Summer is thriller season (also: cheesy romance season, but given my habit of stockpiling thrillers and the scant handful of romance novels I actually own, we’ll have to go with thriller season). It’s the perfect time to revisit Veronica Mars in the comfort of your air-conditioned home, or pack a suspenseful read into your beach bag and try to figure out if the butler did it while you soak up some sun. This week’s NovelTEA features The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda, with a side of roasted eggplant dip, a practically perfect pairing:
Plot summary: Confronted by a restraining order and the threat of a lawsuit, failed journalist Leah Stevens needs to get out of Boston when she runs into an old friend, Emmy Grey, who has just left a troubled relationship. Emmy proposes they move to rural Pennsylvania, where Leah can get a teaching position and both women can start again. But their new start is threatened when a woman with an eerie resemblance to Leah is assaulted by the lake, and Emmy disappears days later.
Determined to find Emmy, Leah cooperates with Kyle Donovan, a handsome young police officer on the case. As they investigate her friend’s life for clues, Leah begins to wonder: did she ever really know Emmy at all? With no friends, family, or a digital footprint, the police begin to suspect that there is no Emmy Grey. Soon Leah’s credibility is at stake, and she is forced to revisit her past: the article that ruined her career. To save herself, Leah must uncover the truth about Emmy Grey—and along the way, confront her old demons, find out who she can really trust, and clear her own name.
Everyone in this rural Pennsylvanian town has something to hide—including Leah herself. How do you uncover the truth when you are busy hiding your own?
Worth reading: Yes, a million times over. Most people who read All the Missing Girls, Miranda’s predecessor to The Perfect Stranger, prefer the former and regard the latter as a book that just missed the mark for them. All the Missing Girls was hailed as a twisted, inventive narrative because it was told backwards, dealing with two separate but related cases a decade apart. I was initially skeptical about reading The Perfect Stranger because I loved All the Missing Girls so much, but even without telling a story backwards, Miranda is sheer genius at crafting believable, intense mysteries with more than enough meat to keep the reader hooked from the first page to the last. Also, nearly a week after finishing The Perfect Stranger, I’m still obsessed with it, which prompted me to bump up my already-high rating.
Flaws: For me, none. This was an absolutely solid novel with a spunky, dogged main character and an addictive, fast-paced mystery with enough bite to make a lasting impression.
Overall rating: 5/5
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