case sense that all is not right in this house, and rightly so, but where the final guilty finger points to is not so immediately obvious.

What is obvious is that this novel is just not up to the same bar as some of the other great domestic suspenses of the last few years. If you loved Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train you'll enjoy this one, but it's not going to make you say "WOW" and tell all your friends about it. The characters felt a little flat, and some seemed to disappear altogether. After so many good books with unreliable first person narrators, to have the whole thing done in the third person ends up feeling cold and unpersonable. The final scene is one last little "twist," which will work great if it's made into a movie, but seemed to come from nowhere. As least this author got creative in her title though, and refrained from using the word 'girl' in it. Thank you!

Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

Missing, Presumed  by Susie Steiner is a book about a missing girl (dear God AGAIN?? Is this the only way to get a thriller written by a woman published these days? Enough with the missing girls!!) But that's the only negative thing I'll say about this book, because it's actually quite wonderful. Manon Bradshaw is a single police detective on the verge of her forties with the air of desperation about her. She's internet dating (unsuccessfully) and trying to find that special someone before the sand runs out in her reproductive clock. While this book is about a missing girl, it's also as much about Manon, her dedication for her job (she sleeps with the police scanner on in case something happens in the dead of night) and her love life.

The missing girl is a pretentious Cambridge University PhD student, who is trying to eschew the trappings of a everyday life while still relying on Daddy for her monthly stipend. He's the Royal Family's doctor, and his daughter's disappearance unearths the inequalities of British life. A missing upper class girl gets heaps of attention and resources, while a young Black man who's murdered body is found in a swamp gets little. As the story unfolds the twists take a turn that you will never see coming, thanks to good plotting and crafty storytelling. Also, unlike some recent books set in the UK where you can barely tell it's not New York (except for gin and tonic in a can, because we haven't evolved that much yet), this one seems steeped in the land, both with the geography and the language. And I just heard an interview with Steiner that there is definitely at least one more Manon book in the works. Yay! Can't wait to see where she'll take her next.