"A young woman is reunited with the famous father she never knew at a secluded lakeside community hiding nightmarish secrets in this immersive modern-day gothic for readers of psychological suspense by Mary Kubica, Shari Lapena and Megan Miranda.
After the double blow of divorce and her mother’s death, Emma Shrader receives an invitation to meet her estranged father for the first time. Alex Spencer is a wealthy, renowned author who had a brief fling with Emma’s mom, then disappeared. Now he’d like Emma to come stay at his beautiful home on Cheshire Lake in Maine.
The Spencer house is a towering Victorian steeped in history and lore, from its ornate turret to the little cemetery nestled in adjoining woods. It should be an inspiring place for Emma to finish working on her own novel, especially with Alex’s guidance. But when a neighbor is found dead under strange circumstances, the surroundings begin to feel less idyllic and welcoming. Not everyone is happy about Emma’s arrival, either—especially not Alex’s other daughter, Sunny.
There are things Emma keeps to herself about her chaotic childhood and ex-husband, but Cheshire Lake harbors secrets too—some recent, some decades old. What exactly has been going on in this quiet, close-knit community? And how much of it has to do with Emma’s arrival?
As Emma learns of other disappearances and mysterious deaths, what seemed like a fresh start begins to fill her with unease. Emma thought Cheshire Lake held the home and family she’s long been looking for. Now she wonders if she’ll ever be allowed to leave alive …
“Brimming with creeping dread and isolation, this novel held me in its thrall from page one. Parlato tightens her expert grip, layering a creepy backstory of families enmeshed in disturbing and deadly ways, with increasingly nerve wracking circumstances in the present, and leading the reader to an explosive finale.”—Emily Carpenter, author of Gothictown on She Thought She was Safe"
"Amid the depths of a bleak Boston winter a recently married couple find their lives and their relationship unraveling, in this brilliantly twisting domestic thriller from a new master of suspense.
Accidents happen, no matter how careful or well-intentioned you are. Psychiatrist Eve Thayer frequently reassures her patients of that fact. There are even times when accidents have good consequences—like when Eve met her now-husband, Nathan, at his collision shop after another car ran her off the road.
After a whirlwind courtship, Nathan and Eve have settled into domestic life. They have a lovely home on a quiet street, a beautiful baby girl, and even the perfect babysitter to care for her. And yet, something isn’t quite right.
The stress in Eva’s life is mounting, both professionally and personally. Though the clinic where she works has been remodeled since its notorious days as an institution for the criminally insane, she feels increasingly uneasy there. And in her own neighborhood, a break-in at a nearby empty house hasn’t helped, either.
Detective Rita Myers hasn’t yet figured out whether Eve is a target or a suspect, but every disturbing discovery in this usually peaceful neighborhood seems to revolve around her. Only as a deadly ice storm crashes through does it become clear just how far from perfect Eve and Nathan’s lives really are. And as the cracks
in the surface come to light, so do the sinister secrets that lie beneath …"
"In this riveting thriller from a new master of suspense, a young dancer’s homecoming is marred by a grisly discovery—and the realization that nothing in her past may be quite what she believed.
When Esmé Foster left the Boston suburbs to become a professional ballerina, the future shimmered with promise. Eleven years later, her career has been derailed by an injury, and Esmé knows it’s time to come back to Graybridge to help her brother care for their ailing father. But her return coincides with an unthinkable crime. Kara Cunningham, one of Esmé’s high school friends, is found dead in the woods behind the Fosters’ house.
Esmé is shocked and grieving, but also uneasy. In her dreams, she still sees the man who showed up at the scene of the car accident that killed her mother—and told Esmé he was going to kill her too. Family and friends insisted the figure was a product of Esmé’s imagination, that she was concussed after the crash. But she and Kara looked alike, sharing the same petite build, the same hair color. Could Kara’s murder have been a case of mistaken identity?
Detective Rita Myers is familiar with closeknit communities like Graybridge, where, beneath the friendliness, there are whispers and secrets. The town has seen other tragedies too, including the long-ago drowning of a young girl in a pond, deep in the woods. Even within the once-close circle of friends that included Kara and Esmé, Rita discerns a ripple of mistrust.
Day by day, Esmé discovers more about the place she left behind—and the friends and family she thought she knew. Soon, shining a light into the darkness to learn what really happened the night Kara died is the only way she can bring the nightmare to an end …
“A failed ballerina’s return home is turned upside down by the appearance of a dead body in her family’s yard … Parlato piles on the rumors, menace, and revelations.”—Kirkus Reviews"
"A savage murder rocks a quiet Boston suburb, revealing the dark secrets at the center of a group of friends in this clever, propulsive debut from new master of suspense, Terri Parlato …
Snow falls softly outside Molly Bradley’s home on a frigid January night. Inside, half a dozen close friends are gathered to celebrate the fortieth birthday of Molly’s psychologist husband, Jay. Candlelight gleams against dark wood, wine
flows, and the house rings with laughter. Everybody loves Jay, Molly most of all.
Yet next morning, Molly discovers Jay dead on the floor of his office, his throat brutally slashed.
After decades working with the Boston PD, Detective Rita Myers has grown accustomed to the banality of evil—the murders that make no sense beyond bad luck or a tragic brush with the worst of humanity. But Jay Bradley’s murder isn’t
random, or a mere crime of opportunity. Rita is convinced that someone in the couple’s small circle killed him. Someone who was celebrating with them that night.
Devastated, Molly tries to make sense of her husband’s death. Jay was her rock, the only person who really understood the nightmare she lived through long ago.
He knew the horrors she’s kept hidden even from her friends. But shocking revelations are making her question if Jay was all he seemed to be—and whether someone else knows her past too. And until Molly figures out who she can really
trust, she won’t be able to stop herself becoming the next target …"
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