The Lying Room

Family drama and office politics take center stage in this tense standalone from the pseudonymous French, the husband-and-wife writing team of Nicci Gerrard and Sean French (the Frieda Klein series). Neve Connolly’s discreet affair with her married boss, Saul Stevenson, was meant to relieve her stress at being the family’s primary breadwinner and main parent to three challenging children, while her illustrator husband, Fletcher, goes on endless job interviews. Then she finds Saul murdered in his London apartment. Fearing the affair will become public, destroying her marriage and devastating her emotionally fragile daughter, Mabel, she scrubs the apartment of every bit of her presence. But she forgets her signature piece of jewelry. When she returns for it, it’s missing, as is the murder weapon that was lying next to the body. Neve’s co-workers wonder what will happen to them, since Saul’s company only recently acquired their firm, while she worries she’ll be the primary suspect. French makes Neve a fully rounded character through her relationships with friends and colleagues, though Neve’s family dynamics stoop to the melodramatic. Fans of domestic thrillers will be rewarded. Agent: Joy Harris, Joy Harris Literary. (Oct.)