How It Happened

by Michael Koryta

First published 2019

Rob Barrett knows a true confession when he hears one. The FBI investigator has spent months tracking Kimberly Crepeaux, a heroin addict and jailhouse snitch from rural Maine. When she finally confesses to the brutal murders of Jackie Pelletier and Ian Kelly, Barrett believes every word of her grisly story about a hit and run that turned into cold blooded stabbing. He stakes his reputation on Kimberly's account. Then the bodies surface 200 miles from where she claimed they would be. Jackie and Ian died from gunshots, not stab wounds. DNA evidence points to someone else entirely. Barrett gets reassigned while the case closes without him. But Howard Pelletier refuses to accept the official resolution of his daughter's murder. The grieving father turns to Barrett, whose career lies in ruins. Together they must dig into the secrets that Barrett's hometown has kept buried. For Barrett, helping Howard may be his final chance at redemption.

Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective

Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful

Tropes: redemption, unreliable-narrator

Setting: Maine, Rural Maine

Period: Contemporary

358 pages · Paperback · Little, Brown Paperbacks

Content warnings: murder, violence

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