The secrets we share

This taut standalone from Hill (the Hester Thursby series) focuses on two sisters: Natalie Cavanaugh, a talented but troubled Boston police detective with a drinking problem, and glamorous Glenn Abbott, who's about to step into the spotlight by publishing a book based on a blog that blends baking recipes with self-help advice. Despite their different personalities, the sisters are united by their trauma at having discovered their father murdered by a neighbor with whom he was said to be having an affair 20 years earlier. When Glenn's marriage is threatened by a similar triangle, and her 12-year-old daughter, Mavis, discovers two dead bodies, one of whom is Mavis's father and Glenn's husband, the sisters are plunged into a world of hidden identities, kidnapping, and revenge, where no one can be trusted. Natalie must balance her loyalty to the law with her loyalty to her family as she battles to discover the roots of the current mystery in the long-ago tragedy. Hill keeps the clock ticking and the twists coming right up to the shocking conclusion. Suburban thriller fans will be well satisfied. Agent: Robert Guinsler, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Apr.)

Known for his Hester Thursby mystery series (Watch Her; The Missing Ones; Little Comfort), Hill offers a stand-alone crime thriller about two sisters. Natalie is a Boston cop, and Glenn is a baking blogger who is about to release her first cookbook. Twenty years ago, their father was murdered in the woods behind their childhood home, seemingly by the neighbor with whom he was suspected of having an affair. Now, days before Glenn takes her brand to a new level, Natalie learns that Glenn has been receiving menacing messages telling her she is being watched. When Glenn's teenage daughter finds a dead body in an abandoned building near her school, the sisters become entangled in yet another murder case. Was it pure coincidence that Glenn's daughter stumbled upon this body, or is the whole family being manipulated? VERDICT This suspenseful story will have readers careening from one erroneous conclusion to the next, which is either refreshing or an exasperating departure from predictable crime fiction, depending on one's tolerance for twists.--Laura Cifelli