Every Waking Hour

Schaffhausen’s excellent fourth novel featuring Ellery Hathaway, who as a teen was the sole survivor of a serial murderer/kidnapper, and Reed Markham, the FBI agent who rescued her (after 2020’s All the Best Lies), finds Ellery and Reed, now in a romantic relationship, enjoying a street fair with his seven-year-old daughter in the Boston Common. When 12-year-old Chloe Lockhart vanishes from the fair, Ellery, still on tryout as a Boston PD detective, latches onto the case, seeing parallels with her own history; her captain is thrilled that renowned profiler Reed can assist. A theory soon emerges that Chloe was escaping the strict surveillance of her wealthy parents, Martin and Teresa Lockhart. This is not Teresa’s first tragedy—20 years earlier her son from her first marriage was murdered when he was 12 years old, along with her housekeeper. Tight plotting and sophisticated surprises fuel the rich storytelling. Schaffhausen layers much emotion into each tension-filled twist as she deepens Ellery and Reed’s characters. Readers will eagerly await their further adventures. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Jan.)