Heather is one of those books that’s so hard to review because I want to say as little about it as possible while shouting its praise from the rooftops. It’s an intriguing and surprising mystery with a strong sense of place, and it also explores the bonds between sisters. If you liked God of the Woods you’ll like Heather (but Heather is better, IMO).

The novel takes place in dual timelines between the present day and 1990 in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. In the present, Callie Hauser has taken a job as a small town chief of police despite it being a step down in her career. Callie’s best friend, who is basically a sister to her, was in a hit and run accident that left her severely injured and Callie moved to town in order to help care for her and her young daughter during what will be an intense recovery.

Callie was a rising star in the narcotics division in a big city, and frankly, in her new job, she’s bored. She picks up a cold case in which a hours-old infant was found deceased in the woods in 1990 and plans to solve it.

We also get the POV of Annabelle Riley, a teen growing up in the same town in 1990. She and her twin sister Sabrina used to be inseparable, but lately Sabrina has been seeing older boys (men, actually) and keeping secrets. Annabelle is struggling with the loss of her sister and intense loneliness. Their mother left them years ago and their father is an absentee parent, letting the girls live mostly alone in their house in the woods while he’s off working.

Callie, Annabelle and the baby’s story are all intertwined but not in the way I expected them to be. There were twists in this thriller I genuinely did not see coming, and I will warn you that once you get to the 70% mark you’re not going to want to stop reading until it’s done.

Heather also explores the complicated relationships between sisters (biological or very best friends) and how deeply affecting changes in those relationships can be–even more so than romantic heartbreak.

I don’t want to say too much more and risk ruining the book, but Heather is insightful, suspenseful and atmospheric, and I absolutely recommend it.

NB from Sarah: After I edited this review, I recommended this book to a friend who loves thrillers. I received the following message late at night: “Why am I awake? Oh, bc my friend Sarah suggested a book called Heather that I had to finish before sleeping!” So that’s two recommendations! 

– Elyse

A small-town detective reopens an unsolved case, sending shock waves across generations of women in this gripping new mystery from the Edgar Award–winning author of Please See Us.

1990. In the myth-riddled woods of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, sixteen-year-old Annabelle Riley’s twin sister, Sabrina, has been having an affair with a mysterious older man, and Annabelle is determined to uncover what’s going on. Then, inexplicably, both sisters disappear.

In this same town years later, newly instated police chief Callie Hauser makes an arrest that unexpectedly resurrects details from a heartbreaking cold case. As she digs deeper, the past and the present collide, challenging everything Callie believes about right and wrong, who she is, and the town she’s always called home.

A propulsive mystery as incisive as it is forgiving, Heather bears a visceral reminder that the truth of a woman’s life is often complicated and unknowable—to those on the outside, and sometimes even to herself.