The Death of Us: A Novel

Lissette’s adopted son, Callan, sends her a parent-nightmare text about a car accident. Not his car, though. Another car, in the quarry. Lissette has a violent reaction. Is it Ashley Hay’s car? Ashley, Callan’s biological mother, handed her son over to Lissette fifteen years ago and then disappeared. The young woman had had a one-night stand with Lissette’s husband, Link. Robbie, Ashley’s boyfriend, was immediately suspected of having a hand in Ashley’s disappearance, but then his body was found on the roadside, the victim of a hit-and-run. The toxic atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust that had enveloped the small, mid-America town a decade and a half ago returns. Neighbor is leery of neighbor; friendships crumble; Lissette, her marriage fraying, even harbors half-doubts about her husband. The town’s marshal, and possible new love interest in Lissette’s life, uncovers damaging evidence that completely changes the investigation into Ashley’s disappearance and threatens to destroy Lissette’s family. That is only the start of a maze of surprising twists and unexpected turns that culminate in a nail-biting final act. The Death of Us is an imaginatively and cleverly plotted mystery that will keep the reader glued to the page. Worth every one of five stars.