Savannah Harper is found murdered in the Texas woods after a local wedding. Lucy Chase is picked up taking an early morning stroll with Savvy's dried blood on her dress, scratches on her arms, and a blow to the head. Lucy's skin is found under Savvy's fingernails, along with bruises on her arm that match the shape of Lucy's fingers. But Lucy has no memory of the evening. Police can't find any murder weapon, so they don't arrest Lucy.
Now five years later, Lucy is living in Los Angeles and still can't retrieve any memories of the evening Savvy was killed. Because of a true crime podcast about the event, Lucy is fired from her job and thinks that her boyfriend is about to break up with her and kick her out. At the urging of her grandma, Lucy decides to finally return home to attend her birthday party. When the aforementioned podcast host, Ben Owens, shows up in Lucy's hometown of Plumpton, Texas to dive deeper into the murder of Savvy, Lucy is forced to face that night head on. Through Ben's podcast interview transcripts, we learn more about Savvy, Lucy, and everyone in Plumpton surrounding the murder.
Part of Lucy's uneasiness about coming home is that her parents and ex-husband, who still live in her small hometown, seem to think Lucy killed Savvy too. They did things they thought would protect her after the police picked her up that night. That combined with Lucy's violent intrusive thoughts add to her worry about what she might have done. Characters whom all seem to be hiding something, along with a dark secret of Savvy's that Lucy has carried with her all this time, add to the intrigue.
Teetering on the edge of a tiresome trope, Lucy's quirky, feisty Grandma seems to be the only one who has true faith in her. And at the risk of sounding prudish, the rampant cheating and bed-swapping of all the residents in Plumpton had this reader reeling. Maybe that was the author's intent. That being said, I loved the mystery, the implied commentary on the court of public opinion that social media and podcasting can bring, and the female solidarity that ultimately reveals itself. I give this thriller three stars out of five.
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