Three strikes

In this third Audrey Harte novel (following Two Can Play, 2016), the criminal psychologist helps a young woman find her biological father. Mackenzie shows up in Edgeport, Maine, knowing two things that her biological mother was Audrey's best friend, Maggie Jones, and that when Audrey and Maggie were teenagers, Audrey killed Maggie's dad. Sexually abused by her father, Maggie became promiscuous at a young age, making the list of potential fathers remarkably long for such a small town. As Audrey revisits the summer before she permanently stopped Maggie's abuser father, she uncovers some long-buried secrets about her neighbors some hitting dangerously close to home. Meanwhile, Audrey enjoys the support and occasional protection of her boyfriend, Jake; her mother battles cancer; her father makes an odd peace with his alcoholism; and half the town wonders whether trouble follows Audrey or she stirs it up herself. A smart suspense series and a vividly evoked small-town setting.--Keefe, Karen Copyright 2017 Booklist

At the start of Kessler's sturdy third crime novel featuring juvenile forensic psychologist Audrey Harte (after 2016's Two Can Play), 18-year-old Mackenzie Bell, the daughter of Audrey's childhood best friend, Maggie Jones, arrives in Edgeport, Maine, looking for information about her biological family. Maggie is dead, and Mackenzie's father isn't listed on her birth certificate, so the teen turns to Audrey for help. Maggie hid her pregnancy from Audrey, but Mackenzie's age suggests that she was born while Audrey was incarcerated for murdering Maggie's dad, Clint, who sexually abused Maggie. Audrey assumes that Clint is Mackenzie's father, but some digging reveals that her baby wasn't the only thing that 14-year-old Maggie kept secret. Meanwhile, a thug called Ratchett attempts to blackmail Audrey's boyfriend, Jake Tripp, in connection with a past crime. Kessler relies too heavily on coincidence, but her plot still intrigues, neatly capturing and capitalizing on the complexity of adult sibling relationships and the unique nature of small-town justice. Agent: Miriam Kriss, Irene Goodman Literary Agency. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.