Four of a Kind

February 5, 2018
The disappearance of Tala Lewis, a 17-year-old transgender girl in Eastrock, Maine, kick-starts Kessler’s intense fourth mystery featuring therapist Audrey Harte (after 2017’s Three Strikes). Two months after the amber alert, hikers find Tala’s mutilated remains under some rocks in a state park. Since Tala was a student at Eastrock High School, where Audrey is the school psychologist, she helps students process their feelings about Tala’s death. That Tala was friends with the niece of Audrey’s fiancé, Jake Tripp, makes the case more personal for Audrey. Almost all characters not presented as bullies respect Tala’s gender identity, and Tala’s behavior is described as that of a typical impetuous “mean girl.” But the gory details of what Kessler clearly presents as a hate crime and the bullying experienced by Tala’s boyfriend for his trans partner could be upsetting to some readers. Audrey’s personal history as a murderer has become mostly irrelevant, and developments in her relationship with Jake are forgettable enough that the series may have run its emotional course, though at least one more installment is forthcoming. Agent: Miriam Kriss, Irene Goodman Literary Agency.

February 1, 2018
Criminal psychologist Audrey Harte returns in this fourth series offering (after Three Strikes, 2017) from Kessler, who delivers another psychological thriller in the twisted style her fans have come to expect. Audrey has a dark past and struggles to maintain her moral compass within a circle of unusual and complex relationships in a somewhat dysfunctional small town in Maine. After the mutilated body of a 17-year-old girl is found, school officials are grateful for Audrey's expertise in helping the victim's fellow students deal with the crime. But she can't let it go at that and uses her tentative friendship with Detective Neve Graham to insert herself into the investigation. The sense of encroaching danger is rich when it becomes apparent that the killer will do anything to avoid apprehension. Kessler pulls off another of her remarkably sinister yet sad surprises at the conclusion. Audrey will put many readers in mind of Sandra Block's Zoe Goldman, and the sense of strangeness of place will appeal to fans of Lisa Unger's thrillers set in the Hollows.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)