Mosaic

Megan Melvick, the heroine of this terrific standalone from Ramsay (the Costello and Anderson series), returns home after three years away to her family’s country estate in Scotland, where Melissa, her older sister, is dying. Melissa’s last word, spoken with intense effort, is “sorry.” But sorry for what? Megan is drawn to the memory of the horrific deaths that occurred during Melissa’s wedding five years before. She thinks, “The whole wedding day was a mirage for me, memories and dreams, falsehoods and images floating through my mind. I no longer knew what was real and what was not.” Despite its being the novel’s centerpiece, what happened at the wedding is just one of many tragedies that have plagued the family over the years. The alternating narrations by Megan and her snarky but strangely magnetic childhood friend, Carla, often provide differing interpretations of events and of the people who have shaped their lives. Ramsay keeps the reader guessing right up to the final, satisfying denouement. Suspense fans won’t want to miss this chiller. Agent: Jane Gregory, David Higham Assoc. (U.K.). (Oct.)