The Pine Family of Adair, Nebraska, already knows what it means to be infamous.  Four years ago, 25-year-old Danny Pine was convicted of murdering his girlfriend and sent to prison.  The family refused to accept the verdict, launching an expensive, fevered campaign to free him.  A Netflix documentary about the case cast even more doubt on Danny's guilt, bolstering the Pines but vilifying the community of Adair.  Now, the family is in the news again.  Four of the Pines—Danny's parents and two of his siblings—have been found dead in a Mexican vacation home, victims of an apparent gas leak.

Besides Danny, 21-year-old Matt is the only Pine left.  Devastated by this fresh loss, he leaves NYU and returns to Adair to bury his family.  What he finds is a hostile town and a barrage of painful memories he'd like to forget.  When FBI agent Sarah Keiler comes knocking on Matt's door, Matt realizes there's more to the deaths of his parents and siblings than meets the eye.  What really happened to them?  Why were they targeted?  As it becomes increasingly apparent that their deaths are related to Danny's case, Matt fears the truth about what really happened the night Danny's girlfriend was killed will inevitably come to light.  If it does, everyone will know the horrifying truth that Matt has kept hidden for four years—Danny is guilty.  Can Matt get justice for his family without betraying his brother?

Told from multiple viewpoints, Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay (available March 2, 2021), is more than just an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller.  It's a layered, intimate portrayal of a family in crisis, a story that draws you into the characters' world, paints them in an authentic, sympathetic way, and leaves you dreading the tragedies you know are about to befall them.  Knowing their fates doesn't make the novel less compelling, however.  If anything it makes it even more engrossing.  True, the plot is a bit predictable, with a rather obvious killer, but still, it's a gripping thriller that had me ripping through the pages to see what was going to happen next.  Although Every Last Fear is not a happy tale, it is a hopeful one, which made it even more appealing to me.  In the end, then, I enjoyed this absorbing novel, which kept me riveted from its first page to its last.  

(Readalikes:  Hm, nothing is coming to mind.  You?)

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of Every Last Fear from the generous folks at St. Martin's Press via those at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

Ever since Rachel Krall's true crime podcast went viral, she's been searching for ever more interesting content to keep her listeners engaged.  Now, she's on her way to Neapolis, North Carolina, where a headline-grabbing trial is about to begin.  The town golden boy, 16-year-old Scott Blair, is accused of raping Kelly Moore, the teenaged granddaughter of Neapolis' beloved police chief.  Everyone has an opinion about the alleged crime, an event so shocking that it's tearing the town apart.

Rachel hasn't even arrived in Neapolis before she finds a note on her car pleading for her help.  Hannah Stills is begging the podcaster to look into her sister's suspicious death 25 years ago.  Although Jenny Stills' death was officially ruled an accidental drowning, Hannah knows the truth: Jenny was murdered.  Rachel is Hannah's last hope for finding the truth.  Intrigued, Rachel agrees to take the case.  She will find out what really happened to Jenny Stills, even if it means putting herself in the path of a killer whose identity has been kept secret for more than two decades.

On its surface, The Night Swim by Megan Goldin looks like the kind of thriller I go ga-ga over.  Small-town secrets?  Check.  Moody, broody beach setting?  Check.  Intriguing mystery?  Check, check.  These elements were not only what drew me to the book, but they were also the things that kept me reading it.  I certainly wasn't in it for the characters.  The Night Swim's cast features story people who are mostly unlikable, Rachel included.  There's nothing repellant about our heroine (except that she exploits other people's tragedies for ratings), but there's nothing super laudable either.  Perhaps this is because we don't really get to know Rachel well.  Goldin includes little information about the podcaster's past or why she's so interested in true crime, which made me wonder why she was in the novel at all.  Hannah would have made a much better narrator for this story.  Add choppy prose and a predictable plotline to these complaints and you can see why The Night Swim was just an average read for me.  I kept reading because I wanted to know how both mysteries would play out, but in the end, I just didn't end up loving The Night Swim like I thought it would.  Or really at all.  Bummer.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of dozens of other thrillers, although no particular title is coming to mind.  You?)

