by Nancy Werlin
First published 2009
David thought the worst was behind him. The trial ended with an acquittal, but the accusations about his girlfriend's death follow him everywhere. His parents ship him off to live with his aunt, uncle, and twelve-year-old cousin Lily, hoping distance will quiet the media storm. The house feels wrong from the moment he arrives. His aunt and uncle barely acknowledge each other's existence. Lily watches him with calculating eyes and seems determined to make every day miserable. David tries to settle into this fractured household, but questions multiply around him. His older cousin Kathy died years ago under circumstances no one discusses. The family's silence about her death creates another layer of tension in a home already thick with unspoken grievances. David realizes his relatives harbor secrets that run deeper than his own troubles. As Lily's hostility intensifies and the adults' behavior grows stranger, David suspects his family sent him here for reasons beyond protecting him from reporters. Something happened in this house, and everyone knows more than they're willing to admit.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, contemporary, psychological-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Aunt's House
Period: Present Day
240 pages · Paperback · Speak
Content warnings: mental-illness