Keep Her Safe

In this unnecessarily complex standalone from bestseller Hannah (A Game for All the Family), Englishwoman Cara Burrows, who’s frustrated with her family, leaves her husband and two children behind in the U.K. and flies to Phoenix, Ariz., where she stays at the exclusive Swallowtail Resort in the foothills of Camelback Mountain. Pregnant with an unintended third child, Cara anticipates relaxing swims and soaking up the desert sun, until she’s accidentally assigned the wrong room and sees a teenage girl who closely resembles Melody Chapa, the most famous murder victim in America. Seven years earlier in 2010, seven-year-old Melody was allegedly murdered by her parents, though her body was never found. Cara soon goes down the internet rabbit hole of the Chapa case and looks up transcripts of Nancy Grace–type true crime TV shows, most hosted by the overly opinionated Bonnie Juno, an early believer in the guilt of Melody’s parents, despite a dearth of evidence. The present-day plot devolves into a kidnapping free-for-all, with Cara inexplicably at the center. Hannah, known for her labyrinthine plots, loses her way early on. (Sept.)