The sea of lost girls A novel

Here's another winning du Maurier-like thriller (after The Night Visitors, 2019) from New York Times best-selling author Goodman. Tess survived a harrowing past, but she has managed to keep it hidden and is now a teacher at Haywood, an elite boarding school on the coast of Maine. The school has its own troubling past, involving the disappearance of several girls. Tess' 17-year-old son, the nightmare-prone Rudy, who has always had a nose for darkness, seems to have finally come into the light after taking up with fellow student Lila Zeller. However, when Lila is found dead on a nearby beach, Tess has every reason to suspect Rudy and goes to extreme lengths to shield him from the police. Her husband, along with the school's longtime benefactor and a disgraced former faculty member, all become persons of interest. Much social-media witch-hunting ensues, set against a school production of The Crucible, providing clever modern parallels about the damage that can be done by teenagers with big imaginations. Beautifully drawn, especially the visit to the creepy little museum devoted to Haywood's past.--Jane Murphy Copyright 2020 Booklist

Tess, the unreliable narrator of this exciting, if flawed, psychological thriller from Mary Higgins Clark Award--winner Goodman (The Night Visitors), teaches English at Haywood, a prestigious boarding school on the Maine coast, where her 17-year-old son, Rudy, is a student. Early one morning, Rudy texts Tess asking her to pick him up near the beach. Tess finds Rudy in a bloodstained sweatshirt, and he reveals that he had a fight with his bright, go-getter fellow classmate and girlfriend, Lila. A few hours later, Tess receives a phone call from Haywood's headmistress informing her that Lila's body has been found on the beach. With a history of aggression, Rudy is a person of interest in Lila's murder, and his overbearing mother is desperate to protect him, even if it involves lying to the police and exposing dark secrets about her past concerning Rudy's father. Unfortunately, most of the characters, including the irritating Tess, grate, and the culprit's identity comes as no surprise. Still, readers will have a hard time putting this one down thanks to Goodman's storytelling powers. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (Mar.)