Missing Pieces

December 21, 2015
Edgar-finalist Gudenkauf (Little Mercies) exchanges her usual child-centered, topical stories for an old-fashioned melodrama in her hardcover debut. Physical therapist Jack Quinlan and his advice columnist wife, Sarah, are enjoying a comfortable life in Montana when they hear that Jack’s beloved aunt Julia, who took him in at 15 after his parents were killed in a car accident, has suffered a potentially fatal fall. Jack returns to his Iowa hometown for the first time in 20 years with Sarah by his side, but Sarah swings rapidly from supportive to suspicious when she discovers that he has lied about his past. Pestering the locals for information and the original case files, she learns that the circumstances of the deaths of Jack’s parents remain suspicious. The police classify Julia’s subsequent death as a homicide and target Jack and his troubled sister when investigating the linked crimes. Readers should be prepared for implausible plotting, an unsympathetic protagonist, and a clichéd denouement. Hopefully, Gudenkauf will return to form next time. Agent: Marianne Merola, Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents.

December 1, 2015
An accident forces a man to return to his small Iowa hometown and confront violent secrets from his past, ones he's kept hidden from his wife. Sarah Quinlan thought she knew everything about her husband, Jack: an accident killed his parents when he was 15 so he left Penny Gate, Iowa, and has only been back once. But when the couple gets news that Jack's beloved aunt Julia, who raised Jack and his younger sister, Amy, after their parents' deaths, is gravely injured in a fall, the prodigal son returns. Gudenkauf (Little Mercies, 2014, etc.) makes it clear from the start that nothing should be taken at face value, not Jack's story about his parents (his mother was actually bludgeoned to death, and his father, now MIA, was the prime suspect) or the seemingly idyllic small-town atmosphere. This, however, does little to heighten the suspense as advice columnist Sarah takes on the role of amateur detective in sniffing out Quinlan family secrets past and present. Through her we meet Jack's terse cousin Dean and his too-perfect wife, Celia, along with Julia's husband, Hal, who became like a father to Jack in the wake of his own family tragedy, and Amy, who couldn't be more stereotypically "troubled." Jack and Amy's tragic past, which becomes the central mystery of the plot once Sarah figures out that her husband has been lying to her for two decades, is tied to Julia's not-so-accidental fall, but only for the purposes of a neatly sewn-up plot. Light on surprises and character development, this tepid thriller will have most astute readers correctly guessing the ending halfway through.

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December 1, 2015
In Gudenkauf's latest domestic suspense novel (following Little Mercies, 2014), a woman learns that her husband is not who he says he is. When the aunt who raised him suffers a serious fall, Jack Quinlan and his wife, Sarah, head back to Jack's hometown of Penny Gate, Iowa. They are surprised to learn that the sheriff suspects foul play. Even more surprising is the fact that this isn't the first act of violence to hit Jack's family. He had told Sarah that his parents had been killed in a car accident, but, in reality, his mother was murdered and his father disappeared, suggesting his guilt. When Jack's aunt is poisoned in her hospital room, Jack and his younger sister are suspects in another family tragedy. Is it possible that a man who lied about his parents' deaths for 20 years could be lying about his innocence in this crime, too? This fast-paced read will appeal to fans of psychological suspense like that by Joy Fielding.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

September 15, 2015

Gudenkauf, who launched her career with the Edgar Award-nominated, New York Times best-selling The Weight of Silence, goes hardcover with the story of Sarah Quinlan, whose husband lost his mother when he was a teenager. Returning home with him after his aunt Julia's accident, she realizes that there's something shady going on with this family. With a 250,000-copy first printing.

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