Nothing Serious

A San Francisco computer engineer fixates on a suspicious death in Smith’s disquieting debut. Edie Walker, 35, hates both dating apps and being single, so when her longtime pal and crush, Peter Masterson, splits up with his girlfriend, Edie decides to confess her feelings and hope he reciprocates. Before Edie summons the courage, however, Peter starts dating Anaya Thomas, a stunning, self-assured feminist studies professor with whom Edie feels an immediate kinship. After reading all of Anaya’s publications in an effort to “inhabit” the mind of the woman she believes to be a better version of herself, Edie is blindsided when Anaya fatally overdoses. Peter admits to Edie that he did drugs with Anaya the night she died, but swears she was fine when he left her. If that’s the case, Edie wonders, then why do the police suspect foul play? The close third-person narration follows Edie’s increasingly reckless quest for the truth. While her dogged obsession propels the plot forward, it’s Smith’s exploration of themes like feminine insecurity, self-erasure, and dating double standards that sets this apart from similar fare. Readers will be thinking about this long after they’ve turned the final page. Agent: Aurora Fernandez, Trident Media Group. (Feb.)