The Engagement Party

Kane (The Last Invitation) stumbles with this thin thriller about former college friends haunted by their classmate’s murder. Twelve years ago, Bowdoin College senior Emily Hunt disappeared on graduation weekend. Her corpse, “partially clothed and tangled in weeds,” was discovered soon after she went missing. The murder was never solved, despite rumors implicating her family, friends, and lovers. Now, four of Hunt’s former classmates—Will Mayer, Mitch Andersen, Alex Greene, and Cassie Holder (now Alex’s wife)—have reunited on an island off the coast of Maine to celebrate Will’s engagement to his girlfriend, Ruthie. Shortly after the group (which also includes Mitch’s business partner) discovers that they’re cut off from the mainland by rising waters, one of them is murdered. A note found near the body reads, “Time to tell the truth.” Stale prose (a setback is described as “the kind of horrible, unexpected thing that caused the air to go still and the trees to shake and bend as they telegraphed impending disaster”) doesn’t enhance the derivative plot, which offers a few short-lived shocks but mostly dissipates on impact. Closed-circle mystery fans have a bounty of better options. Agent: Lisa Bradford, Bradford Agency. (Dec.)