Wrong Place Wrong Time

In this intriguing time-travel mystery from British author McAllister (The Choice), happily married divorce lawyer Jen Brotherhood awakes on the morning of October 30, 2022, to find that her 18-year-old son, Todd, hasn’t returned home. She goes to the front window and watches in horror as Todd pulls a knife and stabs an older man who’s been following him. She awakes the next morning, after having witnessed her son’s arrest for murder, to find that it’s October 29, the day before the incident. Each succeeding morning, she finds herself further back in time—jumping days, weeks, and even years. She decides her mission is to discover what led to this act of violence and stop it from happening. McAllister gives readers a chance to solve the crime from a refreshing new perspective while also providing elegant insights into how one creates one’s past and confronts “friendships and addresses and life phases that feel endless but never, never last.” Assured prose more than compensates for the pat ending. This entertaining look at motherhood and memory will resonate with many. Agent: Zoe Sandler, ICM Partners. (Aug.)