Night Will Find You

This gripping page-turner from Heaberlin (We Are All the Same in the Dark) conceals its secrets from even the cleverest readers. Twenty-eight-year-old astrophysicist Vivian Bouchet takes leave from her research in the Chihuahuan desert to return home to Fort Worth, Tex., after her mother dies. She is approached by her childhood friend Mike Romano, now a cop, who believes Vivian has psychic abilities like the ones her fortune-telling mother claimed to possess. He asks her to look into the cold case of three-year-old Lizzie Solomon, who disappeared from her home a decade earlier. The girl’s mother, Nicolette, is serving time for her murder, even though no body was ever found. Before her death, Vivian’s mother made calls to the city claiming one of her clients—not Nicolette—was involved with the abduction, and Nicolette has filed suit against the city for not following up. Vivian agrees to investigate, which makes her a target for the rabid fans of an influential podcast that peddles conspiracy theories, whose host seems to have a personal stake in the case. Vivian is an intelligent, perceptive character who’s a pleasure to spend time with, and when the plot kicks into gear, it’s nearly impossible to stop reading. This is Heaberlin at her best. (June)