Little Red House

In this uneven serial killer thriller from Andersson (the Greenhouse mysteries as Wendy Tyson), the drowning death of Eve Foster during her routine morning swim in Lake Champlain reunites the twins she adopted, Lisa and Connie, at Eve’s Vermont home for the reading of her unusual will. Lisa is to get $30 million and the Vermont property, while Connie, who’s been homeless and struggling to survive in New York City, will receive $5,000 a year and a home in New Mexico. The will is bulletproof; should Lisa attempt to help her sibling more, both would lose everything. At Connie’s new home, she finds an odd caretaker in residence, whom she can’t fire, and a mystery. Six women were “raped, tortured, mutilated, and dumped” over a five-year period during the 1990s, and the person or persons responsible may have just resumed their killing spree. Flashbacks parcel out details of Eve’s life back then, as Connie tries to solve the whodunit in the book’s present. The tantalizing opening sections compensate only in part for closing surprises that don’t feel earned, and Connie’s character fails to achieve the complexity readers are led to expect. Hopefully, Andersson will do better next time. Agent: Fran Black, Literary Counsel. (Dec.)