First published 1989
Meg Halloran packs up her life and drives to a small California coastal town with her daughter Katy. She hopes the ocean air and distance will give them both a fresh start. The anonymous letters begin arriving soon after they settle in. Meg recognizes the religious rhetoric and suspects Dave Tucker, a former student whose fanatical beliefs once made her classroom uncomfortable. The letters escalate from scripture quotes to personal threats. Then Dave Tucker turns up dead, and Meg discovers that small towns have long memories and active tongues. Neighbors who barely knew her name suddenly have opinions about her past and her connection to the victim. The gossip spreads faster than morning fog, and Meg realizes that running away solved nothing. She must face both the truth about Dave Tucker and the community that now views her with suspicion. Her attempt to protect Katy from their old troubles has landed them in new ones.
Genres: suspense, mystery, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: California, California Coastal Town
224 pages · Hardcover · Scribner