by Katy Hays
First published 2025
Helen Lingate was three when her mother Sarah plunged from the cliffs of Capri in 1992. The authorities called it an accident, but whispers followed the wealthy Lingate family wherever they went. For thirty years, they have returned to their Italian villa each summer, a ritual meant to prove their innocence and reclaim their peace. Now Helen is an adult, and this year marks the anniversary of Sarah's death. When the family arrives at the villa, they discover something impossible waiting for them: the necklace Sarah wore on her final night. Someone has placed it there deliberately. Helen must confront the questions that have shadowed her entire life. Was her mother's death really an accident? What role did the Lingates play in that night three decades ago? As Helen searches for answers, she uncovers secrets that threaten to destroy everything she believed about her family and herself.
Genres: suspense, mystery, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Capri, Italian Villa
Period: 1992, Thirty Years
336 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books