A Twist of the Knife

Edgar-finalist Masterman presents a compassionate, clear-eyed depiction of the painful foibles of human nature in her chilling, twist-filled third thriller featuring retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn (after 2015’s Fear the Darkness). Brigid flies from Phoenix to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to be with her mother after her 83-year-old father is hospitalized. While there, Brigid is contacted by former colleague Laura Coleman, an Innocence Project investigator, who asks Brigid to help her exonerate death row inmate Marcus Creighton. Fifteen years earlier, Creighton was convicted of killing his wife; his three children have been missing since the night of the murder. The execution date is set, and time is running out. The problem is that Brigid believes that Creighton is probably guilty. Still, Brigid wants to help Laura, and the distraction of an investigation is just the thing to take her mind off her complicated family relationships. A compelling, complex lead, Brigid has no problem skirting the straight and narrow in her quest for justice. Agent: Helen Heller, Helen Heller Agency. (Mar.)