by Tami Hoag
First published 2011
Detective Tony Mendez receives a chilling 911 call from a young child: "My daddy hurt my mommy." He arrives at a brutal crime scene where Marissa Fordham lies dead and her daughter Haley clings to life, injured but breathing. The peaceful California town of Oak Knoll reels from the violence. Mendez calls on Anne Leone, a former teacher now working as a child advocate, to help communicate with the traumatized witness. Anne already faces pressure as a key witness in another high-profile murder case. Together, Tony and Anne dig into Marissa's past, searching for answers that seem to slip away at every turn. The investigation yields scattered clues that refuse to form a coherent picture. Then they discover a shocking truth that changes everything: the victim's identity itself is a lie. Marissa Fordham never existed. This revelation puts both Anne and young Haley in mortal danger, as someone will kill to keep the truth buried.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, detective
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: deception, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: California, Oak Knoll
Period: Contemporary
584 pages · Paperback · Dutton
Content warnings: child-abuse, domestic-violence, murder