April Storm

A suburban housewife comes to believe she’s in mortal danger in this engrossing, posthumously published standalone from Meacham (Dragonfly), who died in 2021. With Kathryn Walker’s grown children out of the house, she passes the time volunteering and serving on charity boards in Avon, Colo., while her surgeon husband, Drew, works at a nearby hospital. Then Kathryn notices a strange man following her, but she decides against going to the police. At the supermarket one afternoon, local rancher Mike McCoy spots Kathryn’s pursuer and lets her know the stalker might be a private investigator. Kathryn can’t imagine who would hire a PI to track her, but things take a turn for the sinister when one of Kathryn’s fellow library volunteers—who happens to be a spitting image of Kathryn—is mowed down by a runaway car. With Drew growing increasingly withdrawn, leading Kathryn to fear he’s having an affair, she flees Avon, unwittingly bringing herself even closer to danger. The espionage-tinted action keeps readers on their toes with finely tuned pacing and twists that land on just the right side of believability. Too-tidy ending aside, this satisfies. Agent: Joanna Castro, Writers House. (Nov.)