Shell Games

There’s gaslighting galore in this un-put-downable outing from Kistler (Her, Too), which revolves around the veracity of a septuagenarian’s explosive allegations. Widowed Florida real estate developer Kate Sawyer, 71, has long been a staple in local business journals and society pages. Recently, she’s reunited with—and gotten engaged to—her high school sweetheart, Charlie Mull. On their wedding night, Kate calls 911 in hysterics, claiming Charlie just confessed to a long-unsolved string of murders from the 1980s. Kate’s quiet daughter, Julie, gets caught in the middle when her husband, Eric, hears of the accusations and insists Kate undergo a psych eval, claiming she’s been showing signs of dementia. Kate refuses, forcing Julie to weigh in on whether she trusts her mother or thinks she’s losing her mind. Kistler masterfully keeps the action thrumming with a series of subtle ground-shifts that force readers to recalculate everyone’s motives. The narrative never veers into implausibility as the misdeeds and double-crossings stack up, resulting in the rare page-turner that doesn’t deflate in its final act. This will keep readers up all night. Agent: Jennifer Weltz, Jean V. Naggar Literary. (Nov.)