Dead Letters

Actor Marie provides a pitch-perfect reading of this twisted tale set on a vineyard in central New York. After the death of her twin sister Zelda, Ava Antipova returns home to everything she was trying to escape: a failing family business, a mother slowly sinking into dementia and alcoholism, an emotionally distant father who had abandoned the family, and a complicated relationship with an old beau. Following a series of clues left by Zelda, Ava begins to piece together her sister’s troubles, from massive debt to drug addiction. When reading Ava’s first-person narration, Marie moves the plot along while fully inhabiting both the melancholy and resolve of a grieving sister determined to uncover the mysterious circumstances surrounding her sibling’s supposed death. When reading Zelda’s e-mails, she uses an upbeat, almost taunting style of delivery. The balance between the two sisters and their respective narrative devices will keep listeners utterly captivated from beginning to end. A Random House hardcover. (Feb.)