One Last Breath

Eighteen-year-old Trulee Langstaff’s rural Mount Orange, Fla., town has always been shadowed by the Hidden Glen murders, the unsolved double homicide of best friends Celeste and Bailey. More recently, Tru has also been grieving the tragic death of her older sister Dani in a hit-and-run. On the eve of the Hidden Glen murders’ 20th anniversary, Tru meets 18-year-old Rio, a beautiful and secretive foster runaway who’s camping out at the site of the crime. The girls bond over their shared obsession with free diving, and soon learn that they’ve also both been inexplicably drawn to the Hidden Glen murders their entire lives. Delving into feverish investigation, Tru and Rio unearth unexpected connections to Celeste and Bailey and, as the past and present begin to blur, come to the chilling realization that they could be the next victims of the killer at large. Though some twists strain credulity, Sain (Secrets So Deep) weaves together a grounded depiction of the stifling closeness and quirky personalities of a small Florida town, beautiful descriptions of free diving in freshwater springs, and a propulsive, true crime–informed murder investigation to craft a page-turning thriller. The protagonists cue as white. Ages 14–up. (Mar.)