Part of Alex Delaware, book 32
First published 2017
Child psychologist Alex Delaware takes on an unusual case when ninety-nine-year-old Thalia Mars requests his services. The charming woman meets him at the Aventura, a luxury hotel with a troubled past, asking disturbing questions about guilt and criminal behavior patterns. She promises to explain her morbid interests at their next appointment. Delaware arrives the following morning to find Thalia dead in her suite. When circumstances surrounding her death raise suspicions, Delaware teams up with LAPD homicide detective Milo Sturgis to investigate. They discover that Thalia Mars lived nearly a century while harboring dangerous secrets. As they dig deeper into her mysterious past, Delaware and Sturgis uncover a complex web of violence that threatens everyone connected to the enigmatic woman. The investigation becomes one of the most puzzling cases either man has faced, forcing them to untangle decades of hidden truths.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, investigation
Setting: Aventura Hotel, Los Angeles
Period: 20th-century
368 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books