by Sarah Pearse
First published 2024
Kier Templer has spent years drifting from town to town, carrying the weight of her mother's notorious crime. The locals called her "the monster's daughter" until she finally left home and her twin brother behind. Only one connection remains between the siblings: the detailed maps Kier creates of every place she visits. When those maps suddenly stop arriving, Penn knows his sister is in serious trouble. Detective Elin Warner arrives at a remote Portuguese national park for what should be a peaceful vacation with her brother Isaac. Instead, she discovers Kier's final map, filled with disturbing details about the park and a hidden forest camp. As Elin investigates Kier's disappearance, she uncovers a sinister discovery that connects the missing woman to her own past in ways she never expected. The deeper Elin ventures into the wilderness, the more she realizes that both the forest and its inhabitants conceal secrets far more dangerous than anyone imagined.
Genres: adventure, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: missing-sibling, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Portugal, Portuguese National Park
386 pages · Hardcover · Pamela Dorman Books
Content warnings: violence