Long Gone

Near the outset of this impressive novel of suspense from Burke (212), her first stand-alone, 37-year-old Alice Humphrey, the daughter of controversial film director Frank Humphrey, meets charming Drew Campbell at a sparsely attended Manhattan art opening; he asks if she would like to manage the fledgling Highline Gallery. While the job appears too good to be true, Alice, who's been unemployed for eight months, accepts the offer. All goes well until Alice finds Drew dead in the gallery a few weeks later. The police regard Alice as the prime suspect in the murder of "Drew Campbell," who was not the man he claimed to be. Evidence against her includes paperwork supposedly showing that she leased the gallery space. Feeling trapped, Alice wonders if she's being set up and if it has anything to do with her famous father. Alice must dig deep into her family's checkered history if she's to prove her innocence. Burke skillfully orchestrates the mounting tension and claustrophobia of Alice's world collapsing in on itself. (July)