The Last Thing I Told You

The bludgeoning murder of therapist Mark Fabian in Campion, Conn., drives this tense-if-flawed blend of police procedural and psychological drama from Arsenault (The Evening Spider). Det. Henry Peacher’s investigation hinges on Fabian’s cryptic notes and two old patient files he pulled just before his death—in particular, that of Nadine Raines, who stabbed a teacher with a box cutter when she and Henry were in high school together in Campion. Years later, Nadine has returned to the small town to visit Fabian. Indeed, she’s present at the crime scene, which she later flees, but is she the killer? Nadine is a richly imagined character, and her notes made as a teenager and internal monologues retrospectively addressing her unresolved issues about adult men feel creepily authentic. But Henry’s pursuit of the explanation for Fabian’s death—and eventually of Nadine—is unevenly paced, plodding at first but too fast as the pieces fall together into an unsatisfying twist ending. Hopefully, Arsenault will return to form next time. Agent: Laura Langlie, Laura Langlie Agency. (July)