When You Find Me

Southern gothic meets psychological suspense in Vernon’s eerie debut. Gray King, an alcoholic whose life is unraveling, reluctantly agrees to go with her husband, Paul, to her family home in Elizabeth, S.C., for the Christmas holidays. Her first glimpse of the house establishes the sinister mood: it “sat like a rotting log concealing secrets beneath its moist belly.” On Christmas Eve, to get away from the suffocating house and down a few double gin and tonics, she heads for Ruby’s Tavern, towing her husband and younger sister along. In a drunken exhibition, she kisses a former lover, causing Paul to drag her away. On Christmas morning, she awakes with no memory of the night before and finds Paul gone. Det. Nina Palmer, who went to school with Gray, investigates Paul’s disappearance. Gray’s paranoia is heightened when she begins receiving cryptic cellphone messages from a woman called Annie. The novel shifts perspective among Gray, Nina, and Annie, each of whom raises questions about the reliability of the others. The full complement of macabre motives lurks in the shadows. Fans of dark tales of familial and marital discord will be satisfied. [em]Agent: Chris Bucci, CookeMcDermid. (Oct.) [/em]