The Missing Sister

U.C. San Diego medical school student Shayna Darby, the narrator of Marr’s gritty debut, flies to Paris after the U.S. embassy informs her that her estranged twin sister, Angela, was fatally shot and thrown into the Seine. When Shayna visits Angela’s Paris apartment, she discovers a message written in the special code language they used as children: “Alive. Trust no one.” Convinced that Angela is indeed alive, Shayna heeds her sister’s advice and falsely identifies the body at the morgue as Angela. Back at Angela’s apartment, she finds additional clues, which will take her clandestine search for her sister into catacombs, an illegal brothel, and her sister’s frenemy’s apartment, where she stumbles on a dead body. While Shayna has an engaging voice, readers will find her train of thought at times difficult to follow. Her substantial backstory gives readers an in-depth look at the twins’ complicated relationship, though it doesn’t necessarily add to the plot. Still, the intriguing premise, along with a few twists, lend this psychological thriller some weight. Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Mar.)