The Long Shadow

Therapist Isabel Harris, the protagonist of this uneven psychological thriller from Buist (Medea’s Curse), starts a mother-baby therapy group soon after arriving in the outback town of Riley, Australia, where her husband has come to review the local hospital’s finances. On the first day of therapy, Isabel receives a note that “the baby killer is going to strike again,” and soon learns about the death of Joshua Moretti, an infant who was kidnapped and murdered 25 years earlier. Isabel suspects that the note may be a threat aimed at the unborn child of Joshua’s younger sister, who’s now a member of the therapy group. As Isabel gets to know Riley’s residents, she confronts resentment, blackmail, and different theories on who killed Joshua. Buist, the chair of Women’s Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, does a good job depicting the rapport that develops among the group’s five mothers, but other, less distinctive characters fall flat. The abrupt, somewhat implausible conclusion resolves some but not all issues. Buist has done better. (Oct.)