Stranger in the lake

Charlotte Keller is living a life she never imagined, having grown up neglected and poor in the tiny town of Lake Crosby, nestled in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. Now married to a successful architect, Charlotte finds life is a dream, except for the rumors that her perfect new husband, Paul, drowned his wife in the lake four years before. Fortune takes a turn for the worse when the body of a female tourist turns up at the happy couple's dock. Paul swears he had nothing to do with it, but Charlotte's suspicions begin to grow as she tries to reason whether tragedy follows Paul or whether he causes it. A secret from the past that is tied in throughout the story slowly helps the reader piece together the truth of the mystery surrounding Paul. This is a decent slow-burn thriller with good writing and some interesting plot twists. Stranger in the Lake will be enjoyed by suspense lovers and is a good addition to a well-rounded collection.

Charlotte, the narrator of this well-paced novel set in Lake Crosby, N.C., from Belle (Dear Wife), was raised in poverty, but she has achieved her dream of a better life by marrying Paul Keller, the richest man in the Appalachian tourist town of Lake Crosby, N.C., despite the local gossip that Paul drowned his first wife four years earlier. Then one day she's disturbed to spot a nervous-looking Paul talking to a strange woman. The next day, Charlotte finds the woman's body floating under their lakefront dock, just like Paul's first wife. When shown the body, Paul tells the police he's never seen the woman. He later takes off without telling anyone where he's going. Frightened and confused, Charlotte turns to Paul's two best friends for support, one the town crazy, the other the police chief's son, both with dark secrets of their own. Belle weaves an intricate web of connections among the characters as the action moves toward the surprising ending. Those who like a message of hope in their psychological thrillers will be satisfied. Agent: Nikki Terpilowski, Holloway Literary. (June)