First published 2016
Brett fell for Charlie the moment she saw him in college. Years later, someone kills her charismatic husband, leaving Brett shattered but forced to confront an uncomfortable truth. Their marriage had been falling apart long before his death. Police suspect Charlie's mentally ill brother Eli, but Brett knows the list of potential killers runs much longer. Charlie was handsome and magnetic, yet he left wreckage in his wake, harming almost everyone who got close to him. Brett sets out to understand how this tragedy unfolded and whether she bears any responsibility for what happened. Her investigation takes her deep into the psychology of a marriage that transformed from transcendent love into something frayed and broken. Set against Cape Cod's stark autumn landscape, Brett's search for answers becomes a reckoning with the true nature of love and loyalty.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, contemporary, psychological-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Cape Cod
Period: Contemporary
336 pages · Paperback · Algonquin Books
Content warnings: mental-illness, murder