Desire Lines

The author of Sweet Water offers a taut, absorbing novel about a woman who must solve a haunting mystery in order to move on with her life. Kathryn Campbell has been in emotional limbo since the mysterious disappearance of her best friend, Jennifer, on the night of their 1986 high-school graduation. A decade later, she finds herself returning to their hometown of Bangor, Maine--even though, with a failed marriage under her belt and a journalism career idling in neutral, moving back in with her (also divorced) mother is probably not the best way to boost her self-esteem. So when a friend asks Kathryn to write a newspaper story about Jennifer, Kathryn reluctantly agrees. Since Kathryn's return coincides with her class's reunion, she has ample opportunity to interview the four former companions who were with Jennifer on that fateful night, as well as others who might have played a hand in Jennifer's baffling disappearance. As Kathryn delves into her best friend's background, unnerving facts about the seemingly golden girl start to emerge, and soon it is obvious that someone is trying to thwart her investigation. The mystery of why Jennifer vanished becomes even more puzzling as new facts come to light, and Kathryn's eventual insight that some ambiguities are part of life brings depth to the narrative. Kline's edge-of-the-seat denouement ties up the plot threads with dexterity and also allows for a plausible future for Kathryn herself. Agent, Beth Vesel for Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. Author tour. (Jan.)