Although Kat Halloway doesn't run into a lot of Chinese people in her neighborhood, the London cook thinks little about a chance encounter with "Mr. Li" on the streets of Mayfair.  It's only when her next door neighbor is stabbed to death in his bedchamber that she realizes she may have come face-to-face with his killer.  As an "Old China Hand," Jacob Harkness claimed to be an expert on China.  His posh home is filled with treasures he's purloined from the Orient.  Was Mr. Li trying to reclaim a stolen relic?  Or was his motive more sinister?  Did Mr. Li truly murder Mr. Harkness as everyone believes?

With more sympathy toward Mr. Li than Mr. Harkness, Kat sets about to prove the Chinese man's innocence with the help of her enigmatic friend Daniel McAdam.  She's sure Mr. Li didn't kill Mr. Harkness.  But if he didn't, who did?

I've enjoyed every installment in Jennifer Ashley's Victorian mystery series starring Kat Halloway.  Death in Kew Gardens—the third book—is no exception.  Kat and Daniel make a fun detecting duo.  They're both kind, likable, and always up for an adventure.  The mystery at the heart of Death in Kew Gardens isn't super original and the killer isn't much of a surprise, but still, this is an enjoyable mystery.  There's enough suspense to keep the story moving and the upstairs/downstairs dynamic adds a layer of intriguing tension to the tale.  As with the previous books in this series, Death in Kew Gardens is clean, upbeat, well-written and entertaining.  

In the late 19th Century, the Great Plains region of the United States was inhabited mostly by European immigrants lured to the area by exaggerated claims of lush, fertile land free for the taking.  In reality, living on the desolate prairie was tough.  The land was unyielding, the weather was harsh, and surviving it all was a daily struggle.  Far from the Garden of Eden promised to unsuspecting settlers, it was more like Hell on Earth.  Just as a new year, 1888, dawned, a number of unfortunate circumstances—including immigrants' ignorance of the fickleness and ferocity of winter weather on the Great Plains—combined to create a devastating tragedy known today as The Children's Blizzard.  

After a bitter cold spell on the plains, January 12 was a welcome gift.  The day brought unusually warm temperatures, prompting delighted homesteaders all over the region to shuck off their heavy winter gear and flock outside to handle chores and errands that had been put off because of inclement weather.  To everyone's shock, the pleasant day turned suddenly savage when a blizzard whipped in out of nowhere bringing freezing temperatures, blinding snow, and a chilling wind.  Because the storm descended just as schoolchildren were being dismissed for the day, dozens of kids became stranded in the melee, some freezing to death almost instantly.  Whiteout conditions meant many perished only yards away from safety.  Over 200 people, as well as countless animals, were killed that day, making the storm one of the deadliest in America's history.

Melanie Benjamin's newest novel, which tells the story of the devastating storm, will be published on January 12, 2021, the 133rd anniversary of the tragic event.  The Children's Blizzard focuses on three teenage girls, two of whom are schoolteachers.  All three of them make different choices on that fateful day.  Afterward, one will be lauded as a hero, one will be shunned by her community, and one will become a reluctant celebrity.  Every one of them will be forever changed by what transpires when a surprise storm ravages their lives.  

Although the trio of girls at the center of The Children's Blizzard are all fictional, their experiences are composites of what real people went through on January 12, 1888.  Thus, the tales are intimate, shocking, and heart-wrenching.  Benjamin's expert storytelling definitely brings the tragedy to vivid life, creating a moving and memorable tale that will stick with you long after you close the book.  While I found the novel gripping in many ways, I would have liked fewer narrators telling the story so that I could feel more connected to the main characters.  Not all of them are likable, but they're all complex, interesting, and authentic.  Plotwise, the novel loses most of its steam after the storm ends.  It seems to have nowhere to go at that point, which makes the story feel unfinished.  Despite these small irritants, all in all, I found The Children's Blizzard engrossing and enlightening.  It's a devastating book, but one that makes a definite impact.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin)