Monday’s Lie

Mother, Mata Hari, mystery: even in death, superwoman Annette Vess casts a long shadow over grown daughter Dee Aldrich, as well as her former covert ops colleagues, in this quirkily endearing if intermittently overwritten thriller from Mason (Three Graves Full). More than three years after Annette died, Dee is still trying to suss out that lifelong enigma when a more pressing puzzle interrupts, in the form of a blue sedan tailing her and texts from a stripper named Angela: precisely what skullduggery is Patrick, the college beau she married for his conventionality, engaging in? Dee starts to investigate, employing some of the stealth arts in which Annette drilled her and younger brother Simon, a cop in the unnamed hometown where they both still live. Dee soon suspects that Patrick’s desired endgame involves something more sinister than divorce. Unfortunately, so does the reader. The author’s premature tipping of her hand lessens the suspense, though plenty of twists remain. Agent: Amy Moore-Benson, AMB Literary Management. (Feb.)