August: Fiction
Jules Abbott receives word that her sister Nel has drowned and returns to her hometown. Since she and Nel were estranged for decades, Jules had never met her teenage niece, who responds to her visit with rancor and mistrust. There is speculation surrounding Nel’s death, with some calling it accidental and others suspecting suicide. Rumors swirl among the townspeople, linking Nel to the long history of women who have drowned over the years, this sinister sisterhood lost to the Drowning Pool. As the police conduct their investigation, Jules mounts her own informal one. Piecing together clues from the townspeople, Jules unearths decades-old mysteries and finds secrets from her own past bubbling to the surface. In the popular tradition of her best-selling debut, The Girl on the Train, Hawkins guides readers through a muddled labyrinth of twists and turns, secrets and lies, and misdirections that will ultimately reveal the sordid details of three deaths before its surprising conclusion. VERDICT: A must-have for fans of twisty thrillers.
(Elly’s Pick)
